UK Sewage Treatment Legislation | 2020 Regulations

New 2020 Septic Tank Regulations

Sewage treatment legislation for both England and Wales is set to change as of January 1, 2020. Among those changes, it includes acts on septic tanks that discharge to surface water. They will require either an upgrade or a replacement with a sewage treatment plant. In fact, you will no longer be able to discharge the effluent directly to a watercourse. In the past, you could discharge sewage in two ways:

• Drainage field

Sewage is released through a network of pipes in the surrounding field, providing an additional form of treatment processes. This helps ensure that the effluent percolating does not cause pollution. Septic tanks discharging into a drainage field are not affected by the new 2020 septic tank regulations.

• Watercourse

The effluent flows through a pipe directly into a watercourse (lake, river, etc.) The new rules do affect this type of discharge as they state that direct discharge from a septic tank into a surface water will no longer be permitted. If the agencies above find out that you are currently polluting surface water as a result of a direct discharge from a wastewater treatment plant, you will be required to install new water systems within a year (on a case by case basis). 

If you want to learn more about the new 2020 septic tank regulations and understand how they may affect you, download your free 2020 Septic Tank Regulation Handbook today!