Obligatory registration of boreholes, energy production and septic tanks

Obligatory registration of boreholes, energy production and septic tanks


The deadline for the obligatory registration and licensing of use of water resources, which includes boreholes and septic tanks (furos and fossas) ends on the 15th December 2010 having been extended twice since the original deadline of 31st May 2009.


The legislation was established by Decree Law 226-A/2007 which makes it obligatory to register and license various forms of water sources, and specified in the case of existing situations which had not been registered, that the request for registration and licence should be made within two years from the date of the Decree Law, that being the 1st June 2007.


This licensing has, as an ultimate aim, the mapping of the overall situation in order to manage in the best possible way the Country’s water resources, and to control residual water discharges into the environment to avoid contaminating the underground water supply (aquifers).


The licensing is also regulated by the so called Water Law (58/2005) which requires licensing for:


a) Search for and capture of water (art. 40);

b) Electric energy production (art.47);

c) Disposal of waste waters (art. 48).


Waste water disposal may be by public or private means. Septic tanks are included in the last category.


Under the terms of article 11 of the Law it is possible to request advance information in order to be sure of the possible use of water resources before actually requesting that a license be issued.


In principal, all boreholes, wells, water mines, ponds, dams, and septic tanks must be registered with the competent authority which is, in the case of the Algarve, the Administração da Região Hidrográfica do Algarve, I.P. (ARH). As is often the case however, there are exceptions which in the case of boreholes and wells are as follows!

 

  1. Boreholes and wells, located in certain areas of the Algarve, which capture underground water and which have extraction by pump less than 5 cv, are exempt of any title of use. In those cases, the owner may, if he or she deems fit, communicate voluntarily the existence of the borehole/well to the authority, with the object of protecting their own borehole or well from future adjoining and conflicting ones, and also in order to help achieve a better knowledge of the national water resources. This “optional” communication process requires the same documents and information as a normal registration process itself.

  1. All boreholes/wells in use after the 1st June 2007 (regardless as to whether their means of extraction are below 5 cv) must register with the ARH.

  1. 3. Underground water obtained by means that are above 5cv must also register and obtain the utilization title (no payment required) regardless of when the borehole was first used.

  1. In respect of exemption in 1 above it should be noted that there is a map of the Algarve which shows clearly, by use of a zoom search option, the areas which are sensitive to water extraction and thus require registration (this is available at http://licenciamentos.mapas.arhalgarve.pt/#).

  1. Therefore, the following requirements need to be verified (in the Algarve) in order to obtain the registration exemption:

  1. The water is obtained by a pump less than 5cv

  2. The location of the borehole must be outside the cross hatched designated areas as shown on the above referred map.

There is a further exemption respect of septic tanks as only those tanks which drain into the surrounding environment must be registered, and not the water tight type which have to be periodically emptied by the local council or a private contractor.

Septic tanks are subject to very specific regulations in accordance with diverse legislation as mentioned in 52 of the Law 226-A/2007 and the emptying of septic tank contents directly into the environment is a very serious offence and is punishable by a fine under the terms of article 81, number 3, f) of that Decree Law.

The use of the water resources without the respective title is also considered a very serious environmental offense and is punishable under the terms of article 81 number 3, a) of the above law with fines between 25.000 and 37.500 Euros in the case of individuals, and between 60.000 and 2,5 million Euros in the case of companies.

There has been a movement since at least 2006 to reduce the number of septic tanks that discharge, preferring always to use the closed, water tight, septic tank, in order to reduce the risk of contamination of the underground water supply. The Institute for the Regulation of Water and Residues (Instituto Regulador de Águas e Resíduos) has made a recommendation advising that septic tanks should be deactivated in cases where there is a public main sewage system available. Only in cases where deactivation is impossible for technical or economic reasons, recognised by the local managing authority responsible for such waste (normally councils), should such septic tanks remain. If not, the septic tank must be deactivated, filled with earth and connection made to the main public sewage system, which is obligatory by law (number 2 and 4 of the article 2 of the Law-Decree 379/93 of the 5th November).


Lagoa, 17 November 2010

 

Sovereign – Consultoria Lda

Lagoa