How LKIoT Wavelet helps you comply with Royal Decree 1290/2012 regulating discharge control

As a scarce, primary, and fundamental asset, water management is highly controlled and legislated. Much of this regulation is detailed in the Regulation of the Public Water Domain, which has been modified several times. This article deals with the extensions of Royal Decree 1290/2012, which specifically corrects the part relating to the control of discharges into rivers, reservoirs, or channels. This R.D. affects both discharge applicants and the so-called River Basin Authorities, i.e., the bodies that manage the basin.

With this, you will see how LKIoT Wavelet enables compliance with this legislation for applicants and controllers with a single solution specifically designed for environments of this type.

For discharge applicants, the R.D. stipulates the following:

Article 251. Conditioning of Discharge Authorizations.

1. Discharge authorizations shall establish the conditions under which they must be carried out, specifying in particular the following:
a) Origin of wastewater and geographical location of the discharge point.
b) The flow rate and emission limit values of the effluent, determined in accordance with the following general rules:
1.ª The emission characteristics of the discharge shall be such as to be adequate for compliance with the environmental quality standards of the receiving environment. A gradual application of these may be established until their complete achievement.
2.ª Emission limit values shall be required for the characteristic parameters of the activity causing the discharge.
[…]
e) The control elements of the purification facilities and the flow measurement and sampling systems, as well as the frequency with which it is mandatory to analyze and accredit the parameters and conditions of the discharge, as well as any other declarations and accreditations to which it is obliged before the River Basin Authority.

For an applicant, LKIoT Wavelet is a high-value solution precisely because it allows compliance with this automatically. It is capable of obtaining the required information, i.e., the flow rates of the pipeline and the composition or quality of the discharged liquid, in a geopositioned manner. Also, to ensure that the discharge parameters are analyzed and accredited, this solution can change the sampling and information sending frequency according to the values acquired.

In the same way, this intelligence makes LKIoT Wavelet optimal for stopping a discharge – closing the necessary valves or pumps for this, for example – if its reading indicates that the established limits are being exceeded. Moreover, if a double verification is desired, it can be used to activate an autonomous sampling station for subsequent analysis in the laboratory. In this way, compliance with the environmental standards set by the River Basin Authority is ensured.

For the River Basin Authorities, the R.D. stipulates the following:

Article 245

2. The direct or indirect discharge of waste water and products likely to contaminate continental waters or any other element of the public water domain is generally prohibited, unless prior authorization is obtained. […]

3. The discharge authorization shall aim to achieve the established environmental objectives. These authorizations shall be granted taking into account the best available techniques and in accordance with the environmental quality standards and emission limits established in this regulation and in the rest of the regulations on water. More stringent discharge conditions shall be established when compliance with the environmental objectives so requires. […]

Article 254

«1. The River Basin Authorities shall keep a census of authorized discharges to which citizens shall have access under the terms provided for in Law 27/2006, of 18 July, regulating the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.»

Additional provision two
2. The River Basin Authorities must have an inventory of the overflow points of runoff water from the sewerage systems before 31 December 2015, which shall form part of the inventory on the type and magnitude of significant anthropogenic pressures to which water bodies are exposed, as defined in Article 15 of the Water Planning Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 907/2007, of 6 July. This inventory shall be stored and kept updated in a conveniently georeferenced computer system.»

Once again, LKIoT Wavelet is presented as a solution that allows compliance with these points since the River Basin Authority needs to be able to control the quality of the waters, not only at the point of discharge but also along the basin to guarantee the environmental objectives. In addition, LKIoT Wavelet allows the census and inventory of discharges to be carried out in a georeferenced and digitalized manner.

It is evident that, in addition to what is stipulated in the same R.D., any solution that is installed for the control of channels and discharges must comply with other basic technical characteristics such as tightness, operation by long-life batteries or even with solar panels as a primary power source, store and forward of data at field level and ease of integrating this information with the rest of the applicant’s and the River Basin Authority’s management systems.

In summary:

Therefore, LKIoT Wavelet is a perfect integral solution to comply with the current legislation on discharge control. If you want to know more about this solution, find out here

You can find more information about Royal Decree 1290/2012 directly in the BOE