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

PART 3E+WExempt groundwater activities: descriptions and conditions

Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systemsE+W

5.—(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)[F1in 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;

[F2(ea)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—

(a)

a European site (which has the meaning given in regulation 8 of [F3the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017]);

(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.

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

M11981 c. 69; the definition was inserted by paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37).