When swimming season ends, pulling out the hose and carrying pool water to the nearest ditch may seem like a quick fix. The problem begins when you confuse that ditch with an authorized drain.: the water can reach another property, a stormwater network or a riverbed.
Furthermore, what comes out of the glass is not necessarily clean water. For months you may have received chlorine, bromine, algaecides or pH regulatorsproducts whose destination must be taken into account before opening the valve. The amount poured and where it ends up also matters.
In France, such a spill can lead to a check by the municipal sanitation service. That does not mean that every pool emptied into a ditch will incur a fine.. The answer depends on the characteristics of the water, the connection of the ditch and the regulations applicable in the municipality.
A hose in the ditch and an unidentified story
The French magazine Marie France collected the story published by Pause Maison: A landowner would have left the drainage pipe in a ditch next to two plots and, three weeks later, would have received a visit from a sanitation agent. The publication does not identify the owner, the municipality, nor does it provide an inspection report.so the episode should be read with that reservation. Nor does it prove that the trench was excavated, despite what the original headline suggests.
The risk it illustrates is concrete. The water used in the chlorine treatment of a swimming pool may contain substances that should not be discharged without checking where they go. A ditch does not guarantee that the discharge will remain within the property: You can drive it to a neighboring plot or to a stream.
The effect on neighbors also counts. Article 640 of the French Civil Code obliges the lower property to receive the water that flows naturally from the upper one, but prevents the owner above from aggravating that flow. Pumping thousands of liters to a specific point is not equivalent to the natural runoff of rain. A conflict over modifying the level of a plot shows why that limit can end up being relevant.
What should be checked before emptying it
The sanitation networks are not a free exit either. Article R1331-2 of the French Public Health Code prohibits introducing pool emptying water into the wastewater networkalthough it allows an exception authorized by the municipal authority when the characteristics of the network make it possible.
The Notaries of France explain that, after neutralizing the treatment, the water can be used to irrigate the property itself or infiltrate it if conditions allow it. The condition is to prevent it from leaking unduly towards the neighbors.. For other outlets, including a stormwater network, they recommend consulting the competent administration in advance; Stopping adding chlorine ahead of time is part of that preparation, not an automatic discharge permit.
The most striking figure requires even more precision. Article L216-6 of the French Environmental Code provides up to 75,000 euros fine and two years in prison when a substance discharged into surface or groundwater produces the harmful effects listed in the standard. There is no automatic penalty for putting a hose in a ditch.
Before emptying the pool, The useful check is to know what treatment the water contains, where the drain leads and what the municipality allows. The rules described correspond to France; They cannot simply be transferred to a pool located in Spain.