{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/environmental-permitting-england-and-wales-regulations-2016/schedule-3/part-3/paragraph-5",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/environmental-permitting-england-and-wales-regulations-2016/schedule-3/part-3/paragraph-5.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2016/1154",
  "legislation_title": "The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/environmental-permitting-england-and-wales-regulations-2016",
  "path": "schedule/3/part/3/paragraph/5",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "5",
  "heading": "Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems",
  "text": "(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.\n(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—\n(a) that nothing must be added to water discharged from the system;\n(b) that the temperature of water discharged from the system—\n(i) subject to sub-paragraph (ii), must not exceed 25o C, and\n(ii) must not vary by more than 10o C compared to that in the aquifer from which it was abstracted;\n(c) that the system must not be on a known contaminated site or have had a previous contaminative use;\n(d) that water from the system must not be discharged less than 50 metres from a watercourse or groundwater-fed wetland;\n(e) in relation to Wales, that water from the system must not be discharged—\n(i) less than 50 metres from a point at which water is abstracted from underground strata, or\n(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;\n(ea) in relation to England, that water from the system must not be discharged within a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1;\n(f) that the discharge of water from the system must be to the same aquifer as that from which it was abstracted;\n(g) that water within the system must not be used for any other purpose.\n(3) This sub-paragraph applies to a system—\n(a) that involves—\n(i) the abstraction of groundwater to obtain heating or (as the case may be) cooling, and\n(ii) the subsequent discharge of that water, and\n(b) that is—\n(i) a cooled aquifer system with a volume of less than 1500 cubic metres per day,\n(ii) a balanced system with a volume of less than 430 cubic metres per day, or\n(iii) a heated aquifer system with a volume of less than 215 cubic metres per day.\n(4) In this paragraph—\n“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;\n“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;\n“groundwater-fed wetland” means a terrestrial ecosystem directly depending on a body of groundwater (within the meaning of the Water Framework Directive) and includes—\n(a)a European site (which has the meaning given in regulation 8 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017);\n(b)a site of special scientific interest (which has the meaning given in section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 );\n“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.",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Words in Sch. 3 Pt. 3 para. 5(2)(e) inserted (2.10.2023) by The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/651), regs. 1(2), 5(b)(iii)(aa)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Sch. 3 Pt. 3 para. 5(ea) inserted (2.10.2023) by The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/651), regs. 1(2), 5(b)(iii)(bb)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words in Sch. 3 Pt. 3 para. 5(4) substituted (30.11.2017) by The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1012), reg. 1(2), Sch. 6 para. 73(2)(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M1",
      "text": "1981 c. 69; the definition was inserted by paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/873",
      "affecting_title": "The Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/1154/schedule/3/part/3/paragraph/5",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-05T03:41:31.926820+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}