Einleiten von Abwasser in öffentliche Abwasseranlagen beantragen

Do you want to discharge wastewater into a public wastewater system (sewer system)? Then an application for a permit to discharge wastewater into a public wastewater system must be submitted to the competent authority in the respective federal state.

In Germany, a permit is generally required for the discharge of commercial/industrial wastewater into a public wastewater treatment plant (indirect discharge), provided that the Wastewater Ordinance specifies requirements for the wastewater at the place where it is produced or before it is mixed. Permits are issued by the competent authorities of the individual federal states.

For those sectors and activities (e.g. chemical industry, paper production, metal processing, cooling water use) where pollutants are to be expected in the wastewater that cannot be sufficiently purified in a municipal wastewater treatment plant, the legislator has laid down requirements in the sector-specific annexes to the Wastewater Ordinance.

In order to comply with these requirements, special measures and wastewater pre-treatment plants are required to reduce the pollutant load so that the wastewater can then be treated in a public wastewater treatment plant without causing any harm.

The permit in accordance with Section 58 WHG is issued by the responsible water authority (Section 65 Para. 1 Hessian Water Act (HWG) in conjunction with Section 1 Para. § 1 para. 1 sentence 1 no. 5 b Competence Ordinance Water Authorities). The permit may only be granted if the requirements of Section 58 (2) WHG are met. According to § 38 para. 3 HWG i.V.m. § 2 Para. 2 IndV, the approval requirement does not apply in certain cases. According to § 38 Para. 1 HWG, approval is also required for the discharge of groundwater into wastewater treatment plants if this contains substances for which requirements are specified in the Wastewater Ordinance for the place of occurrence or prior to mixing.

The required documents depend on the wastewater (industrial wastewater, commercial wastewater) that is to be discharged into the public wastewater system.

The permit may be granted (discretionary) if

• the requirements applicable to the discharge in accordance with the Waste Water Ordinance as amended, including the general requirements, are complied with (general requirements, requirements for the place of occurrence and before mixing)
• compliance with the requirements for direct discharge is not jeopardized and
• wastewater treatment plants or other facilities are installed and operated that are necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements under numbers 1 and 2
• there is no impairment of the public good and no infringement of third-party rights

An administrative fee must be paid to the respective federal state for the administrative service of the permit. The administrative fee is based on the respective state regulations on administrative fees.

The costs for "Approval of an indirect discharge pursuant to Section 58 (1) WHG" are between €300 and €12,000 (as of July 2021) in accordance with the Administrative Cost Regulations for the Division of the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (VwKostO-MUKLV) dated December 19, 2009, last amended by Ordinance dated February 22, 2021, Annex No. 162231

• Authority explains the indirect discharge approval procedure to the applicant
• Applicant prepares application documents and submits them.
• Authority checks application documents for completeness; requests additional documents if necessary
• Applicant *submits additional documents
• Authority checks documents submitted subsequently for completeness
• Authority involves public bodies that may be affected by the project
• Authority requests any documents that were subsequently requested as part of the involvement of external and / or internal bodies
• Applicant *submits documents
• Authority checks subsequently submitted documents, if necessary with the involvement of external and / or internal bodies
• Authority issues the permit on the basis of the checked and, if necessary, supplemented application documents
• Applicant receives notice of approval for indirect discharge
• Applicant pays the administrative costs

The processing time depends on the quality and scope of the applications and documents submitted.

In principle, the processing time is at least 3 months. The processing time may depend on when additional documents are submitted

The application must be submitted in good time, as wastewater may only be discharged into a public wastewater system if a permit has been issued. The discharge into a public wastewater system may only take place once the permit has been issued, meaning that the application for the permit must be submitted in good time, i.e. 6 months before the discharge of wastewater into a public wastewater system.

An objection to the approval may be lodged within one month of notification. If there is no objection procedure, an action can be brought before the administrative court.

Pursuant to Section 16 a (2) of the Hessian Act on the Implementation of the Administrative Court Code (HessAGVwGO), the preliminary proceedings pursuant to Section 68 of the Administrative Court Code do not apply if the regional council has granted the permit. An action may be brought against the approval (Section 74 (1) VwGO) within one month of notification.

• Discharging wastewater into public wastewater facilities Permit
• For the discharge of wastewater (industrial wastewater, commercial wastewater) into a public wastewater system, a permit must be applied for in Germany under certain conditions.

The responsibility for issuing the permit arises from Section 65 HWG in conjunction with the Ordinance on the Responsibility of the Water Authorities

Higher water authorities: Darmstadt Regional Council, Giessen Regional Council, Kassel Regional Council

Lower water authorities:
The tasks of the lower water authorities are carried out by the district administrations and, in independent cities, the municipal administrations.

The following page also provides all contact details for processing Annexes 49, 50 and 52 of the Waste Water Ordinance.

The names and designs of the individual forms vary from state to state. Generally speaking, there are application forms, checklists and information sheets as declarations or forms.

Online procedure: no

Written form required: yes

Personal appearance: no