If your house has a septic tank or sewage treatment plant instead of being connected to mains drains, new regulations require you to register the tank or plant (or rather the discharge from it) with the Environment Agency.

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 now require all discharges from septic tanks and sewage treatment plants to be authorised by an environmental permit, or to be registered as being exempt from holding one. Most householders should be able to register an exemption and registration is currently free.

If you discharge into a river or a stream, registration must be made immediately. An exemption can usually be obtained as long as the discharge is less than 5 cubic metres per day and is via a sewage treatment plant. No application needs to be made if you already hold a Consent to Discharge or an Environmental Permit.

If you discharge into the ground (via a drainage field or soakaway) you must register with the Environment Agency by 1 January 2012. In these circumstances an exemption can usually be obtained as long as the discharge is less than 2 cubic metres per day, which as a guide would be the discharge of an eight-bedroom house.

Once you have registered an exemption, you must comply with various conditions, including proper inspection and maintenance and regular removal of excess sludge. Normal maintenance for a septic tank, which is a simpler system than a sewage treatment plant, would be removal of sludge once a year. Other obligations relate to keeping records of maintenance and repair, and not causing any pollution.

If you sell your house, you must give the buyer details of your exempt discharge and pass on any maintenance records. They will not need to register again and do not need to inform the Environment Agency of the change of ownership.

In a small number of cases, such as a discharge close to a nature conservation area or a discharge to ground that is within 50 metres of a water supply, an exemption will not be available. In those circumstances, you would have to apply for an environmental permit instead.

Further details and an on-line application form can be found through the Environment Agency website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/water/117485.aspx  Alternatively please contact Anya Radford on 01245 453800 or anya.radford@birkettlong.co.uk for further advice.