Groundwater Regulation 7

Regulation 7 of the Groundwater Regulations states that

  • “Point source discharges and diffuse sources liable to cause groundwater pollution shall be controlled so as to prevent or limit the input of pollutants into groundwater”.

This ‘prevent or limit’ objective is the core groundwater quality objective.  In principle, ‘prevent or limit’ measures are the first line of defense in restricting inputs of pollutants to groundwater and thereby avoiding or reducing pollution.

  • The ‘prevent’ objective relates to hazardous substances, whereby all necessary and reasonable measures should be taken to avoid the entry of such substances into groundwater and to avoid any significant increase in concentration in groundwater.
  • The ‘limit’ objective relates to non-hazardous substances, whereby all necessary measures should be taken to limit inputs into groundwater to ensure that such inputs do not cause deterioration in status of groundwater bodies, nor significant and sustained upward trends in groundwater concentrations.