(a) General Discharge Prohibitions. No person shall contribute or cause to be discharged, directly or indirectly, any of the following described substances into the wastewater works or otherwise to the facilities of the City:
(1) Any pollutants which cause pass through or interference;
(2) 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 a fire or explosion or to be injurious in any other way to the operation of the POTW, and in no case wastestreams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit or sixty degrees Celsius, as determined using test methods approved by USEPA as specified in 40 CFR 261.21;
(3) Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, to cause interference or pass through to the POTW, constitute a hazard to humans or animals or exceed the limitation set forth in this chapter, including, but not limited to, cyanide, chromium, copper, cadmium, zinc, phenols and the like;
(4) Any waste or wastewater which, because of acidic or alkaline properties, causes or may cause damage or injury to the equipment, the wastewater works, the wastewater treatment process, personnel of the Water Pollution Control Division or members of the public, or which causes or may cause the Division to be in violation of its NPDES permit and/or any waste or wastewater with pH values which remain outside the range of 5.5 to 11 standard units for a total or cumulative period of time in excess of fifteen minutes per day, but in no case a waste or wastewater with a pH lower than 5.0;
(5) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size so as to be capable of causing an obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the wastewater works, such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and flashings, entrails and paper dishes, cups and milk containers, either whole or ground by garbage grinders;
(6) 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 which exceeds forty degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit);
(7) Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, oil or similar substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two and 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and in no case petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil or products of mineral oil origin in amounts that will cause interference or pass through;
(8) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the City.
(9) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as exceed limits established by local, State or Federal regulations;
(10) Any substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the treatment processes employed, or which may cause the POTW's effluent or residues, sludges or scums to be unsuitable for reclamation and re-use or to interfere with the reclamation process;
(11) Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES or other disposal system permits;
(12) Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases or solids which, either singly or by interaction with other substances, are capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life, are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for their maintenance and repair, or 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;
(13) Any substance with objectionable color not removed in the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;
(14) Any slugload, which shall mean any substance, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD and the like), released at such a flow rate and/or concentration and/or volume which may cause interference or pass through to the POTW; or which may, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, cause a hazard to human life (including POTW workers) or create a public nuisance;
(15) Any discharge of trucked or hauled pollutants, including industrial and septic wastes, except at locations and at times as designated by the Superintendent;
(16) Unless specifically approved by the Superintendent, any unpolluted water, including, but not limited to, noncontact cooling water, roof run-off, subsurface drainage or surface water; and/or
(17) Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public nuisance.
(b) Limitations on Wastewater Strength.
(1) Categorical pretreatment standards.
A. Categorical pretreatment standards and additional Federal pretreatment standards, as promulgated by the USEPA pursuant to the Act, shall be met by all dischargers of regulated industrial categories or as applicable. National categorical pretreatment standards are provided in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N. These standards, unless specifically noted otherwise, are in addition to all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 5330. Passed 10-15-91.)
B. Existing sources shall comply with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards including Best Management Practices within three years of the standards' effective date, unless a shorter compliance time is specified. Existing sources which become categorical industrial users after the promulgation of an applicable categorical pretreatment standard shall be considered existing industrial users except where those users meet the definition of a new source. (Ord. 7515. Passed 7-9-13.)
C. New sources shall install, have in operating condition, start-up, and maintain all pollution control equipment necessary to meet applicable pretreatment standards before beginning to discharge wastewater to the POTW. New sources shall comply with all applicable pretreatment standards within the shortest feasible time, but not more than ninety days after the start of discharge.
D. The Superintendent may convert limits of categorical pretreatment standards which are only expressed in terms of mass of pollutant per unit of production (or other measure of operation) to equivalent limits expressed as mass of pollutant discharged per day, or as effluent concentrations for purposes of calculating effluent limits applicable to individual industrial users, provided that the Superintendent uses actual long-term production figures and actual long-term flow rates, e.g. the average daily production and the average daily flow rate during a representative year. For new sources, actual production shall be estimated using projected production. The equivalent calculated limits shall be deemed the pretreatment standards, and applicable industrial users shall be required to comply with these equivalent limits in lieu of the promulgated categorical pretreatment standards from which they were derived. For example, the Superintendent may convert the categorical pretreatment standards contained in the aluminum forming point source category effluent guidelines from pounds per million of pounds of production to milligrams per liter (mg/l) and/or kilograms per day (kg/day).
