No user shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, to a public sewer, which, directly or indirectly, connects to the District’s sewerage systems, the following wastes or wastes in quantities or concentrations in excess of the following restrictions:
(A) (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 sewerage system, the POTW or to the operation of the POTW. This includes, but is not limited to, waste streams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140°F or 60°C using the test methods specified in 40 C.F.R. § 261.21. At no time shall two successive readings on an explosion hazard meter, at the point of discharge into the system or at any point in the system be more than 10% nor any single reading over 20% of the lower explosive limit (LEL) of the meter.
(2) Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, solvent, fuel oil, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromates, carbides, hydrides and sulfides and any other substances which the District, the state or EPA has notified the user is a fire hazard or a hazard to the system.
(B) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the POTW such as, but not limited to: grease, any garbage or waste, other than domestic wastewater, that is not ground sufficiently to pass through a three-eighths inch screen, dead animals, animal viscera or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshing, entrails, whole blood, feathers, offal, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dust, metal, glass, straw, industrial process shavings, diatomaceous earth, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, wood, plastics, tar, asphalt residues, mud or glass grinding wastes or polishing wastes, paper dishes, paper cups, milk containers or other similar paper products whole or ground, flushable wipes or materials which tend to solidify in the sewer and obstruct wastewater flow;
(C) Any wastewater having a pH less than 6.0, a pH greater than 8.5 or having any other corrosive or detrimental characteristics capable of causing damage or hazard to the sewerage system or to structures, equipment and/or personnel of the District;
(D) Any wastewater containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gas pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, to injure or interfere detrimentally with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans, animals or the environment, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the POTW, cause a public nuisance, cause any hazardous condition to occur in the sewerage system or to exceed the limitation set forth in a categorical pretreatment standard. A toxic pollutant shall include, but not be limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to § 307(a) of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317(a);
(E) Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the POTW and/or the collection system in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems or injury or interference with any treatment plant process;
(F) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations, as defined by the General Manager, of petroleum or mineral based cutting oils, commonly called soluble oil which form persistent water emulsions;
(G) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations which result in the clogging or plugging of the collection system or as pursuant to federal or state law, of dispersed biodegradable oils, fats and greases, such as lard, tallow or vegetable oil;
(H) (1) The following constituents are subject to a discharge prohibition standard in lieu of setting numeric discharge limits.
(2) The presence of these constituents documented through approved analytical methods shall be a violation of this section and be subject to corrective actions by the user to control the discharge of the constituent present.
(3) Wastewater discharge permits may establish discharge prohibition(s) for constituents not included in this section for specific industrial users:
(a) Cyanide for unpermitted users;
(b) Dioxin compounds;
(c) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);
(d) Tributyltin (TBT);
(e) Dieldrin;
(f) 4,4’-DDE; and
(g) Perchloroethylene wastes and wastewaters from dry cleaner operations.
(I) 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;
(J) Any substance which may cause the treatment plant’s effluent or any other product of the POTW as residues, biosolids or scum 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 non-compliance with biosolids use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under § 405 of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1345; any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting biosolids use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq.; the Clean Air Act, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.; the Toxic Substances Control Act, being 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.; or state criteria applicable to the biosolids management method being used;
(K) Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES and/or state disposal system permit or the receiving water quality standards;
(L) Wastewater which imparts color which cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently imparts color to the treatment plant’s effluent, thereby violating the District’s NPDES permit;
(M) Any wastewater having a temperature which will inhibit biological activity in the POTW, or which may cause the temperature of the treatment plant influent to exceed 40°C (104°F);
(N) Any wastes with a concentration of chlorine in excess of 10 mg/L;
(O) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrates of toxic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbon or organic phosphorous type compounds;
(P) Any waste containing substances that may precipitate, solidify, gel, polymerize or become viscous under conditions normally found in the District wastewater system. As detailed in the District’s current NPDES permit (see Appendix C);
(Q) Any waste containing detergents, surface active agents or other substances, which may cause foaming in the wastewater system;
(R) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations, as pursuant to federal or state law, of cyanide;
(S) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations, as pursuant to federal or state law, of undissolved or dissolved solids, total solids and total suspended solids;
(T) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations, as pursuant to federal or state law, of BOD, COD or other oxygen demanding substances;
(U) Any waste containing excessive quantities or concentrations, as pursuant to federal or state law, of mercaptans, sulfides, phenols or any strongly odorous material or material tending to create odors;
(V) Any wastes containing dissolved sulfides above a concentration of 0.1 mg/L or wastes which contribute to excessive sulfide production, as pursuant to federal or state law;
(W) Any amount of hazardous substance in excess of those defined in 40 C.F.R.;
(X) Any hazardous waste discharged to any portion of the POTW by truck, or dedicated pipe line;
(Y) Any pollutants, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD and the like), 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 or 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;
(Z) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits pursuant to federal or state law except in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;
(AA) Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public nuisance. Any storm water, groundwater, rainwater, street drainage, subsurface drainage, yard drainage, swimming pool or spa diatomaceous earth filter backwash, unless a special discharge permit is issued by the District. The District may approve such discharge only when no reasonable alternative is available or such water is determined to constitute a pollution hazard if not discharged to a sewer;
(BB) Any solid wastes from hospitals, clinics, offices of medical doctors, dentists, mortuaries, morgues, long-term health care, medical laboratories or other medical facilities to the POTW, including, but not limited to:
(1) Equipment, instruments, hypodermic needles, syringes and associated articles;
(2) Any article that may harbor or transmit pathogenic organisms and that are used in the rooms of patients having suspected or diagnosed communicable disease which by the nature of the disease is required to be isolated;
(3) Recognizable portions of the human anatomy; and
(4) Any and all other items defined by health agencies as being infectious.
(CC) Any septic tank biosolids unless a permit is issued by the District;
(DD) Any holding tank wastes unless a permit is issued by the District;
(EE) No user shall dilute and/or cause excessive POTW hydraulic loading problems, including, but not limited to:
(1) Any water added for the purpose of diluting wastes which would otherwise exceed maximum concentration limitations (see divisions (H)(3)(a) through (H)(3)(g) above); and
(2) Any rainwater, storm water runoff, groundwater, street drainage, roof drainage, yard drainage, water from yard fountains, ponds, swimming pools, lawn sprays or uncontaminated water except where prior approval for such discharge is given by the General Manager.
(FF) Any other water source shall not be discharged through direct or indirect connection to the sanitary sewer system unless a permit is issued by the District. As used in this section, all other water sources shall include storm water from roofs, yards, foundation or underdrainage, well water, surface water and groundwater runoff, which meets all state and federal requirements for discharge to surface waters of the state and the United States. The General Manager may approve the discharge of such water to the sewer system only when no reasonable alternative method of disposal is available. If a permit is granted for the discharge of such water in to the sewer system, the user shall pay the applicable charges and fees and shall meet such other conditions as required by the General Manager.
(Ord. 2022-02, passed 3-31-2022)