SCHEDULE 3Exempt facilities and waste operations to which section 33(1)(a) of the 1990 Act does not apply: descriptions and conditions

PART 3Exempt groundwater activities: descriptions and conditions

Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems5

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

F3in relation to Wales, 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;

F2ea

in relation to England, that water from the system must not be discharged within a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1;

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—

    1. a

      a European site (which has the meaning given in regulation 8 of F1the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017);

    2. b

      a site of special scientific interest (which has the meaning given in section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 M1);

  • “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.