S.I. No. 65/2026 - European Union (Water Policy) (Small Wastewater Discharge Register) Regulations 2026

1. Wastewater arising from a housing development must receive secondary treatment in a wastewater works prior to discharge.

2. The population equivalent (p.e.) served by the wastewater works must not exceed 150. The p.e. must be determined in accordance with the methodology specified in the registration

criteria

published by the Agency.

3. The volume of treated wastewater discharged must not exceed 22.5 cubic metres per day, calculated as a daily average.

4. Rainwater, surface water and runoff from paved areas must not enter the wastewater works.

5. Only domestic wastewater shall be collected, conveyed and treated by the wastewater works. The discharge of non-domestic related trade effluent or industrial wastewater is prohibited.

6. Wastewater arising from the housing development must be connected to a public sewer should it becomes feasible to do so. In the event of connecting the housing development to the public sewer, the wastewater discharge and elements of the wastewater works, as required, must be decommissioned to the satisfaction of the Agency.

Operation and Maintenance

7. Desludging

7.1. Where used as part of the wastewater works, septic tanks must be de-sludged regularly and sludge disposed of or recovered appropriately.

7.2. Records of de-sludging, including dates, tonnage and destination must be maintained for a period of 7 years.

8. Uisce Éireann must establish and undertake an operation and maintenance programme for the wastewater works and ensure that all equipment and all elements of the treatment process are maintained in good working order and do not pose any health and safety or environmental risk.

Incident Reporting, complaints and notifications

9. Uisce Éireann must report incidents to the Agency as soon as practicable and must take corrective and preventative actions to resolve incidents and avoid their recurrence.

10. Uisce Éireann must record and investigate all complaints received in relation to the wastewater works and take appropriate action to resolve the complaint.

11. Material alteration or cessation of a discharge must be notified to the Agency.

12. In the event of the cessation of the wastewater treatment process and associated discharge, Uisce Éireann must decommission, render safe or remove for recovery or disposal any soil, subsoil, buildings, plant or equipment, or any waste, materials or substances contained therein or thereon, that may result in environmental pollution.

13. The wastewater works must be operated and maintained to avoid causing nuisance.

Treatment Performance Standards

14. The collection system, treatment works, and discharge of treated wastewater shall not cause environmental pollution.

15. The wastewater works shall be designed, operated and maintained so as to achieve at least secondary treatment standards prior to discharge as follows

Parameter

Concentration (after secondary treatment)

cBOD

25 mg/l O

2

COD

125 mg/l O

2

Total Suspended Solids

35 mg/l

16. The discharge of gross solids and litter is prohibited.

17. There shall be no discharge of priority substances (within the meaning of the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations (S. I. No. 272 of 2009).

Discharge monitoring and ambient monitoring

18. Uisce Éireann must inspect and sample the treated effluent discharge twice a year and analyse it for the parameters set out in Rule 15.

19. Records of monitoring, sampling and analysis must be retained for a period of 7 years by Uisce Éireann.

20. The discharge point must be easily accessible and have a dedicated sampling point.

21. Ambient monitoring.

21.1. Uisce Éireann must carry out a small stream risk score assessment or other suitable ecological assessment at a suitable location upstream and downstream of the discharge point once every 3 years.

21.2. The ecological assessments must be carried out by a suitably competent person using a recognised methodology appropriate to the assessment of ecological impacts in surface waters.

21.3. The results of such assessments must be recorded and retained indefinitely by Uisce Éireann and made available to the Agency upon request.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

24 February, 2026.

JAMES BROWNE,

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations—

• give effect to Article 11(3)(g) of Directive 2000/60/EC in respect of providing for a register of wastewater discharges subject to general binding rules;.

• provide for the establishment of a register of small wastewater discharges with a population equivalent of less than or equal to 150, to be established and maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency;

• provide for obligations of Uisce Éireann in respect of registering wastewater discharges.

• provide for the application of general binding rules by the EPA and enforcement.

1 OJ No. L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1 – 73

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

3

rd March,

2026.

I, James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 3

of the

European Communities Act 1972

(No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Article 11(3)(g) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000

1

, hereby make the following regulations

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