In Peru, the General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA) has established a procedure for the selection of sampling points at water bodies and effluents in order to ensure data quality and the custody of samples so as to adequately assess wastewater pursuant to the procedure for the sanitary authorization of dumping. Additionally, DIGESA set forth the Water Quality Monitoring Protocol to establish practical guidelines for oil industry monitoring, which covers the monitoring of pollutant discharges into the atmosphere and pollutant discharges into surface water bodies, the reinjection of formation water into groundwater, and the management of solid and hazardous waste.

In Colombia, the Unique Regulatory Decree on the Environment orders, in Article 2.2.3.3.4.17. a, that subscribers or users whose premises or buildings require commercial, industrial, official or special services from the domestic sewerage public utility comply with the dumping regulations in force. With the aim of supporting this order, the Regulation Committee for Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation issued RESOLUTION No. 800 of 2017 ordering the incorporation of dumping measurements into user public utilities contracts, obliging providers to “comply with the maximum permissible parameters and values in domestic and non-domestic wastewater dumping (ARnD) as set forth in Resolution No. 631 of 2015 by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, or any resolution amending, adding to, clarifying or replacing the former.”

In China, the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong Government outlined within its Guidelines for Assessment of Water Pollution, that assessments shall rely on the concept of assimilative capacity of the receiving water body and water quality objectives.

Assimilative capacity will vary with the characteristics of each site and with the type and number of discharges or activities or affected beneficial uses.

Quantification of the assimilative capacity of the receiving environment shall take into account physical processes, as well as all chemical, biochemical and biological processes. Sensitive receivers based on beneficial uses shall be identified, and water quality impacts shall be assessed with reference to water quality objectives or adopted criteria.

Assimilative capacity of a water body is regarded as exceeded if the water quality objectives (WQOs) for the most sensitive target of the beneficial uses to be protected for that water body are exceeded.

In evaluating water pollution impacts, both point and non-point sources of water pollutants shall be considered. Non-point pollutants refer to substances which can be introduced into receiving water bodies as a result of urban or rural runoff. Point sources are related to specific discharges from municipal or industrial facilities.

In Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has runs a monitoring programme to meet the goals of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), and to achieve ‘good’ status generally and to retain ‘high’ and ‘good’ status where such already exists. Towards these goals, EPA’s work involves the following.

• Covers groundwater and surface waters: rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters.
• Includes special sub-programmes for protected areas included in the Register of Protected Areas as defined in Article 6 of the WFD.
• Includes artificial and heavily modified water bodies, and these, apart from those under the canals monitoring programme, are monitored within the appropriate main monitoring programmes (rivers, lakes, or transitional and coastal waters).

There are three types of monitoring under the Water Framework Directive.

• Surveillance monitoring: aims to allow assessment of long term changes in natural conditions; efficient and effective design of future monitoring programmes; validation of impact assessment procedures detailed in Annex II of the Directive; and assessment of long term changes resulting from human activity.
• Operational monitoring: aims to establish the status of water bodies identified at being at risk of failing to meet their environmental objectives; and assess any changes in the status of such bodies resulting from programmes of measures.
• Investigative monitoring: is required where the reason for any exceedances is unknown; where surveillance monitoring indicates that the legislative objectives for a body of water are not likely to be achieved and operational monitoring has not already been established, in order to ascertain the causes of a water body failing to achieve environmental objectives; or to ascertain the magnitude and impacts of accidental pollution; and shall inform the establishment of a programme of measures for achieving environmental objectives and specific measures necessary to remedy the effects of accidental pollution.

EPA also encourages community monitoring through a ‘green home’ award programme. A ceremony takes place where participants success and efforts of householders to improve environmental actions within the home was acknowledged.