No user shall contribute or cause to be contributed, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the POTW. These general prohibitions apply to all such users of a POTW whether or not the user is subject to national categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements. A user may not contribute the following substances to any POTW:
(1) Any liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quantity are, or may be, sufficient either alone or by interaction with other substances to cause fire or explosion or be injurious in any other way to the POTW or to the operation of the POTW. At no time shall two successive readings of any explosion hazard meter, at the point of discharge into the system (or at any point in the system) be more than five percent nor any single reading over ten percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL) of the meter. Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromates, carbides, hydrides and sulfides and any other substance which the city, the state or EPA has notified the user is a fire hazard or a hazard to the system.
(2) Concentrations exceeding 100 milligrams per liter of wax, fats, grease, oil, plastic or other substances which will solidify or become discernible viscous at any temperature between 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment facilities such as, but not limited to, grease, garbage with particles greater than one-half inch in any dimension, entrails or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshing, whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, waste paper, wood, plastics, gas, tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating oil, mud, or glass grinding or polishing wastes.
(4) Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.5, or greater than 10.0, or wastewater having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, and/or personnel of the POTW.
(5) Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the POTW, or to exceed the limitation set forth in the Categorical Pretreatment Standard. A toxic pollutant shall include, but not be limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to section 307(a) of the Act.
(6) Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases or solids which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair.
(7) Any substance which may cause a POTW's effluent or any other product of the POTW such as residues, sludges or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process. 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; any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or state criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used.
(8) Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES and/or state disposal system permit or the receiving water quality standards.
(9) Any wastewater with objectionable color not removed in the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(10) Any wastewater having a temperature which will inhibit biological activity in the POTW treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater with a temperature at the introduction into the POTW which exceeds 40NC (104NF) unless the POTW treatment plant is designed to accommodate such temperature.
(11) Any pollutants, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.) released at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which a user knows or has reason to know will cause interference to the POTW. In no case shall a slug load have a flow rate or contain concentration or qualities of pollutants that exceed for any time period longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration, quantities, or flow during normal operation.
(12) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the superintendent in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(13) Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public nuisance.
(14) Any cyanides or cyanogen compounds capable of liberating hydrocyanic gas or acidification in excess of one milligram per liter as CN.
(15) Any fluoride in concentration exceeding that in the public water supply.
(16) Any salts of the following heavy metals, in solution or suspension, at a concentration greater than as shown below:
Metal | PPM Average | PPM Daily Composite | PPM Grab Sample |
Metal | PPM Average | PPM Daily Composite | PPM Grab Sample |
Arsenic | 0.100 | 0.200 | 0.300 |
Barium | 1.000 | 2.000 | 4.000 |
Cadmium | 0.050 | 0.100 | 0.200 |
Chromium | 0.500 | 1.000 | 5.000 |
Copper | 0.500 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
Lead | 0.500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
Manganese | 1.000 | 2.000 | 3.000 |
Mercury | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.010 |
Nickel | 1.000 | 2.000 | 3.000 |
Selenium | 0.050 | 0.100 | 0.200 |
Silver | 0.050 | 0.100 | 0.200 |
Zinc | 1.000 | 2.000 | 6.000 |
(17) All other heavy metals and toxic materials, in solution or suspension, at concentration greater than that in the public water supply, such as, but not limited to, the following:
Antimony | Molybdenum | Rhenium |
Beryllium | Tin | Strontium |
Bismuth | Uranylion | Tellurium |
Cobalt | Pesticides | Herbicides |
Fungicides |
(18) Chlorides in concentrations exceeding 2,500 parts per million, unless the discharge of chlorides in concentrations higher than 2,500 parts per million is limited to rates and volumes that will not cause the concentration of chlorides in the treated effluent from the sewage treatment plant to exceed 2,500 parts per million.
(19) Any radioactive wastes of greater concentration or amount than the allowable releases specified by regulatory agencies which control the possession and release of radioactive materials.
(20) Any active or inert materials in concentrations which interfere with the proper operation of the treatment process to the degree that the normal treatment process used will not produce an effluent meeting the criteria of regulatory agencies or which impose unusual costs for treatment or maintenance.
(21) No substances or mixtures which may contain any amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBS).
(22) Wastewater with a phenol concentration greater than two milligrams per liter.
(23) Wastewater which contains more than 0.5 milligrams per liter of hydrogen sulfide measured as H2S.
(24) Wastewater with 24-hour composite samples containing BOD or total suspended solids (TSS) in excess of 300 milligrams per liter, or chemical oxygen demand (COD) in excess of 1,100 milligrams per liter.
(25) Wastewater which contains more than 250 ppm total identifiable chlorinated hydrocarbons.
(Prior Code, § 16-123.3; Ord. of 9-22-1992)