Guidelines to Statutory Order on the Licensing Of Waste Water Discharges

5. Connection of waste water to waste water systems

5.1 The general provisions of the Environmental Protection Act
5.2 Right and duty to connect to public waste water systems
5.3 Authority to issue connection licences
5.3.1 Connection to public waste water systems
5.3.2 Connection to private waste water systems
5.4 Licensing procedure
5.4.1 Connection of ordinary domestic waste water from households to the public waste water system
5.4.2 Environmental impact assessment of waste water connections
5.4.3 Information to be provided in applications for connection
5.4.4 Capacity of waste water system and catchment area
5.4.5 Stipulation of conditions in the connection licence
5.4.6 Act on the environmental impact of gene technology ("Lov om miljø og genteknologi")
5.5 Changing a waste water connection
5.5.1 Changing the conditions stipulated in a connection licence
5.5.2 Changing the layout and organisation of waste water systems
5.6 The Danish Building Act for Enterprises ("Byggeloven for virksomheder")
5.7 Supervision and enforcement
5.8 Summary of the allocation of authority etc.
5.9 Right of appeal

5.1 The general provisions of the Environmental Protection Act

Section 28(3 and 4) of the Environmental Protection Act establishes requirements for the connection of waste water to private and public waste water systems.

The overall purpose of regulating connections to waste water systems are:

to ensure appropriate disposal into waste water treatment plants of all waste water discharged from properties

to ensure that the inflow of waste water takes place with due consideration being paid to: the drainage system the waste water treatment plant, including compliance with the requirements stipulated in the discharge licence the quality of the sludge produced in the waste water treatment plant the water quality in the receiving water body health risks, especially the health and safety of staff working with waste water systems.

Section 29 of the Environmental Protection Act empowers the Minister to lay down rules for the local councils’ processing of cases under section 28 of the Environmental Protection Act. Such rules are established in Part 5, sections 9-11 of the Statutory Order.

5.2 Right and duty to connect to public waste water systems

Properties must connect to public waste water systems if the required service sewer is available at the property boundary, cf. section 28(4) of the Environmental Protection Act. The local council can demand connection of a property and decide the time for implementing the actual connection. The properties affected must be located within the boundaries of the sewage catchment area approved in the waste water plan and have both the right and the duty to discharge waste water into the system.

The eight-year period of legal protection granted to enterprises subject to approval, cf. section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act, does not apply to the duty of connection described pursuant to section 28(4) of the said Act. Thus, in the case of both listed and unlisted enterprises, it is the local council that decides, through its waste water planning and subsequent follow-up activities, which properties must establish a connection and from which date. When making such decisions, the local council is not bound by the legal protection granted to enterprises subject to approval under section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act.

If a service sewer is available at the property boundary, the landowner must establish a connection to the public waste water system at his own account. Sanitary waste water, industrial process waste water, etc. must be discharged in closed conduits, cf. section 9 of the Statutory Order, while surface run-off may be conveyed in open conduits, provided that the method used is technically and environmentally sound. The local council fixes the time limit for implementing the actual connection, cf. section 28(4) of the Environmental Protection Act.

The local council’s decisions under section 28(4) of the Environmental Protection Act cannot be brought before another administrative authority.

For termination of connections, see Chap. 6 below.

5.3 Authority to issue connection licences

5.3.1   Connection to public waste water systems

Pursuant to section 28(3) of the Environmental Protection Act, the local council licenses the connection of waste water discharges to public waste water systems. The local council is furthermore empowered to license the connection of waste water to the outfall of waste water systems subject to compliance with discharge licences issued by the regional council under section 28(1) of the Environmental Protection Act.

5.3.2 Connection to private waste water systems

Pursuant to section 10(1) of the Statutory Order, the local council licenses the connection of waste water discharges to private waste water systems, provided that the waste water is subsequently discharged into a public waste water system. The inflowing load must not exceed the capacity of the receiving private waste water system, including the capacity of the waste water pipes and/or any treatment facilities incorporated in the system.

Connection is subject to the prior written consent of the party in charge of the receiving private waste water system, cf. section 10(2) of the Statutory Order.

This provision typically applies to the discharge of waste water from harbours and airports where several enterprises carry on business from leased premises within a common site boundary and discharge waste water to the public waste water system via a private installation.

Figure 5.1 shows two examples of connection, one to a private, the other to a public waste water system.

