(A) Unpolluted discharges to sanitary sewer. No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters into the system.
(B) Unpolluted discharges to storm sewers or natural outlet. Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to sewers or drains specifically designated for the use, or to a natural outlet approved by the appropriate state agency. Any user proposing to discharge any unpolluted water to a storm sewer other than storm water or potable water must first notify the city.
(C) Limited discharges. Except as hereinafter provided, discharges of the following pollutants and wastewaters are prohibited:
(1) No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the system any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass-through or interference. This general prohibition applies to all users of the system whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements. The city shall investigate instances of pass-through and interference, inform the responsible user(s) of the impact and take enforcement action against the users in accordance with the Enforcement Response Plan;
(2) Wastes which contain the following substances exceeding the following concentrations:
Constituent | Daily Max |
Compatible Pollutants
|
mg/l
|
Constituent | Daily Max |
Compatible Pollutants
|
mg/l
|
BOD | 1,000 |
Suspended solids | 1,000 |
Ammonia nitrogen | 50 |
Total phosphorus | 20 |
Other Pollutants
|
mg/l
|
Arsenic | 125 |
Barium | 7,650 |
Cadmium | 50 |
Total chromium | 2,330 |
Copper | 594 |
Lead | 472 |
Mercury | below quantification + 2 |
Nickel | 1,700 |
Selenium | 44 |
Zinc | 226 |
The above limits apply at the control points specified by the city in the users wastewater discharge permit or, if the user is not subject to the permitting requirements contained in §§ 52.25 through 52.37, at the point at which wastewater is discharged to the system. All concentrations for metals are for “total” metals unless indicated otherwise. The city may impose mass limits in addition to or in lieu of the concentrations limits above. | |
1. These limits are maximum limits on compatible pollutants that cannot be exceeded by any user. However, discharges of these pollutants at levels exceeding those designated as normal strength sewage defined in § 52.05 are subject to surcharges. | |
2. The discharge of mercury above the quantification level shall represent an exceedance of the local limit. Mercury sampling procedures, preservation and handling, and analytical protocol for compliance monitoring shall be in accordance with U.S. EPA method 245.1, unless Method 1631 is required by the city. The quantification level shall be 0.2 ng/1 for Method 245.1 or 0.5 ng/1 for Method 1631, unless higher levers are appropriate because of sample matrix interference. The city shall require an industrial user to develop an implement a minimization plan where mercury is found at detectable levels. The maximum allowable headwords loading may not exceed 0.00007 lb/d. | |
(3) Color (as from, but not limited to, dyes, inks or vegetable tanning solutions) shall be controlled to prevent light absorbency which would interfere with treatment plant process or that prevent analytical determinations;
(4) Any substance which by reason of their nature or quantity may cause fire or explosion hazard or be injurious to the system or to the operation of the sewage treatment facility, including, but not limited to, waste streams with a closed cup flash point of less than 140°F using the test methods specified in 40 C.F.R. § 261.21;
(5) Garbage not properly shredded (no particle size greater than one-half-inch);
(6) Grease, oil, wax or fat, petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil or products of mineral oil origin (“FOG”), whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 mg/l or quantities which disrupt treatment or cause pass through or interference, or any substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32 and 150°F;
(7) Inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, Fuller earth, lime slurried and lime residue) or dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride or sodium sulfate) in concentrations that cause pass through or interference;
(8) Insoluble, solid or viscous substances (such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, tar, feathers, plastics, wood, hair and fleshings);
(9) Noxious or malodorous substances (such as, but not limited to, hydrogen sulfide, sulphur oxide or oxides of nitrogen), other substances capable of public nuisance, or any pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gasses vapors, or fumes within the system or the sewage treatment facility in a quantity that may cause acute worker health or safety problems;
(10) Any trucked or hauled pollutants, including the contents of septic, vehicular or marine holding tanks or other similar facilities, except under the conditions and provisions established by and discharge points designated by the city;
(11) Water or wastes with a pH less than six and one-half or greater than nine and one-half;
(12) Radioactive wastes or isotopes of a half-life or concentration which may exceed limits established by applicable state and federal regulations;
(13) Water or waste with a temperature less than 32°F or greater than 150°;
(14) Water or wastes containing substances which are not amendable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment facility, or are amendable to treatment to only a degree that the sewage treatment facility effluent or sludge cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters and sludge disposal;
(15) Discharges that would result in excess foaming during the treatment process. Excess foaming is any form which, in the opinion of the Superintendent of the wastewater treatment facility, is a nuisance to the treatment process; and
(16) No industrial user shall ever increase the use of process water or, in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment in order to achieve compliance with the limitations contained in the federal categorical pretreatment standard, or in any other pollutant-specific limitation developed by the city or state.
(D) National categorical pretreatment standards. All industrial users shall comply with the applicable categorical pretreatment standards found at 40 C.F.R. parts 405-471 and Michigan Administrative Code R. 323.2317, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
(1) Where a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed only in terms of either the mass or the concentration of a pollutant in wastewater, the Superintendent may impose equivalent concentration or mass limits in accordance with Michigan Administrative Code R. 323.2311 (5).
(2) When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standards, the Superintendent shall impose an alternate limit using the combined waste stream formula in Michigan Administrative Code R. 323.2311 (7).
(3) A user may obtain a variance from a categorical pretreatment standard if the user can prove, pursuant to the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 C.F.R. § 403.13, that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when developing the categorical pretreatment standard.
(4) A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.15.
(E) State pretreatment standards. State pretreatment standards set forth at Michigan Administrative Code R. 323.2303 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
(F) Special arrangement. No statement contained in this section shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangements between the city and any industrial customer, after recommendations by the city, whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment.
(G) Right of revision. The city reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the POTW.
(H) Dilution. No user shall ever increase the volume of process water or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge, as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to comply with these discharge prohibitions, unless authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirements.
(Ord. 162, passed 8-12-2002; Ord. 182, § 2, passed 2-13-2012)