Rainwater Management: Obligations and Funding for Property Owners in Poland

Intensified inspections of residents by waterworks officials have started. They check in particular what happens to rainwater in households. If they are illegally discharged into the sanitary sewage system, a fine of up to PLN 10,000 may be imposed. zloty.

Contents

1. Obligation to connect to the sewage system
2. Funding for the rainwater tank 2023
3. Rainwater to the septic tank or to the household sewage treatment plant
4. What documents can auditors request?
5. The municipality may allow time to connect to the sewage system

According to the rules Pursuant to the Act on maintaining cleanliness and order in communes, property owners are obliged to manage rainwater and snowmelt on their own land. Under no circumstances should this be done by discharging rainwater into the sewage system – this becomes the cause of flooding of real estate and local flooding.

Obligation to connect to the sewage system

The property owner can manage rainwater in many ways. However, where there is a sewage system, he should connect the property to it and dispose of liquid waste, including waste water, through it.

Of course they are related to it additional sewage charges, so many owners avoid this obligation. Inspections and penalties imposed by them are therefore intended to enforce compliance with such obligations.

The property owners are obliged to connect the property to the existing sewage system, which results from art. 5 sec. 1 point 2 of the Act of 13 September 1996 on maintaining cleanliness and order in communes.

Exemption from this obligation may take place only if the property has been equipped with a household sewage treatment plant that meets the requirements set out in the regulations.

The costs of connecting to the sewage network are covered by the property owner. Many cities and municipalities provide financial support for this. For example, the City of Wrocław provides a non-returnable subsidy for works related to the construction of sewage connections to real estate used by natural persons. The maximum grant amount is 50%. documented and incurred costs for this purpose, but not more than PLN 2,000. zloty.

Funding for the rainwater tank 2023

It’s also worth collecting rainwater! It has been calculated that a few minutes of rain from a small roof (up to 100 m2) can provide over 70 liters of rainwater. This is a lot, and therefore a large saving of water from the water supply system. An investment in installations for collecting and collecting rainwater can bring up to 50% savings in water taken from the water supply system.

Poland is one of the countries most at risk of a water crisis. The problem of water scarcity is also deepening not only due to rising temperatures, but also due to the lack of management of heavy rainfall. The Moja Woda program, which is to help mitigate the effects of drought in Poland and reduce the risk of flooding by building installations to retain rainwater next to houses, is very much needed. Unfortunately, the next call for proposals has not yet been announced.

Rainwater to the septic tank or to the household sewage treatment plant

Where there is no sewage system, in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Act, the property should be equipped with a tight one septic tank for liquid waste or in domestic sewage treatment plant.

In the case of using a septic tank, a written agreement should be concluded with an entrepreneur holding a valid permit for emptying septic tanks and transporting liquid waste in the commune. At the same time, it is necessary to keep evidence confirming that the entrepreneur has performed the service of emptying the septic tank – because the inspection has the right to demand their presentation.

In the case of inhabited or used real estate, septic tanks should be emptied with a frequency adapted to the needs resulting from the amount of water drawn and the capacity of the tanks, but not less frequently than once every three months.

The same applies to the use of a home sewage treatment plant. The inspection checks, among others, whether the owner of the property has a contract with an entrepreneur authorized to empty sedimentation tanks in household sewage treatment plant installations and transport liquid waste.

What documents can auditors request?

He supervises the implementation of the obligation to connect real estate to the network mayor of a city or commune. In the event of evasion of the obligation, they have the power to issue a decision ordering its implementation. Execution of the decision is subject to execution pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 17 June 1966 on enforcement proceedings in administration. In addition, persons who fail to comply with this obligation are subject to a fine, and the proceedings in the case are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Procedure in Petty Offenses.

If the property is connected to the sewage system, inspectors can check whether the connection was lawful also without field inspection.

Owners or users of properties not connected to the sewage system are required to document the removal of liquid waste from septic tanks and settling tanks in household sewage treatment plant installations by presenting:

• contracts with an entrepreneur authorized to empty septic tanks or settling tanks in household sewage treatment plant installations and waste transport in the commune,
• bills, invoices, receipts or other documents issued each time by the entrepreneur after the service has been performed, on which at least information on the amount of liquid waste collected and the address of the property will be indicated.

Property owners are obliged to keep the above documents for a period of 12 months and to present them to the employees of the commune office or municipal or commune guards authorized to control cleanliness and order.

Document checks are usually carried out in municipalities at least once every two years.

The municipality may allow time to connect to the sewage system

In many areas of Poland, municipalities – usually through their water and sewage systems – build new networks. If the owner of the property has not fulfilled the connection obligation after the property has been put into use, the inspections may waive the penalty, giving them a certain period of time.

This is the case, for example, in the Wadowice commune, where an almost four-kilometre section of the sanitary sewage system was recently built with the use of EU funds, to which about 80 buildings can be connected. Inspections by authorized employees of the Department of Environmental Protection and the city guard before imposing a fine give owners until the end of 2023 to connect their homes to the new network.

It is also worth remembering that fees for draining rainwater into the sewage system can be minimized by building or buying a ready-made rainwater tank. Such projects are co-financed by local authorities, and after a year’s break, the nationwide program of co-financing directly from the funds of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management – Moja Woda is to be launched again (later this year). In previous years, the subsidy amounted to 5,000. zloty.