5.4 Licensing procedure

The local council may request the submission of any information deemed necessary to the processing of an application for a connection licence.

Any connection of waste water to a municipal or private waste water system is subject to licensing under section 28 of the Environmental Protection Act. Applications for licensing must provide adequate information in respect of the volume of waste water to be discharged and the content of pollutants.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA) has established general guidelines for the connection of industrial effluents to municipal waste water systems (see Danish EPA’s Environmental Guidelines No. 6, 1994: Guidelines for licensing the connection of industrial effluents to municipal waste water collecting systems).

The local council should keep the regional council informed about any significant changes in the content of the waste water discharged into the waste water treatment plants with regard to heavy metals and environmentally incompatible substances, as it may be necessary to review the discharge licence granted to the treatment plant in respect of such substances. In cases where water quality standards have been established for the receiving water bodies, it may be necessary to stipulate emission standards for the discharge of certain substances.

5.4.1 Connection of ordinary domestic waste water from households to the public waste water system

Section 28(4) requires landowners to connect the discharge of waste water from their property to the public waste water system if a service sewer is available at the property boundary. Normally, a specific licence is not required for connection of ordinary domestic waste water. Since waste water from public institutions, especially hospitals, is not classified as ordinary domestic waste water, special conditions must be stipulated in connection licences issued to such institutions.

Establishment of waste water pipes on private land

Pursuant to the Danish Building Regulations and the Building Regulations for detached or semi-detached houses, waste water drainage facilities must be established in compliance with DS 439, Code of Practice for drainage installations. According to DS 439, the laying of underground waste water pipes and wells must not cause any weakening of building foundations. All waste water pipes must be routed such that any risk of contaminating drinking water supplies is prevented.

The rules for the routing of pipes near building foundations are set out in DS 415, Dansk Ingeniørforening’s (Danish Society of Engineers’) Code of Practice for foundation engineering.

The rules for the routing of waste water pipes close to water supply lines are set out in Dansk Ingeniørforening’s Code of Practice for domestic water-supply installations and in the legislation governing water supply.

Rules governing the minimum underground clearance distance between gas and waste water pipes are set out in Part 3 of the Danish Gas Regulations.

Figure 5.1 Look here!
Schematic diagram of connections and discharges.

[Figurtekster]

Figure 5.1, left, illustrates connections of waste water to the public waste water system established upstream as well as downstream of a municipal waste water treatment plant. Such connections are to be licensed by the local authorities. The total effluent is monitored at the point of entry into the outfall of the plant.

Figure 5.1, right, illustrates connection to a private waste water system in cases where the system is subsequently connected to the public waste water system. Such connections are to be licensed by the local council.

Figure 5.2 illustrates the special situation where an enterprise is connected to the public outfall downstream of the municipal treatment plant. In exceptional cases, such enterprises may obtain a separate discharge licence from the regional council.

This applies to certain enterprises that are in other respects encompassed by Part 9 of the Statutory Order (The Aquatic Environment Plan).

It is important to define monitoring points for connections/discharges in order to obtain unambiguous monitoring results. In the case of enforcement action against a violation of a discharge licence, it is also important to be able to identify the connection/discharge that causes the violation.

5.4.2 Environmental impact assessment of waste water connections

As needed, industrial waste water being discharged into the public collecting system may be subjected to pre-treatment in order to:

	Protect the health of the staff working at the collecting system and the treatment plants
	Protect the collecting system, treatment plants and the associated materials from damage
	Facilitate the operation of the treatment plants and the processing of sludge
	Prevent that discharges from the treatment plants affect the aquatic environment to an unacceptable degree and impede the achievement of the objectives set for the receiving water bodies
	Ensure the safe and environmentally acceptable disposal of sludge from treatment plants.

5.4.3 Information to be provided in applications for connection

Applications for connection of waste water must contain information concerning the waste water load, including:

	Maximum (typically hourly) load
	24-hour load of the effluent discharged
	Composition of effluent, stating content of nutrients, organic substances, environmentally incompatible substances and heavy metals.

Domestic waste water

Where the application submitted concerns connection of domestic waste water, or waste water comparable to domestic waste water, it is generally sufficient to provide information about the estimated effluent volume and/or load expressed in population equivalents.

Other waste water

Applications concerning the connection of waste water other than domestic waste water must also contain any documentation available on matters pertaining to the waste water production that may be needed by the authorities in their processing of the application. Where relevant, the issuing of a connection licence should therefore be coordinated with the approval of the enterprise pursuant to Part 5 of the Environmental Protection Act to allow an overall assessment of the enterprise’s environmental condition.

