Discharging trade effluent

Any liquid waste, other than surface water and domestic sewage, that you discharge from your business premises it is known as trade effluent.

You must get a trade effluent consent from Northern Ireland Water (NIW) before you discharge any trade effluent to the public foul sewer. This is important even if you only discharge a small amount of liquid waste, as it could cause serious damage to the sewage system and create a risk of danger to public health.

You will need a trade effluent agreement if your discharges require work to be carried out to meet your particular treatment requirements.

If you intend to discharge trade effluent directly to surface waters or groundwater, you must check if you need a discharge consent, groundwater authorisation or pollution prevention and control permit.

This guide provides information on the different types of trade effluent and how to get permission to discharge trade effluent. It also describes how to deal with trade effluent where a public foul sewer is not available, and the use of septic tanks, package treatment plant and cesspools.