(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish rules and regulations concerning discharges to the sewerage system, including determining the acceptability or unacceptability of such discharges and the pretreatment thereof, establishing specific limitations on certain discharges and establishing certain other system standards.
(b) Right of entry; construction of manholes. The municipality shall at all reasonable times have free access to the premises of any user of its facilities and to the premises of any person reasonably believed by the municipality to be a user or a possible user of its facilities, for the purposes of inspecting, sampling or testing the discharge emanating therefrom, or any discharge which may emanate therefrom, in order to determine whether such discharge or potential discharge is acceptable or unacceptable to the municipality. Where necessary, the municipality may require the owner of any premises which discharges to the system to install a suitable control manhole together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate the observation, sampling and measurement of the discharge or potential discharge. Such a manhole, when required, shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the municipality. The manhole shall be installed at the owner’s expense and shall be maintained by the owner so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
(c) Determination of acceptability or unacceptability of discharges. The municipality shall determine the acceptability or unacceptability of any discharge to the sewerage system. Such a determination shall be made on the basis of sound engineering and operational evaluations and take into consideration the nature and concentration of the discharge, its point of entry into the system, its compatibility with other discharges in the system and the treatment facility receiving it, and all other factors pertinent to the effect of the discharge on any part of the system or treatment process.
(d) Unacceptable discharges. Unacceptable discharges shall include those which have been determined by the municipality to:
(1) Contain materials or substances which would constitute a hazard to life and limb or personnel engaged in the inspection, maintenance and operation of the system;
(2) Contain materials or substances which are toxic;
(3) Contain materials or substances which are in any way deleterious to any part of the system;
(4) Contain concentrations of any toxic or deleterious materials or substances in excess of any limits set thereon in accordance with this chapter or state or federal regulations;
(5) Cause the municipality to incur excessive expenses in the handling or treatment thereof;
(6) Be incompatible with the treatment process or inhibit the performance of the treatment process at the municipal treatment facility;
(7) Be of such volume or contain such BOD, suspended solids or other material load (slug) as would cause the treatment facility to exceed its design capabilities;
(8) Cause the treatment facility to fail to meet effluent requirements set by state and federal regulatory agencies or cause such effluent to have a degrading effect on the receiving body of water;
(9) Contain viable pathogenic organisms in such quantities as to be a hazard to public health; or
(10) Cause the treatment facility to fail to meet effluent requirements as established under its NPDES permit.
(e) Refusal of service. The municipality may refuse the service of the municipal treatment facilities to any person whose discharge is determined by the municipality to be unacceptable in accordance with this section.
(f) Pretreatment permitted. Any person whose discharge has been determined by the municipality to be unacceptable in accordance with this section may apply to the municipality for permission to pretreat such discharge by the use of a method of pretreatment designed to render such discharge acceptable.
(g) Pretreatment methods. The acceptability of a pretreatment method for any given discharge, an application for which has been made in accordance with division (f) hereof and the terms for the installation and use thereof shall be reviewed by the municipality. Such a review shall be made on the basis of sound engineering and operational evaluations and take into consideration all factors pertinent to the effect of the discharge, both before and after pretreatment, on any part of the system.
(h) Inspection of pretreatment facilities. Pretreatment facilities shall at all times be subject to inspection by the municipality in order to determine if such facilities are efficiently performing the function for which they are installed.
(i) Cost of pretreatment. All costs incident to pretreatment and all expenses incident to the acquisition, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of pretreatment facilities shall be borne by the user. In addition, any extraordinary administrative or investigative expenses incurred by the municipality, as a result of the installation and use of pretreatment facilities, shall be charged to the user.
(j) Discharge of certain materials and substances prohibited. No person shall release or cause to be released or allow to run, leak or escape into the sewerage system any discharge containing any materials or substances considered by the municipality to be toxic or in any way deleterious to any part of the sewerage system or treatment process. Certain materials shall, by their nature, be considered by the municipality to be toxic or deleterious, except in small quantities or concentrations. Such materials or substances include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
(1) Construction materials, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastic, wood, paunch manure, fur, wax or any other solid or viscous substance capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the sewerage system;
(2) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas;
(3) Steam or hot water above 150°F (65°C);
(4) Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 50 mg/l or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 33°F or 150°F (165°C, respectively);
(5) Any water or waste having a pH lower than 5.0 or higher than 9.5 or having any other corrosive property apt to cause damage or hazard to structures, equipment of the sewerage system or personnel employed in the operation of the system;
(6) Any water or waste containing readily releasable cyanide (cyanide released at a temperature of 150°F (65°C) and a pH of 2.5) in excess of two mg/l or any water or waste containing total cyanide in excess of five mg/l;
(7) Coal tar, its derivatives or waste;
(8) Any liquid or waste containing toxic or poisonous substances in sufficient quantities or at a rate of flow so as to injure or interfere with any of the sewage treatment processes, to constitute a hazard to human beings or animals or to create any hazard in the receiving waters; or
(9) Any substance in quantities limited by any U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pretreatment regulation.
