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Ordinary watercourse legislation

Discharge - Certain discharges to watercourses require the consent of the Environment Agency, which will be able to advise you on this subject.  These discharges include outfalls from septic tanks and private sewerage treatment plants.

Pollution - If you feel a watercourse may be polluted you should contact the Environment Agency or the District Council's Environmental Health team. 

Planning - If you propose to discharge surface water from a new building or development into an existing watercourse you may be required to make improvements downstream (to enable the watercourse to deal with any increased flow) or to provide storage to control the rate of flow from the site.

Environment Agency By-laws - The Environment Agency may have additional by-laws that affect ordinary watercourses.  Please contact them for further information on this.