Who this article is for: Authority users.
Overview
An outfall is a reference point on an Industrial User's (IU's) facility — a sampling location, a compliance monitoring point, a discharge connection, or any other point your program tracks. Each outfall carries its own discharge limits and sample report configurations.
The outfall page opens with an at-a-glance header — info cards, an embedded map, and a photo gallery — and organizes everything else into three tabs: Overview, Notes, and Attachments. Editing happens in pop-up windows, so you never leave the page.
Where outfalls live
Go to Industrial Users in the left sidebar.
Select an IU to open its detail page.
Find the Outfalls section on the Overview tab.
Click an outfall to open it.
The outfall page at a glance
The page title shows the outfall's name and ID next to an Active or Inactive status chip. Edit is always available; Delete appears only while the outfall is inactive.
Four read-only info cards summarize the outfall:
Identity — the outfall's ID and description.
Discharge — Effluent Type (End of Process or End of Pipe) and Pipe Diameter, in inches.
Location — the parent location's name (click it to open the IU), plus Latitude and Longitude when coordinates are set. Coordinates of exactly 0, 0 are treated as unset and stay hidden.
Equipment — your equipment notes.
Map — centers on the outfall's coordinates. If the outfall has none, the map falls back to the parent location's address. With neither, the map hides and the photo gallery takes the full width.
Photo gallery — shows every visible image attached to the outfall: the cover image first, then the rest, newest first. Click a photo to open it full screen, with previous/next arrows (your keyboard's arrow keys work too). No photos yet? Click Add a photo.
The Overview tab
Note banner — the pinned note (or the most recently updated note, if none is pinned) appears at the top of the tab. Click the banner to read the full note; View all notes takes you to the Notes tab.
Details — appears only if your organization has configured custom outfall fields.
Discharge Limits — the outfall's limits. Click a row to view or edit a limit in a pop-up window; click New Limit to add one. Both are available while the outfall is active.
Sample Report Configs — the outfall's sample report configurations. Click New Configuration to add one (available while the outfall is active). Use the archive icon to switch the list between Not Archived, Archived, and All. Click a row to open that configuration.
Adding an outfall
In the Outfalls section of the IU's page, click New Outfall.
Fill in the fields. Name and ID are both required.
In the location section, enter the address and coordinates (next section).
Save the outfall.
Field | What it is |
Name (required) | The outfall's name. |
ID (required) | A unique identifier for the outfall. |
Description | Additional details. |
Effluent Type | End of Process or End of Pipe. |
Pipe Diameter (inches) | The diameter of the discharge pipe, as a number. |
Equipment | Pretreatment equipment at this outfall — pH meters, flow meters, interceptors, and so on. |
Setting the location
The location section shows a live map preview that updates as you type the address.
You can enter Latitude and Longitude directly (latitude must be between -90 and 90; longitude between -180 and 180) — or let the system fill them in. Click Compute Lat/Lon and choose:
From site address — converts the address you typed into coordinates.
Use current location — uses your device's GPS. Useful in the field, standing at the discharge point.
💡 If the address can't be converted, you'll see "Couldn't find coordinates for …" — check the address, or enter the coordinates manually.
Editing an outfall
Click Edit on the outfall page.
Update the fields in the Edit Outfall window — the same fields as above, plus the location section and an Active/Inactive switch in the top-right corner.
Click Save Changes. The page refreshes with your changes.
Notes
Keep working notes directly on the outfall — enforcement history, seasonal concerns, access instructions — in the Notes tab.
Add Note opens a window with a title and contents. You can attach files to the note as you create it.
Click a note's row to expand it — the full contents plus thumbnails of its attachments. From there, Edit or Delete your own notes; admins can manage any note.
Pin (admins only) keeps a note at the top of the Overview tab. Only one note can be pinned at a time — pinning a new note automatically unpins the previous one.
Deleting a note asks you to confirm, with a Keep attached files (re-attach them to this record) option so the note's files stay on the outfall.
Images attached to notes automatically appear in the outfall's photo gallery.
Attachments
The Attachments tab lists every file on the outfall — its Label, Filename, Type, Source, Added By, and Added On — with search, sorting, and paging.
Add Attachment — drag and drop one or more files into the window, then save.
Click a row to open the file's details. From there you can rename its label, Download it, or Delete it. Files that came from a note or a compliance report can't be deleted here.
For images, a visibility checkbox controls whether the photo appears in the header gallery, and Set as Cover makes it the gallery's first image. Only one attachment can be the cover at a time.
Making an outfall inactive
Click Edit and switch the toggle in the top-right corner from Active to Inactive.
A confirmation appears: "Making this outfall inactive may change the status of its limits and report configurations." Type the outfall's name to confirm.
Click Confirm.
⚠️ You can't make an outfall inactive while its sampling requirements are tied to an active or upcoming permit. The switch is disabled, with this explanation: "This outfall has active legal controls and can't be made inactive until they're terminated."
While an outfall is inactive:
New Limit and New Configuration are no longer offered on it.
The Delete action becomes available.
If the parent IU is made inactive, all of its active outfalls become inactive automatically. Reactivating the IU does not reactivate them — reactivate each outfall yourself. An outfall can't be reactivated while its IU is inactive.
Deleting an outfall
Make the outfall inactive first — Delete only appears on an inactive outfall.
Click Delete, type the outfall's name, and confirm.
⚠️ Deleting is permanent and cannot be undone. The outfall — along with its limits and sample report configurations — no longer appears anywhere in your lists.
Effluent types
Type | Description |
End of Process | The discharge point at the end of an industrial process, before any treatment. |
End of Pipe | The final discharge point after all treatment. |
Troubleshooting
Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
The Active/Inactive switch is disabled | The outfall's sampling requirements are tied to an active or upcoming permit | Wait until those legal controls are terminated, or leave the outfall active |
"Couldn't find coordinates for …" when computing from the address | The address couldn't be matched | Check the address, or type the coordinates in manually |
"Geolocation isn't available in this browser." | Your browser is blocking location access | Allow location access for the site, or enter coordinates manually |
An inactive outfall won't reactivate | Its parent IU is inactive | Reactivate the IU first |
A photo doesn't appear in the gallery | Its visibility is turned off, or the file isn't an image | Open it in the Attachments tab and check the visibility box |
FAQ
Can an IU have multiple outfalls? Yes. An IU can have as many outfalls as needed — each one representing a different sampling location, monitoring point, or discharge connection.
What fields are required to create an outfall? Name and ID. Everything else is optional.
Can I change the outfall ID after creation? Yes. Click Edit on the outfall page and update the ID field.
Can I move an outfall to a different IU? No. Outfalls stay with their parent IU. To track the same point under a different IU, create a new outfall there.
What is the Equipment field for? Documenting pretreatment equipment installed at the outfall — grease traps, interceptors, treatment systems, monitoring gear.
What happens to limits and SRCs when an outfall goes inactive? Their status may change, and the outfall stops accepting new limits and configurations. Historical data and submitted reports are preserved.