§ 98-148. Discharge prohibitions and limitations.

(a)

Discharges to storm drains and watercourses. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged any wastewater into any storm drain or watercourse within the city, except for those persons with approved permits for such discharges.

(b)

Prohibited discharges.

(1)

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, artesian well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, condensate, deionized water, noncontact cooling water, and unpolluted wastewater or drainage from downspouts, yard drains, yard fountains and ponds, or lawn sprays into any sanitary sewer.

(2)

Water from unpolluted industrial water or cooling water from various equipment shall not be discharged into sanitary sewers if an alternate acceptable means of disposal is available. If an alternate acceptable means of disposal is not available, such water may be discharged into the sanitary sewer provided the water is metered and meets the discharge prohibitions and limitations of this article.

(3)

No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all users of the POTW whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, State, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.

(c)

Prohibited sewer connections. It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or discharge into the sanitary sewer any liquid or solid waste, including trucked or hauled wastes, unless such deposit or discharge has been approved by the authority.

(d)

Specific prohibited wastewater constituents. No person shall contribute or cause to be discharged directly or indirectly, into any public sanitary sewer any of the following described substances, materials, water or waste:

(1)

Temperature. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150 degrees (150° F) Fahrenheit/65 degrees Centigrade (65° C);

(2)

Solidifying substance. Any water or waste which contains wax, grease, oil, petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, products of mineral oil origin, plastic or other substances that will solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between 32 degrees to one hundred 150 degrees Fahrenheit, thereby contributing to the clogging, plugging or otherwise restricting the flow of wastewater through the collection system;

(3)

Explosive. Pollutants which create a fire or explosion hazard in the sewer system or POTW, including, but not limited to, wastestreams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit/60 degrees Centigrade using the test methods specified in 40 CFR part 261.21. This includes flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases such as gasoline, kerosene, benzene, naphtha, etc., which by reason of their chemical properties or quantity may be sufficient, either alone or by interaction, to cause fire or explosion;

(4)

Obstruction. Solid or viscous substances in quantities capable of causing obstruction in the flow in sewers or other interference with proper operation of the POTW, such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, asphalt, concrete, cement, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, lime slurry, lime residues, slops, chemical residues, paint residues, or bulk solids;

(5)

Garbage. Any garbage that has not been properly comminuted or shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension;

(6)

Gases. Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair;

(7)

Sludge. Any substance which may cause the POTW's effluent or treatment residues, sludges, or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process as determined pursuant to criteria in this article. In no case, shall a substance discharged to the POTW cause the POTW to be in noncompliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under section 405 of the act or any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or state standards applicable to the sludge management method being used;

(8)

TPDES. Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its TPDES or other disposal system permits, or the receiving stream water quality standards;

(9)

Objectionable color. Any substance with objectionable color which cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;

(10)

Slugload. Any dump or slugload;

(11)

Hazard to human life. Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public nuisance;

(12)

Toxicity test. Wastewater causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, the treatment plant's effluent to fail a toxicity test;

(13)

Swimming pool. Swimming pool drainage from private residential pools may not be discharged to the sanitary sewer system. Swimming pool drainage from public and semipublic swimming pools may be discharged to the POTW with the prior consent of the authority. Swimming pool filter backwash may be discharged to the POTW;

(14)

Detergents. Detergents, surface-active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the POTW;

(15)

Medical waste. Medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the authority in a wastewater discharge permit;

(16)

Pollutants. Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems;

(17)

Interference. Any pollutant, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.) released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause interference with the POTW;

(18)

Oils. Petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, or product of mineral oil origin in amounts that will cause interference or pass through;

(19)

Trucked or hauled pollutants. Trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the authority in accordance with subsection (c) of this section;

(20)

Oil and grease.

(A)

Petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, or non-polar products of mineral oil origin in concentrations greater than 200 mg/l;

(B)

Visible free floatable polar oils, fats, or grease or a concentration greater than 250 mg/L in wastewater discharged from industrial or commercial facilities into the POTW;

(C)

In no case shall discharges in amounts that cause interference or operational problems with the POTW be allowed; or

(21)

BTEX. BTEX concentration greater than 1.0 mg/l;

(22)

Gases. Hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide or nitrous oxide in excess of ten parts per million;

(23)

Radioactive. Radioactive wastes or isotopes with a half-life or concentration exceeding limits established by the authority in compliance with applicable State or federal regulations;

(24)

Toxics. Toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, or to pass through the treatment plant and impair aquatic life in receiving water, as expressed by the results of acute or chronic toxicity tests of the POTW effluent;

(25)

Temperature. A temperature which inhibits or interferes with biological activity in the POTW treatment plant. In no case shall wastewater be introduced which would have a temperature exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit (104°F)/40 degrees (40°C) upon entering the POTW treatment plant;

(26)

Categorical. Pollutants in excess of the limitations established in an applicable categorical pretreatment standard set forth in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations;

(27)

Explosive. Wastewaters which emanate vapors causing the atmosphere in the sewer system to exceed 20 percent of the lower explosive limit in the immediate area of the discharge.

(e)

Wastewater limitations. No person shall contribute or cause to be discharged, directly or indirectly, into any sanitary sewer any wastewater containing or having:

(1)

Acids or alkalis. Acids or alkalis capable of causing damage to sewage disposal structures or personnel or having a pH value lower than 5.0 or higher than 12.0.

(2)

Metals. Metals in the form of compounds or elements with total concentrations exceeding the following:

Parameter	Maximum Allowable Discharge Limit (mg/l)
Arsenic	0.25
Cadmium	0.15
Chromium	5.0
Copper	4.0
Lead	2.9
Mercury	0.01
Nickel	2.0
Silver	1.0
Zinc	5.0

 

(3)

Cyanide. Cyanide or cyanogen compounds (expressed as total CN) in excess of 1.0 mg/l.

(4)

The director may develop best management practices (BMPs), by ordinance or in individual wastewater discharge permits to help implement local limits and other pretreatment standards and the requirements of subsection 98-148(d) of this article.

(f)

A person commits an offense if with criminal negligence the person processes or stores pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by this section in such a manner that they could be discharged to the POTW.

(g)

Accidental discharge/control plan. At the time of SIU determination, or at least by the first year, the authority shall evaluate whether each significant industrial user needs an accidental discharge/slug control plan or other action to control slug discharges at the time of SIU determination. The authority may require any user to develop, submit for approval, and implement such a plan, or take such other action that may be necessary to control slug discharges. All the activities associated with slug control evaluation and results are to be kept in the industrial user file. Alternatively, the authority may develop such a plan for any user. An accidental discharge/slug control plan shall address, at a minimum, the following:

(1)

Description of discharge practices, including non-routine batch discharges;

(2)

Description of stored chemicals;

(3)

Procedures for immediately notifying the authority of any accidental or slug discharge, as required by subsection 98-149(b)(2) of this article; and

(4)

Procedures to prevent adverse impact from any accidental or slug discharge. Such procedures include, but are not limited to, inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control of plant site runoff, worker training, building of containment structures or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants, including solvents, and/or measures and equipment for emergency response.

(Ord. No. O-2012-001-11, § 1, 1-30-12)