Water Industry Act 1991

165 Discharges for works purposes

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and to section 166 below, where any water undertaker—

(a) is exercising or about to exercise any power conferred by section 158, 159, 161 or 163 above (other than the power conferred by section 161(3) above); or

(b) is carrying out, or is about to carry out, the construction, alteration, repair, cleaning, or examination of any reservoir, well, borehole, or other work belonging to or used by that undertaker for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of any of its functions,

the undertaker may cause the water in any relevant pipe or in any such reservoir, well, borehole or other work to be discharged into any available watercourse.

(2) Nothing in this section shall authorise any discharge which—

(a) damages or injuriously affects the works or property of any railway undertakers or navigation authority; or

(b) floods or damages any highway.

(3) If any water undertaker fails to take all necessary steps to secure that any water discharged by it under this section is as free as may be reasonably practicable from—

(a) mud and silt;

(b) solid, polluting, offensive or injurious substances; and

(c) any substances prejudicial to fish or spawn, or to spawning beds or food of fish,

the undertaker shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) In this section “relevant pipe” means any water main (including a trunk main), resource main, discharge pipe or service pipe.