In addition, the enterprise may be required to describe the organisation and operation of its activities, with information on raw materials, microorganisms and auxiliary materials used (type and consumption) and a description of the process. According to section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act, the enterprise must further document that the activity concerned is based on the principle of the best available techniques. This should imply cleaner technology, possibly incorporating treatment facilities. Information must also be provided in the application on the enterprise’s use of pollution control measures, cf. section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act.

Finally, the enterprise should suggest internal control measures for the waste water connection to which the application relates.

Change of ownership

A discharge licence is issued for a given production activity at a given location. This means that if an enterprise is transferred to a new owner, but the activity continues unchanged in all other respects, the terms and conditions stipulated in the current discharge licence will continue to apply.

Production changes

However, if an enterprise changes the way its production activity is organised, the current discharge licence no longer applies to the activity and the new type of waste water produced. In this situation, the enterprise must apply for a revised discharge licence for the new production activity.

With regard to more detailed guidelines for the processing of applications for connection to public waste water systems, including the stipulation of conditions for the discharge of pollutants into such installations, reference is made to Danish EPA’s Environmental Guidelines No. 6, 1994, Guidelines for licensing the connection of industrial effluents to municipal waste water treatment plants.

5.4.4 Capacity of waste water system and catchment area

The connection of waste water from an enterprise must respect the capacity defined in the waste water plan for the relevant catchment area.

The discharge licence and the waste water plan must indicate the maximum processing capacity fixed for the treatment plant to which the waste water is to be discharged, i.e. the maximum load that may be discharged to the treatment plant from a catchment area defined in the waste water plan.

If the entire capacity of the waste water system is already fully utilised, or if the waste water system to be connected to the treatment plant is located outside the boundary of the plant’s catchment area, the local council’s licensing of the connection of waste water to the plant is subject to the issuing of a revised discharge licence for the treatment plant and revision of the waste water plan.

5.4.5 Stipulation of conditions in the connection licence

The local council fixes terms and conditions for the connection of waste water on the basis of the application submitted by the enterprise.

A distinction must be made between technical requirements and requirements concerning the composition and volume of the effluent.

Technical requirements

Requirements concerning simple treatment measures, e.g. installation of grease separators on drains from commercial kitchens (e.g. restaurants, institutions, hospitals), food-processing industries, etc., are stipulated if greasy waste water is discharged from sinks, dishwashers and other installations.

Oil and petrol separators are to be used when connecting waste water that may contain oil and grease, e.g. discharges from oil tank installations/petrol stations, garages, parking houses, car wash plants and paved areas used for washing operations etc. that generate oily waste water. Reference is made to SBI Direction 185 Drainage installations ("Afløbsinstallationer") issued in 1997 by the Danish Building Research Institute.

For further information, reference is made to Danish EPA’s Environmental Guidelines No. 6, 1994, Guidelines for licensing the connection of industrial effluents to municipal waste water collecting systems.

Requirements regarding effluent volume and composition

On the basis of the documentation submitted with the application, the local council will stipulate the final conditions regarding the permissible volume and substance load of the effluent. At the same time, the local council should also stipulate conditions concerning the enterprise’s internal control measures for the connection.

Sample-taking and analytical methods

The discharge licence must also include conditions for sample-taking and analytical methods. In this connection, reference is made to Statutory Order No. 637 of 30 June 1997 on quality standards for environmental measurements by accredited laboratories, and Environmental Guidelines No. 6, 1994: Guidelines for licensing the connection of industrial effluents to municipal waste water collecting systems.

Operational requirements

Operational requirements may be stipulated in discharge licences, for example, with respect to emptying frequency for drainage installations and replacement frequency for filters, etc.

5.4.6 Act on the environmental impact of gene technology ("Lov om miljø og genteknologi")

Special conditions apply to the licensing of connections for waste water from production lines using genetically modified organisms. The release of genetically modified organisms is governed by Act No. 356 of 6 June 1991 on the environmental impact of gene technology.

Regulatory competence

Under this Act, the authority to stipulate conditions for the discharge into municipal waste water treatment plants of industrial effluent containing genetically modified organisms lies with the regional council.

