National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998)

General Authorisations in terms of Section 39 of the National Water Act

3. Discharge of waste or water containing waste into a water resource through a pipe, canal, sewer or other conduit; and disposing in any manner of water which contains waste from, or which has been heated in, any industrial or power generation process

3.9 Record-keeping and disclosure of information

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1)The registered user must ensure the establishment of monitoring programmes to monitor the quantity and quality of the discharge prior to the commencement of the discharge, as follows—
a)the quantity of the discharge must be metered and the total recorded weekly; and
b)the quality of domestic wastewater discharges must be monitored monthly by grab sampling as set out in Table 3.3.

 

Table 3.3: Monitoring requirements for domestic wastewater discharges

 

Discharge Volume on any given Day

Monitoring Requirements

<10 cubic metres

None

10 to 100 cubic metres

pH

Electrical Conductivity (rnS/m)

Faecal Coliforms (per 100 ml)

100 to 1000 cubic metres

pH

Electrical Conductivity (mS/m)

Faecal Coliforms (per 100 ml)

Chemical Oxygen Demand (mg/I)

Ammonia as Nitrogen (mg/I)

Suspended Solids (mg/I)

1 000 to 2 000 cubic metres

pH

Electrical Conductivity (mS/rn)

Faecal Coliforms (per 100 ml)

Chemical Oxygen Demand (mg/l)

Ammonia as Nitrogen (mg/I)

Nitrate/Nitrite as Nitrogen (mg/I)

Free Chlorine (mg/I)

Suspended Solids (mg/I)

Ortho-Phosphate as Phosphorous (mg/I)

 

c)the quality of industrial wastewater discharges must be monitored weekly by grab sampling—
i)for all substances which have been added to the water through any industrial activity;
ii)for all substances which have been concentrated in the water through any industrial activity;
iii)for all substances which may be harmful or potentially harmful to human health or to the water resource quality; and
iv)as set out in paragraph 3.9(1)(b) above, if the wastewater contains any domestic wastewater.
d)The methods for the measurement of specific substances and parameters in any wastewater must be carried out—
i)by a laboratory that has been accredited under the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) in terms of SABS Code 0259 for that method; or
ii)as approved in writing by the Minister.

 

2)Upon the written request of the Responsible Authority the registered user must—
a)ensure the establishment of any additional monitoring programmes; and
b)appoint a competent person to assess the water use measurements made in terms of this authorisation and submit the findings to the Responsible Authority for evaluation.

 

3)Subject to paragraph 3.10(2) above, the registered user must, for at least five years, keep a written record of the following wastewater discharge and related activities—
a)the quantity of wastewater discharged;
b)the quality of wastewater discharged;
c)details of the monitoring programme/s;
d)details of failures and malfunctions in the discharge system and details of measures taken, and

such information must be made available upon written request to the Responsible Authority.

 

4)Any information on the occurrence of any incident that has or is likely to have a detrimental impact on the water resource quality must be reported to the Responsible Authority.