# The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, Paragraph 5: Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems


(1) For the purpose of paragraphs 7(a)(i) and 8(a)(i) of Schedule 2, the description is the discharge of water to groundwater from a heating or cooling system to which sub-paragraph (3) applies with altered temperature.
(2) For the purpose of paragraphs 7(a)(ii) and 8(a)(ii) of that Schedule, the conditions in relation to a groundwater activity of that description are—
(a) that nothing must be added to water discharged from the system;
(b) that the temperature of water discharged from the system—
(i) subject to sub-paragraph (ii), must not exceed 25o C, and
(ii) must not vary by more than 10o C compared to that in the aquifer from which it was abstracted;
(c) that the system must not be on a known contaminated site or have had a previous contaminative use;
(d) that water from the system must not be discharged less than 50 metres from a watercourse or groundwater-fed wetland;
(e) that water from the system must not be discharged—
(i) less than 50 metres from a point at which water is abstracted from underground strata, or
(ii) within a zone defined by a 50-day travel time for groundwater to reach a groundwater abstraction point that is used to supply water for domestic or food production purposes;
(f) that the discharge of water from the system must be to the same aquifer as that from which it was abstracted;
(g) that water within the system must not be used for any other purpose.
(3) This sub-paragraph applies to a system—
(a) that involves—
(i) the abstraction of groundwater to obtain heating or (as the case may be) cooling, and
(ii) the subsequent discharge of that water, and
(b) that is—
(i) a cooled aquifer system with a volume of less than 1500 cubic metres per day,
(ii) a balanced system with a volume of less than 430 cubic metres per day, or
(iii) a heated aquifer system with a volume of less than 215 cubic metres per day.
(4) In this paragraph—
“balanced system” means a system used for both heating and cooling and where in a 5-year period the ratio of the discharge water temperature to the abstracted water temperature is within the range 0.8 to 1.2;
“cooled aquifer system” means a system used for both heating and cooling and where in a 5-year period the ratio of the discharge water temperature to the abstracted water temperature is less than 0.8;
“groundwater-fed wetland” means a terrestrial ecosystem directly depending on a body of groundwater (within the meaning of the Water Framework Directive) and includes—
(a) a European site (which has the meaning given in regulation 8 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010);
(b) a site of special scientific interest (which has the meaning given in section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981);
“heated aquifer system” means a system used for both heating and cooling and where in a 5-year period the ratio of the discharge water temperature to the abstracted water temperature exceeds 1.2.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2016/9780111150184/schedule/3/part/3/paragraph/5 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-environmental-permitting-england-and-wales-regulations-2016/schedule-3/part-3/paragraph-5
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.