Winery general permit

The Fact sheet that accompanies the permit can be used as a resource to search for a specific topic. 

• Permit compliance schedule
• List of delegated publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs) and Listed wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
• Winery Wastewater Compliance Workshop recording (mp4, 83 MB), recorded on April 30, 2019
  • Compliance workshop presentation (pdf), slides only, no audio

• Criteria for Sewage Works Design, also known as the "Orange Book," contains domestic wastewater treatment design guidance
• NRCS Assessment Procedure for Existing Waste Storage Ponds

You may need coverage under the Winery General Permit if your facility:

• Typically discharges more than 53,505 gallons of winery process wastewater in a calendar year (or typically produces more than 7,500 cases in a calendar year); AND
• Discharges winery process wastewater to one or more of the following:
  • A wastewater treatment plant
  • Managed vegetation (irrigation)
  • A lagoon or other liquid storage structure
  • Road dust abatement
  • A subsurface infiltration system
  • An infiltration basin

Use our decision tree to see if your facility may need permit coverage.

Apply through Secure Access Washington (SAW) and use the WQWebPortal to submit your electronic Notice of Intent (NOI).

If you need more information about applying for coverage visit our WQ Web Portal Guidance page. 
 

Winery process wastewater is any water that (during wine manufacturing or processing) comes in direct contact with, or results from the production or use of:

• Any raw material
• Intermediate product
• Finished product
• By product
• Waste product

It may include:

• Pomace (for example, grape skins, stems, and seeds).
• Lees (deposits of dead or residual yeast and other particles that accumulate at the bottom of a vat of wine after fermentation and aging).
• Bottle and barrel rinse water, and equipment or floor wash water.

Winery process wastewater has the potential to contaminate groundwater, which is where many of us get our drinking water. Contamination can occur if a winery’s septic tank and drainfield system fails, if their wastewater lagoon leaks, or if they use too much untreated wastewater to irrigate their crops.

Winery process wastewater can also overwhelm wastewater treatment plants, potentially causing untreated sewage to flow into Puget Sound, rivers, and groundwater. 

No, wineries are not allowed to combine domestic and industrial wastewater in an on-site sewage system (OSS) or large on-site sewage system (LOSS). In the state of Washington, this is not permitted under 246-272A WAC and 246-272B WAC. New wineries must not set up their wastewater systems to combine these waste streams. We will work with permitted wineries to develop a plan to ensure their wastewater discharge methods comply with Washington State standards.

We review wastewater treatment facilities in Washington to determine whether they can handle process wastewater from the wineries that discharge to them. If Ecology determines that a wastewater treatment plant can meet these standards, it becomes “Listed” under the permit. View the currently Listed Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) for the Winery General Permit.

Yes, both general and individual permit coverage provide legal protection to permittees. If your facility is covered under an Ecology wastewater discharge permit and you follow all of the permit conditions, the permit can act as a shield against some legal challenges to your wastewater discharge methods. Ecology bears the legal responsibility for writing and administering an environmentally protective permit.

General permit coverage is typically better for both Ecology and permittees. If enough facilities in an industry are similar to each other, it is less expensive for Ecology to create a general permit to cover all of those facilities than to create individual coverages for each facility. General permit coverage is often less expensive for permittees than individual permit coverage. Unless Ecology has determined that your facility requires unique permit conditions, we encourage you to apply for coverage under a general permit.