E. Where categorical pretreatment standards specify one limit for calculating maximum daily discharge limits and a second limit for calculating maximum monthly average, or four-day average limits, the same production or flow figure shall be used to calculate both types of equivalent limits.
F. Any industrial user that has equivalent mass or concentration effluent limits calculated from a production-based categorical pretreatment standard shall notify the Superintendent within two business days after the industrial user has a reasonable basis to know that the production level will significantly change within the next calendar month. If a regulated industrial user does not notify the Superintendent of such anticipated change, the industrial user shall meet the mass or concentration effluent limits that were calculated on the original estimate of the longterm average production rate.
G. Where process effluent regulated by categorical pretreatment standards is mixed prior to treatment with wastewaters other than those generated by the regulated process, the Superintendent may derive fixed alternative discharge limits which shall apply to the mixed effluent in accordance with the combined wastestream formula provisions specified in 40 CFR 403.6(e).
(2) State standards. State standards shall be met by all dischargers who are subject to the standards provided in this section.
(3) Local limitations.
A. Dischargers with industrial user discharge permits. Dischargers who have been issued an industrial user discharge permit by the Superintendent in accordance with the permitting provisions of Section 925.06 shall not discharge wastewater containing concentrations exceeding the effluent limitations established in such permit. In issuing such permits, the Superintendent shall compare any applicable categorical pretreatment standard to the local limitations calculated for that particular discharger and shall apply the more stringent limitations in the permit. If no effluent limitation has been established, the discharger shall not exceed the maximum concentrations shown in Table 1 below. The Superintendent may modify effluent limitations and other permit conditions in accordance with Section 925.06(e)(4).
(Ord. 5330. Passed 10-15-91.)
B. Other dischargers. Dischargers who have not been issued an industrial user discharge permit by the Superintendent establishing user-specific effluent limitations shall not discharge wastewater containing concentrations of the following materials exceeding the following uniform values:
Table 1
Local Limitations
Material | Maximum One-Day (24-Hour Composite) Concentration (mg/l) | Maximum Instantaneous Concentration (mg/l) |
Antimony |
9.00 | |
Arsenic |
0.81 | |
Cadmium |
0.001 | |
Copper |
0.03 | |
Cyanide |
0.01 | |
Lead |
0.03 | |
Mercury |
0.0002 | |
Molybdenum |
3.55 | |
Nickel |
0.01 | |
Total chromium |
0.005 | |
Hexavalent Chromium |
1.40 | |
Selenium |
0.27 | |
Zinc |
0.11 | |
Oil and grease |
*100 |
200 |
Ammonia |
N/A | |
Phenol |
N/A | |
Phosphorus |
N/A | |
* The maximum "one-day" concentration for oil and grease shall be determined by averaging the results of four or more grab samples taken over an appropriate production period during any twenty-four hour period.
The maximum one-day concentration shall be determined by obtaining a composite sample of the wastewater collected over an appropriate production period during any twenty-four hour period. The sample may be either flow-proportioned or time proportioned. Where automatic composite sampling is not feasible, a minimum of four grab samples may be taken and composited over the twenty-four hour period. (Ord. 7515. Passed 7-9-13.)
C. Mass limitations. The Superintendent may impose mass limitations on dischargers if such measures are deemed appropriate by the Superintendent.
D. Right of revision. As provided in Section 925.09(e), the City reserves the right to review and amend local limitations in order to comply with the objectives set forth in this chapter. A technical evaluation of the need to revise local limitations shall be performed by the City at least as frequently as a submission of a NPDES permit renewal application for the POTW. All revisions to the local limitations must first be approved by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).
(c) Dilution. No discharger shall increase the use of potable or process water in any way, nor mix separate waste streams, for the purpose of diluting a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with the pretreatment standards or requirements set forth in this chapter, except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirement. (See also Section 925.02
(24))
(d) Orders for Compliance. The City may require a discharge permit and/or issue orders or a permit to any industrial user to require compliance with any requirement under this chapter, including applicable categorical pretreatment standards, other discharge limits, reporting requirements and/or other requirements and/or conditions.
(Ord. 5330. Passed 10-15-91.)