However, for the time being, cases concerning production activities that involve gene technology are referred to the Ministry of Environment and Energy for decision by the central government. The conditions regarding the level of genetically modified organisms that may be released with a particular effluent are therefore defined by the National Forest and Nature Agency. However, the local council concerned must be heard in the matter, since it is responsible for the municipal waste water treatment plant and for the treated effluents from the plant.

Notwithstanding the above, the authority to issue connection licences under the Environmental Protection Act lies with the local council, also in cases involving production based on genetically modified organisms.

5.5 Changing a waste water connection

Section 30 of the Environmental Protection Act empowers the local council to issue enforcement notices for the improvement or rehabilitation of conditions of operation that are deemed insufficient or inappropriate, or for changes to be made to connected waste water systems.

Pursuant to section 75 of the said Act, enforcement notices under section 30 of the Act must always be notified in advance. The party to whom the notice is addressed should be invited to submit information within a given time limit on the cost, advantages and disadvantages associated with the local council’s decision. In connection with such advance notification, the local council should obtain the same information, for example, regarding the waste water produced by the relevant enterprise, as that needed in the processing of an application for a connection licence. This information may be obtained by asking the enterprise to submit the data needed for an assessment of the enterprise’s waste water conditions, or, if necessary, by ordering the enterprise to make information available under the provisions of section 72 of the Environmental Protection Act.

5.5.1 Changing the conditions stipulated in a connection licence

If the local council finds the terms and conditions that govern a given connection to be inadequate, it may vary the conditions stipulated in the connection licence by issuing an enforcement notice. This is typically the case where a current connection licence has become outdated after an upgrading of the treatment plant in accordance with the Aquatic Environment Plan, the introduction of new measures for final disposal of sludge etc., developments in the field of cleaner technology or new knowledge about dangerous substances. The knowledge available today on the effect of industrial effluents on a waste water system and its biological processes as well as on the aquatic environment makes it necessary to stipulate conditions with regard to the content of, for example, environmentally incompatible substances, including measures for inflow monitoring.

Connection licences may not be varied for the purpose of creating extra capacity in undersized waste water treatment plants. In such cases, the enterprise is entitled to discharge waste water within the capacity assigned to the relevant catchment area in the waste water plan.

In order to meet the quality standards for receiving water bodies fixed in Statutory Order No. 929 of 8 October 1996 on quality standards for water bodies and emission standards for certain dangerous substances discharged into watercourses, lakes or the sea, it may be necessary to revise some of the conditions stipulated in connection licences. See also Chap. 16, below.

5.5.2 Changing the layout and organisation of waste water systems

Separate waste water pipes etc.

When a municipal combined waste water system is changed into a separate system, for example, in connection with a rehabilitation project, the local council may, pursuant to section 30 of the Environmental Protection Act, order the necessary alterations of the connected installations or vary the conditions applying to the connection. The local council may further order landowners to carry out the civil engineering works associated with relocating the service sewer through which the property is connected to the municipal collecting system if this will improve the conditions for waste water disposal in the area.

5.6 The Danish Building Act for Enterprises ("Byggeloven for virksomheder")

Despite the above limitations in the powers of local councils to license waste water connections as opposed to their authority to issue enforcement notices to vary the conditions stipulated in connection licences, experience shows that there is a need to clarify administrative practices in relation to new building projects and the connection of waste water from such buildings.

This problem relates especially to existing enterprises to which the local authority issued a planning permission several years ago without realising that the enterprise had failed to submit an application for a waste water connection licence.

Under the Building Regulations ("BR") of 1 April 1995 and the Building Regulations for detached or semi-detached houses of 25 June 1998, cf. section16(3) of the Danish Building Act, the local council must ensure compliance with any other legislation relevant to a building project before issuing a planning permission. (See also the National Building and Housing Agency’s Guidelines No. 130 of 31 July 1997 on local council review of legislation in connection with granting planning permissions).

According to the note on section 16(3) of the Building Act in Karnov’s Statutes (Karnovs Lovsamling) 1998, page 2770 "...it is deemed adequate for the purpose of law enforcement that the duty of the local authority to refuse an application for planning permission shall apply only in cases where a decision made under other legislation may prevent implementation of the building project at the site to which the application relates, or require substantial alteration of the project. Thus, factors that need not be clarified before the commencement of the building works, e.g. requirements concerning the layout and fitting up of the building, are not encompassed by the provisions laid down in the BR."

However, normal legal practice in this area shows that, even where the applicant is basically responsible for complying with applicable legislation and for obtaining, for example, a connection licence before establishing the actual connection for the discharge of waste water, the local council sometimes finds it difficult to enforce this requirement in its supervisory capacity.

