EPMA Trade Effluent Standard
EPMA Trade Effluent Standard
EPMA Trade Effluent Standard
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History
G.N. NO.S
160/99
->
2001
REVISEDEDITION
->
RG5
2008
REVISED
EDITION
1 Citation
2 Definition
3 Particulars to be furnished
4 Trade effluent to be treated
5 Control mechanism for discharge of trade effluent
6 Outlet for discharge to require prior approval
7 Particulars of trade effluent discharge required by Director-General
8 Nature and type of trade effluent to be discharged
9 Trade effluent to be free of certain substances
10 Maximum concentrations of certain substances
11 Method of analysis
12 Penalty
13 Exemption
14 Transitional provisions
Actual Provisions
Citation
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Protection and Management (Trade
Effluent) Regulations.
Definition
2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, controlled watercourse means a
watercourse from which water supplied by the Public Utilities Board under the Public Utilities Act
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(Cap. 261) is obtained but does not include a watercourse from which water is pumped into a main
of the Public Utilities Board.
Particulars to be furnished
3. (1) An applicant applying for a licence under section 15 of the Act shall furnish the DirectorGeneral
(a) particulars of the trade, manufacture, business or building construction carried on or to be
carried on by him and in the course of which the trade effluent is wholly or partly produced
or of which the trade effluent is the waste or refuse;
(b) details of all the processes or operations employed or to be employed by him, to produce
the final products of the trade, manufacture, business or building construction;
(c) particulars of all the raw materials and chemicals used or to be used in the processes or
operations;
(d) details of the layout of all the machinery, plant and equipment used or to be used in the
premises in which the trade, manufacture, business or building construction is or shall be
carried on, as the case may be;
(e) an estimate of the amount of water consumed or used or to be consumed or used in the
trade, manufacture, business or building construction;
(f) particulars of the physical, organic and chemical nature of the trade effluent; and
(g) such other information relating to the discharge of trade effluent as the Director-General
may require.
(2) In his application for a licence, the applicant shall furnish the Director-General such other
information as the applicant considers to be relevant to the consideration of his application.
(3) A licensee shall not discharge trade effluent into any watercourse or land otherwise than in
accordance with these Regulations.
(4) A licensee shall, within 14 days of a change in
(a) a process or operation referred to in paragraph (1) (b); or
(b) the layout of the machinery, plant and equipment referred to in paragraph (1) (d),
which affects the amount or the physical, organic or chemical nature of the trade effluent
discharged and which has been made after the Director-General has granted the licence, notify the
Director-General in writing of the change in the process or operation, or the layout of the
machinery, plant and equipment, as the case may be.
(5) Any licence granted by the Director-General to discharge trade effluent into any watercourse or
land
(a) shall be subject to such conditions as the Director-General may impose;
(b) may be revoked, or suspended for any period, by the Director-General without assigning
any reason; and
(c) shall cease to be valid when the licensee fails to comply with these Regulations or any
condition imposed by the Director-General in granting the licence.
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(c) refuse, garbage, sawdust, timber, human or animal waste or solid matter;
(d) petroleum or other inflammable solvent; or
(e) a substance that either by itself or in combination or by reaction with other waste or
refuse may give rise to any gas, fume, or odour or substance which is or is likely to be a
hazard to human life, a public nuisance, injurious or otherwise objectionable.
Maximum concentrations of certain substances
10. (1) The Director-General may stipulate
(a) the maximum volume and quantity of a substance which may be discharged into a
watercourse; and
(b) the maximum rate at which the substance may be so discharged.
(2) Subject to paragraph (1), no person who has been informed by the Director-General by notice in
writing of the volume, quantity or rate may discharge the substance into a watercourse in a volume,
quantity or at a rate in excess of that so stipulated.
(3) Any trade effluent analysed in accordance with regulation 11 shall not contain the following
substances in concentrations greater than those set out below:
Limit for
Limit for
discharge into a
discharge into
watercourse other
a controlled
than a controlled
watercourse
watercourse in
in milligrams
milligrams per litre
per litre of
of trade effluent
trade effluent
(a) Total Suspended Solids
50
30
(b) Sulphide (as sulphur)
0.2
0.2
(c) Cyanide (as CN)
0.1
0.1
15
5
(d) Detergents (linear alkylate
sulphonate as methylene blue
active substances)
(e) Grease and Oil
10 (Total)
1 (Total)
10 (Hydrocarbons)
(f) Arsenic
0.1
0.01
(g) Barium
2
1
(h) Iron (as Fe)
10
1
(i) Boron
5
0.5
(j) Manganese
5
0.5
(k) Phenolic Compounds
0.2
Nil.
(expressed as phenol)
(4) The 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand at 20 Celsius (referred to in this paragraph as BOD)
and the Chemical Oxygen Demand (referred to in this paragraph as COD) of any trade effluent
analysed in accordance with regulation 11 shall not be in proportions greater than those set out
below:
(a) 50 milligrams per litre of BOD and 100 milligrams per litre of COD where the trade
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(a) Cadmium
(b) Chromium (trivalent and
hexavalent)
(c) Copper
(d) Lead
(e) Mercury
(f) Nickel
(g) Selenium
(h) Silver
(i) Zinc
0.1
0.1
0.05
1
0.5
0.1
1
0.1
0.1
0.001
0.1
0.01
0.1
0.5.
0.003
0.05
(6) Where 2 or more of the metals specified in paragraph (5) are present in the trade effluent, the
concentration of the metals shall not be more than
(a) 1 milligram per litre where the trade effluent is discharged into a watercourse other than a
controlled watercourse; and
(b) 0.5 milligram per litre where the trade effluent is discharged into a controlled
watercourse.
(7) The concentration of
(a) free chlorine shall not exceed 1 milligram per litre where the trade effluent is discharged
into a watercourse;
(b) colour shall not exceed 7 Lovibond Units where the trade effluent is discharged into a
watercourse;
(c) phosphates, expressed as PO4, shall not exceed 5 milligrams per litre where the trade
effluent is discharged into a watercourse other than a controlled watercourse and 2
milligrams per litre where it is discharged into a controlled watercourse;
(d) calcium and magnesium, expressed as Ca and Mg respectively, shall not exceed 150
milligrams per litre where the trade effluent is discharged into a controlled watercourse;
(e) nitrate, expressed as NO3, shall not exceed 20 milligrams per litre where the trade
effluent is discharged into a controlled watercourse;
(f) chloride, expressed as Cl-, shall not exceed 250 milligrams per litre where the trade
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