Schedule 3 (exempt facilities: descriptions and conditions)13.
“Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems4.
(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 20108);(b)
a site of special scientific interest (which has the meaning given in section 52(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 19819);“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.”.