It is therefore recommended that, when processing an application for planning permission, the municipal authorities should draw the applicant’s attention to the fact that any discharge of waste water from a new building is subject to a discharge licence issued by the local authority under the Environmental Protection Act.

Old unlicensed connections

In situations where an enterprise has therefore been discharging waste water to the municipal waste water treatment plant for several years without having obtained a discharge licence pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act, but merely on the basis of a planning permission, the local authority will know that such inflow takes place. If the local authority finds that there is a factual basis for stipulating special conditions for connection in such cases, it can do so by administrative measures, cf. section 30 of the Environmental Protection Act.

The best way of ensuring that all conditions affecting the connection of waste water from the enterprise are up-to-date is for the enterprise itself to apply for a new discharge licence.

New unlicensed connections

However, in the case of enterprises that have been connected only for a short period to the municipal waste water treatment plant, with or without planning permission, and without having obtained a connection licence under the Environmental Protection Act, it is the duty of the local authority as supervisory authority under section 65 of the Environmental Protection Act to take appropriate steps to legalise the connection as soon as it becomes aware of the violation, cf. section 68 and section 69 of the said Act. For the procedure to be used in such cases, see Danish EPA’s Environmental Guidelines No. 12 1992: Enforcement of the Environmental Protection Act.

5.7 Supervision and enforcement

Under sections 53-54 of the Statutory Order, the local council is responsible for supervising the following:

	Waste water systems connected to a public waste water system and the associated outfalls, except industrial connections (for which the regional council is the supervisory authority), cf. section 20(2) of the Statutory Order
	Waste water systems connected to private waste water systems discharging waste water into public waste water systems.

If the local council detects a violation of a connection licence, it must take appropriate enforcement action against the unlawful conduct pursuant to Part 9 of the Environmental Protection Act.

The local council issues licences to discharge waste water into the public collecting system to enterprises subject to approval under Part 5 of the Environmental Protection Act, in cases where the regional council is the approval authority, cf. section 28(3) of the said Act.

The regional council is responsible for the general supervision of the enterprise, while the local council supervises the waste water installations, including installations located at the enterprise’s own premises. Thus, if surface water has been incorrectly connected to the waste water system, the local council is empowered to order the enterprise to rectify all faulty connections.

5.8 Summary of the allocation of authority etc.

The table below shows the allocation of the licensing and supervisory powers in matters pertaining to waste water connections. It is also indicated whether it is possible to appeal against decisions made by the relevant authorities.

5.9 Right of appeal

Local council decisions under section 28(3) of the Environmental Protection Act may be brought before the Environmental Protection Agency, cf. section 91 of the said Act. However, according to section 11 of the Statutory Order, there is no right of appeal against the following decisions made by local councils:

1. Decisions concerning the connection of domestic waste water from household installations representing a load of 30 p.e. or less, including surface run-off.
2. Decisions concerning the connection of process waste water from installations at industrial enterprises representing a load of 30 p.e. or less, including surface run-off, if the pollutants present in the waste water can be expressed in p.e. and it does not contain substances other than those usually found in domestic waste water.
3. Decisions concerning the connection of other types of surface run-off, except from areas used for parking more than 20 cars and from roads.

It is implied in item 2) above that the composition of such waste water must not vary significantly from that of ordinary domestic waste water.

One p.e. means 21.9 kg organic matter expressed as BOD5 per year, 4.4 kg nitrogen per year and 1 kg phosphorus per year. All three parameters must be included in an assessment of the composition of the waste water, which means that no one parameter may exceed the level corresponding to 30 p.e.

The waste water resulting from a summer or campaign production may not be distributed evenly over the entire year. If waste water from such activities is discharged for one month only, this should be stated in the appeal, and the load admitted to the installation during this particular month should be specified.

Similarly, waste water of increased temperature, e.g. cooling water, is not comparable to domestic waste water, and appeals may therefore be lodged against decisions concerning such waste water.

Decisions made by the Environmental Protection Agency concerning connection licences issued to commercial and industrial enterprises may be brought before the Environmental Appeal Board, provided that the matter is of major or general public importance, cf. section 103(1)(ii) of the Environmental Protection Act. The Environmental Appeal Board decides whether the cases referred to the Board come within its scope of authority, cf. section 103(2) of the Environmental Protection Act.