Public Health (Drainage of Trade Premises) Act 1937

2 Special restrictions on discharge of trade effluents

(1) No trade effluent shall be discharged from any trade premises into a public sewer of a local authority otherwise than in accordance with a written notice (hereafter in this Act referred to as "a trade effluent notice ") served on the local authority by the owner or occupier of the premises, stating—

(a) the nature or composition of the trade effluent,

(b) the maximum quantity of the trade effluent which it is proposed to discharge on any one day, and

(c) the highest rate at which it is proposed to discharge the trade effluent;

and no trade effluent shall be discharged in accordance with such a notice until the expiration of the period of two months, or such less time as may be agreed to by the local authority, from the day on which the notice is served on the local authority (hereafter in this Act referred to as " the initial period ").

(2) In so far as the discharge of any trade effluent in accordance with a trade effluent notice would not be lawful without the consent of the local authority, the notice shall be deemed to be an application for that consent.

(3) Where a trade effluent notice in respect of any premises is served on a local authority, the local authority may, at any time within the initial period, give to the owner or occupier, as the case may be, of those premises a direction that no trade effluent shall be discharged in pursuance of the notice until a specified date after the end of the initial period; and, in so far as the discharge of any trade effluent in accordance with the trade effluent notice requires the consent of the local authority in order to be lawful, the local authority may give that consent either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the local authority think fit to impose with respect to—

(a) the sewer or sewers into which any trade effluent may be discharged in pursuance of the trade effluent notice,

(b) the nature or composition of the trade effluent which may be so discharged,

(c) the maximum quantity of any trade effluent which may be so discharged on any one day, either generally or into a particular sewer,

(d) the highest rate at which any trade effluent may be discharged in pursuance of the trade effluent notice, either generally or into a particular sewer, and

(e) any other matter with respect to which byelaws may be made under this Act;

but any such condition as aforesaid shall be of no effect if and so far as it is inconsistent with any byelaws so made which are for the time being in force.

(4) A local authority, on receiving a trade effluent notice duly served on them, shall forthwith send a copy of the notice to any interested body, and the local authority shall not have power to take any further action under the preceding provisions of this section in relation to the notice, without the approval of the body or bodies (if any) to whom the local authority are required by this subsection to send a copy of the notice.

(5) If, in the case of any trade premises—

(a) any trade effluent is discharged in contravention of this section, or without such consent (if any) as is necessary for the purposes of this Act, or

(b) any direction or condition given or imposed under this section is contravened,

the occupier of the premises shall be guilty of an offence.