land search query - 'discharges to water'

free4440273

hi all, sorry to disturb your weekend. i have just had my land search done - there were two types available and for an extra £150 i had the more comprehensive one done (forget the exact definition). basically, in the environment report sheets when it lists nearby industrial plants etc everything on my list says reassuringly NO. But under water abstraction and discharges: discharges to water within 251-500m it says YES. I want to make it absolutely clear this is not (as far as i understand) waste treatment and disposal , as this is denoted separately as NO. so what are they referring to when they talk of water abstraction and discharges: discharges to water. is it something to worry about in terms of sewage, smell etc? I don't want to be pedantic but the report classifies it as the following:
"Are there any authorizations issued by the environment Agency (and its predecessor the national rivers authority) to discharge to the watercourse from non-IPC processes in accordance with the water resources act 1991?"

- to which it answers in the affirmative YES within 251-500m.

thanks as always for your help.

free4440273

please?

emg

sorry I dont know the answer - my guess would be that there is some sort of industrial place that discharges grey water (water that has been used as part of their industrial processes and then cleaned up and discharged into drains or nearby water course).

It's only a guess though, if it were me I would ask my solicitor to clarify the exact situation.

free4440273

would really and seriously appreciate other people's thoughts on this. i am beginning to lose sleep over it.

Doozergirl

They would only be able to discharge clean water into the watercourse, there's no way there'd be any kind of waste allowed into streams or rivers in this day and age.

There are very heavy penalties to pay and I believe that the Environment Agency take this kind of thing very seriously.

emg

I agree with you Doozer. 'Grey water' as its known although not completely clean - just doesnt have anything in it that would harm the water supplies or wildlife. Discharge sites are tested regularly to make sure they are not exceeding safe levels of chemicals (my brother does this for his job!)

Its not something I would worry about but I would probably just check with my solicitor (or someone else who knows about searches) that its not an issue.

Debt_Free_Chick

free4440273 wrote:

"Are there any authorizations issued by the environment Agency (and its predecessor the national rivers authority) to discharge to the watercourse from non-IPC processes in accordance with the water resources act 1991?"

Dreadful use of English here! This question could have been phrased like this "Is there permission to discharge non-IPC processes to the watercourse?" and the answer is "Yes".

IPC processes? Integrated Pollution Control. IPC processes deal with the most damaging waste/pollution. The answer to the search suggests that whatever is being discharged is not polluting - if it were, it could not be a non-IPC process, it would have to be a process covered by IPC.

As the survey relates to YOUR land then it suggests that you are allowed to discharge something from your land to the watercourse.

My guess is that your rainwater is allowed to drain to the watercourse, but your sewage goes into the mains drain system. But you will need to make further enquiries to check this ... as it's just my guess

HTH

free4440273

doozergirl, emg and debt_free_chick - apologies for the delay in thanking you all, i have not logged in for a day or two. what you all say is very reassuring - i was actually losing sleep over this. thank you all kindly for your contributions, very kind of you. if anybody has any other comments (reassuring or otherwise), i would gladly wish to learn from them:)

clutton_2

this is what your solicitor is there for - what did they tell you ?