The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems E+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 25^o C, and

(ii) must not vary by more than 10^o 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) [F1 in 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 [F3 the 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

F1 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)

F2 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)

F3 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)

Marginal Citations

M1 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).