Consulting AWSV / WHG

Consulting and plant inspection AwSV and WHG - handling substances hazardous to water

Secure your plant legally, reduce your liability risk - and strengthen your reputation among the public through practical environmental protection. Have a plant inspection carried out by an expert in accordance with AwSV. We work closely with experts according to AwSV and thus offer you all services from a single source. 

 

Facilities for storing, filling, producing, treating and using substances hazardous to water are subject to requirements under water law, which result from the Water Resources Act (WHG), the Ordinance on Facilities for Handling Substances Hazardous to Water (AwSV) and, if applicable, from the official approval notices. They must be designed, constructed, maintained, operated and decommissioned in such a way that no adverse change in the properties of water bodies is to be feared.

Substances handled in both commercial and private facilities are classified according to their hazardousness, starting with "not hazardous to water" and followed by three water hazard classes. To date, more than 9,000 substances have been officially assessed as hazardous to water by the Federal Environment Agency in its "Rigoletto" database. Operator must ensure leak tightness and functionality.

 

The operator of an installation in which substances hazardous to water are handled must regularly check the leak-tightness of the installation and the functionality of the safety equipment as part of self-monitoring (Section 46 (1) Sentence 1 AwSV). In the case of systems subject to mandatory testing, the self-monitoring must be supplemented by external monitoring by an expert in accordance with § 2 Para. 33 AwSV (see also § 47 Para. 1 AwSV).

 

Examples of plants subject to mandatory inspection

  • Biogas and JGS plants

  • Piping systems

  • Fuel oil consumer plants and tanks

  • Hydraulic systems

  • Filling stations (also for own consumption)

  • Refineries

  • Chemical storage facilities

  • Chemical cleaning plants

Our services (in cooperation with an expert according to AwSV)

  • Testing before initial start-up and after significant modification

  • Inspection before recommissioning (for plants shut down for more than one year)

  • Periodic inspections (Inspection dates and intervals depend on the type of plant and the hazard level of the substances contained therein based on the ordinance; inspections may also be ordered by the authorities)

  • Inspection during decommissioning