About trade effluent
Trade effluent is any liquid waste that is discharged from a business premises to the public sewers.
Trade Effluent Explained
Trade effluent is any liquid waste that is discharged from a business premises to the public sewers. Trade effluent does not include domestic sewage or sanitary wastewater from domestic type activities - for example wastewater from hand-washing, showering and flushing of toilets.
Trade effluent discharges vary in their nature, composition, and volume depending on the business activity. There is also varying capacity in Uisce Éireann’s sewers and wastewater treatment plants.
This means Uisce Éireann must carefully assess and regulate all discharges to our sewer network in order to ensure that public health, our operations and the environment are fully protected.
Accordingly, you must have a trade effluent licence granted by Uisce Éireann or a licence granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discharge trade effluent to the sewer.
Trade Effluent Licensing
Irish law requires trade effluent discharges to sewer to be regulated by Uisce Éireann or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The type and scale of activity at the customers premises will determine the regulatory authority responsible for licensing the trade effluent discharged to the sewer.
Uisce Eireann is responsible for licensing trade effluent discharged to sewer from commercial activities and industrial activities which fall below EPA activity thresholds. Uisce Éireann’s trade effluent licences are granted in accordance with Section 16 of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts 1977 & 1990.
The EPA is responsible for licensing trade effluent discharges to sewer from activities which are listed in the First Schedule of the Environment Protection Agency Act. However, businesses requiring EPA licences and the EPA themselves must consult with Uisce Éireann on any trade effluent discharge to the sewer sewer network.
Businesses requiring EPA licences generally operate as much larger-scale Industries. For information on whether your business activity requires an EPA licence go to www.epa.ie/our-services/licensing
Who needs a licence
Trade effluent is produced from the manufacturing processes associated with many everyday items and through activities that many of us enjoy. These include:
Apply for a licence
Disposing of fats oil and grease (FOG)
Prevent costly blockages on your premises and in your local area. Learn how to dispose of fat, oils and grease originating from food products properly.
Compliance and Enforcement
Wastewater entering the public sewerage system, including Trade Effluent, is carried to the local wastewater treatment works so that it can be effectively treated and then returned safely to the environment.
The purpose of Trade Effluent control is to ensure that any discharge does not adversely affect this recycling process or the environment. Other key objectives are to protect public health, including the health and safety of Uisce Éireann sampling staff and those working on sewer networks and at treatment works and UE’s wastewater infrastructure and associated processes.
A licence is a legal document that sets conditions and limits on the volume, strength, and characteristics of your trade effluent discharge to the sewer. It’s your legal responsibility to keep it under control and manage your effluent within these conditions. Licence conditions will generally relate to :
- The nature, composition and volume of the trade effluent discharge
- Trade effluent pre- treatment, location of trade effluent discharge and the periods during which discharge may be made
- Monitoring, sampling & analysis of trade effluent
- Notifications, record keeping and reporting
- Applicable charges as approved by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU)
The discharge of Trade Effluent without a licence is an offence and you may be subject to legal action if you do so. It is your legal responsibility manage your trade effluent within the conditions set out in your licence.
Uisce Éireann staff who are authorised officers under the under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts and Water Services Acts may carry out compliance and enforcement activities including sampling of your trade effluent to ensure conditions of licences are adhered to. In addition, we will investigate any incidences of pollution, including those which may arise as a result of non-compliances associated with trade effluent licences.
Most licences will contain numeric limits for one or more of the parameters listed below.
Volume and flow rate are controlled to prevent flooding and to make sure our sewers, pumping stations and Waste water Treatment Works are not overloaded.
pH, which is a measure of acidity or alkalinity, is controlled to ensure that our sewers, pumping stations and Waste water Treatment Works, including their processes, are protected.
Temperature is controlled in order to protect our staff working in our sewers and to ensure that odours are minimised.
Chemical oxygen demand is a measure of the capacity of an effluent to consume oxygen during the decomposition of organic matter and the oxidation of inorganic chemicals. We control this to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on our Waste water Treatment Works biological processes.
Suspended solids is a measure of the particles in the trade effluent. We control suspended solids to ensure that there are no blockages in the sewers due to settlement.
Fats, oils and grease, also known as FOG, is controlled to prevent blockages in our sewers, pumping stations and to protect Waste water Treatment Works processes.
Ammonia & Sulphates are controlled to prevent the corrosion of concrete sewers, pumping and waste water treatment assets and the production of odours.
Sampling
Uisce Éireann may take samples of your trade effluent to assess compliance with licence conditions and may also take samples for trade effluent charging purposes. It is your responsibility to ensure that a safe, accessible sampling / monitoring point is provided that will enable Uisce Éireann staff to obtain representative samples of your trade effluent at your premises. The frequency at which Uisce Éireann will obtain samples is primarily based on the risk presented by the trade effluent on Uisce Éireann operations and the environment along with charging requirements. Some types of trade effluent are relatively innocuous in terms of pollutant levels they contain and the risk presented to Uisce Éireann and therefore may not be sampled very often. However, more significant trade effluent discharges containing higher levels of pollutants will be sampled on a more frequent basis.
Most licences will also contain self monitoring requirements which means businesses are required to sample their own trade effluent and report the results to Uisce Éireann. The self monitoring sampling frequency will be set out in the licence.
Audits and Inspections
Uisce Eireann shall also undertake audits and inspections at business premises. Audits are carried out:
- To ensure businesses are complying with trade effluent licences and all applicable legislation
- In response to incidents or licence non compliance
- To check that any recommendation or action items have been implemented
- Audit reports are issued to businesses following each audit, setting out its findings, observations, recommendations and action items if applicable. Audit frequency shall be determined using a risk based approach.