Activity which involves the discharge of effluent into foul sewers, storm water drains, inland waters or coastal waters in Hong Kong:

Effluent from industrial, institutional and commercial premises, discharge of domestic sewage from institutional and commercial premises in unsewered areas, domestic sewage treatment plant and domestic premises in unsewered areas are subject to control and a valid licence is required before any of these discharges commences. The licence contains terms and conditions specifying requirements of the effluent discharge, e.g. the discharge location, quantity and quality of the effluent, sampling points and any monitoring that is required to be carried out by the dischargers. The fees are dependent upon the types and quantities of the discharge and are subject to review.

How to apply:

(i) The applicant shall be either the person who makes or authorises the discharge, or the owner or occupier of the premises from which the discharge is made.

(ii) Application should be made in a Form A prescribed under the said Ordinance.

(iii) For licence renewal, application shall be made not earlier than 4 months and not later than 2 months before the date of the expiry of the licence.

Documents to be submitted:

1. A duly completed Application Form A (EPD 117).

2. Copy of the Business Registration Certificate and Certificate of Incorporation if appropriate;

3. Estimate of discharge flow rate with supporting documents, for example, copies of the latest three consecutive water bills for your discharges;

4. Layout plan of your site indicating the drainage system, effluent discharge point, discharge route and connection location to public foul sewers or stormwater drain;

5. A prescribed application fee as determined according to the table on the Submission Checklist for Discharge licence under Water Pollution Control Ordinance. Payment shall be made by crossed cheque made payable to "The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Applications should be submitted to any of the Customer Service Counters of EPD. For more information, please refer to the A Guide to the Water Pollution control Ordinance and the "Technical Memorandum on Standards for Effluent Discharged into Drainage and Sewerage Systems, Inland and Coastal Waters"; both published by EPD.