Article 19 Discharge of waterI1

England, Wales and Scotland

(1)

Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) the undertaker may use any watercourse or any public sewer or drain for the drainage of water in connection with the construction, operation, maintenance or decommissioning of the authorised development and for that purpose may lay down, take up and alter pipes and may on any land within the Order limits, make openings into, and connections with, the watercourse, public sewer or drain.

(2)

Any dispute arising from the making of connections to or the use of a public sewer or drain by the undertaker under paragraph (1) is to be determined as if it were a dispute under section 106 (right to communicate with public sewers) of the Water Industry Act 1991^f1.

(3)

The undertaker must not discharge any water into any watercourse, public sewer or drain except with the consent of the person to whom it belongs or the person or body otherwise having authority to give such consent; and such consent may be given subject to such terms and conditions as that person may reasonably impose.

(4)

The undertaker must not carry out any works to or make any opening into any public sewer or drain except—

(a)

in accordance with plans approved by the person to whom the sewer or drain belongs; and

(b)

where that person has been given the opportunity to supervise the making of the opening.

(5)

The undertaker must not, in carrying out or maintaining works pursuant to this article, damage or interfere with the bed or banks of any watercourse forming part of a main river other than in accordance with a permit granted by the Environment Agency.

(6)

The undertaker must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that any water discharged into a watercourse or public sewer or drain under this article is as free as may be practicable from gravel, soil or other solid substance, oil or matter in suspension.

(7)

This article does not authorise a groundwater activity or a water discharge activity within the meaning of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016^f2.

(8)

In this article—

(a)

“public sewer or drain” means a sewer or drain which belongs to a sewerage undertaker, the Environment Agency, an internal drainage board or a local authority; and

(b)

other expressions, excluding watercourse, used both in this article and in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 have the same meaning as in those Regulations.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Art. 19 in force at 13.11.2025, see art. 1

Footnotes

f1: 1991 c. 56. Section 106 was amended by section 35(8)(a) of the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (c. 43) and sections 36(2) and 99 of the Water Act 2003 (c. 37). There are other amendments to the section which are not relevant to this Order.
f2: S.I. 2016/1154. “Groundwater activity” is defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 22. “Water discharge activity” is defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 21.

Notes on the whole SI

Textual amendments

F1: Words in Preamble substituted (6.2.2026) by The Stonestreet Green Solar (Correction) Order 2026 (S.I. 2026/131), art. 1, Sch.