13 Schedule 3 (exempt facilities: descriptions and conditions)
In Schedule 3, in Part 3, after paragraph 3 insert—

“4 Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems
1 For the purpose of paragraph 5(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 paragraph 5(a)(ii) of that Schedule, the conditions in relation to a groundwater activity of that description are—
(a) that nothing should 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) that water from the system must not be discharged within—
(i) 50 metres of a point at which water is abstracted from underground strata, or
(ii) 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;
(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 the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010);
S.I. 2010/460, to which there are amendments not relevant to this instrument.
(b) a site of special scientific interest (which has the meaning given in section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981);
1981 c. 69; the definition was inserted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), section 75(1) and Schedule 9, paragraph 5(1) and (2).
“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.”

.