Consent Requirements and Limits

Industrial waste water is regularly sampled and analysed to monitor whether individual discharges are complying with consent limits.

To show how parameter-based compliance is calculated, we can provide the following example:

The consent for discharge ‘X’ lists 10 limits that must be met, and the discharge is normally sampled monthly i.e. 12 times annually.
Therefore in each year there will be a total of 120 analyses (10 x 12).

If during the year the discharge passes 110 of the individual analyses undertaken (and fails 10), then the overall percentage compliance for that year would be
110 / 120 x 100 = 91.6%

If a discharge fails any of its limits Scottish Water notifies the company responsible as soon as possible. We will ask any Trade Effluent discharger to try and ensure that improvement plans are drawn up and implemented. The Retailer is also informed, consistent with the regulatory requirements.

If you require a trade effluent consent please contact your contact your Retailer. If you have an enquiry about the consent regime you may contact Scottish Water  on 0845 601 8855 and ask for a member of the Trade Effluent Quality team.