(k) Conditionally permitted discharges. Certain toxic substances and pathogenic bacteria, the admission of which into the sewerage system would otherwise be prohibited, shall be acceptable in a discharge if such substances and bacteria are reduced by treatment at the source to a point that will meet the general purposes of this chapter, or are discharged in such small concentrations so as not to be injurious to personnel, sewers, any biochemical, biological or other sewage treatment process, or receiving waters. Such substances include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
(1) Any alcohol, antibiotic, arsenic, arsenical, bromine, iodine, chlorine, copper, copper salt, creosol, creosote, fluorine, formaldehyde, mercury, mercurial, phenol, phenol derivative, silver, silver compound, silvermide, toxic dye (organic and mineral), zinc, cadmium, nickel or iron;
(2) Any strong oxidizing agent, such as a chromate, dichromate, permanganate or peroxide;
(3) Any chemical compound producing toxic, flammable or explosive gases, either upon acidification, alkalization, oxidation or reduction;
(4) Any strong reducing agent, such as a nitrite, sulphide, sulfite or thiosulfate; or
(5) Any waste from industrial processes, hospital procedures or commercial processes containing viable pathogenic organisms.
(l) Limitations on concentration and quantity discharges. Certain substances or materials shall be considered by the city to be toxic or deleterious in nature so as to require specific limitations on their concentration or quantity in any discharge to the sewerage system, whether or not such discharge has been subjected to any form of pretreatment. Such substances or materials and their allowable concentrations or quantities include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
Substance or Material | Concentration mg/L |
Substance or Material | Concentration mg/L |
BOD | 200 |
Solids(Total Suspended) | 200 |
Solids(Total Dissolved) | 1,500 |
Total Phosphorous as P | 10 |
Oil and Grease(Freon Soluble) | 50 |
Arsenic | 3.5 |
Benzene | 1.0 |
Cadmium(Total) | 0.160 |
Chromium(Total) | 3.590 |
Chromium(Hexavalent) | .0380 |
Substance or Material
|
Concentration mg/L
|
Substance or Material
|
Concentration mg/L
|
Copper(Total) | 0.610 |
Cyanide(Total) | 1.360 |
Ethylbenzene | 1.0 |
Lead(Total) | 2.450 |
Mercury(Total) | 0.010 |
Nickel(Total) | 5.560 |
PCB’S(Total) | 0.02 |
Selenium(Total) | 0.360 |
Toluene | 1.0 |
Xylene | 1.0 |
Zinc | 0.960 |
(m) Discharges containing ground garbage; approval of grinders required. Any discharge to the sewerage system containing garbage may be made acceptable by means of grinding and dilution, provided, however, that the installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower (0.76 horsepower metric) or greater shall be subject to review and approval by the municipality prior to such installation and operation and to periodic inspection by the municipality thereafter.
(n) Discharges containing acids and bases. Any water or waste which is unacceptable pursuant to division (j) (5) hereof shall be neutralized, diluted or subjected to some other acceptable method of pretreatment in order to render it acceptable to the municipality, in accordance with this section, prior to its discharge to the sewerage system. If necessary, the use of automatically operating diluting or neutralizing and monitoring equipment shall be required. If, upon neutralization, the discharge is sufficiently high in ionic strength as to continue to be unacceptable, further pretreatment shall be required.
(o) Discharge of odors. The owner shall, at all times, eliminate or control the emission of offensive odors from building sewers to the sewerage system, or the development of offensive odors in the system as the result of a discharge. Whenever the municipality determines that offensive odors emanating from a building sewer or resulting from a discharge are present in the system, it shall require the owner to take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate such odors from the system. The cost of any devices which may be necessary to eliminate or control such odors and all attendant expenses shall be borne by the owner.
(p) Accidental release of unacceptable substances. No person shall connect to the sewerage system any vessel, tank, container or receptacle of any kind used to receive, hold, store or in any other way handle any toxic or deleterious material or substance, the discharge of which is prohibited by divisions (j) through (l) hereof, through which quantities of such material or substance could accidentally or otherwise be discharged directly or indirectly into the system. Persons who, in the course of their business or otherwise, transport, store, receive, ship or in any other way handle or process any such material or substance shall take precautions to prevent accidental spillage of such substances to any connection to the system by way of floor drains, basins, catch basins, gutters, manholes or any other such connection. Whenever the municipality determines that accidental spillage has occurred through any such connection to the system, it shall require the owner to eliminate the connection.
(q) Notification of accidental releases; costs. In case of an accidental release to the sewerage system of an unacceptable discharge or of any substance or material considered by the municipality to be toxic or deleterious, as provided in this section, the user shall notify the municipality immediately and in no case later than one hour following such a discharge so that remedial action can be taken. Costs incurred to correct any damage resulting from such a discharge shall be charged to the user. Failure to report such a discharge shall result in a charge of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) in addition to the costs of correction and in addition to the penalty provided in § 1044.99. Each such discharge shall be considered separately and the costs and charges therefor shall be levied accordingly. A separate discharge shall be deemed made each day during or on which such discharge continues and charges therefor shall be levied accordingly. Such charges shall be collected by the municipality in the same manner as all other charges set by the municipality.
(r) Special agreements. Whenever necessary or expedient to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the municipality may enter into a special agreement with a user of the treatment facilities setting forth terms under which the discharge of such user will be acceptable to the municipality.
(s) Discharge of unpolluted water. All unpolluted water, including storm water, surface water, ground water, roof run-off, uncontaminated cooling water, subsurface drainage or unpolluted industrial process water, shall be discharged to storm sewers, drainage ditches or natural watercourses. Whenever any such unpolluted water is found to be discharged to the sanitary sewer, the municipality shall require such discharge to be disconnected at the expense of the user.
(t) Standards for construction of extensions to the system. Any person wishing to construct an extension to the sewerage system shall comply with all applicable Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and municipal standards for new construction. Before approving any extensions to the system, the municipality shall ensure that downstream capacity is available.
(Ord. 80-O-477, passed 1-15-1980; Ord. 98-O-1696, passed 9-15-1998; Ord. 07-O-2401, passed 9-4-2007)