For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT or THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
AMMONIA NITROGEN. The total amount of nitrogen in the form of ammonia or ammonium expressed in terms of concentration and/or weight (milligrams per liter/parts per million or kilograms/pounds).
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF AN INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) A responsible corporate officer as defined in 40 C.F.R. § 403.12, if the industrial user is a corporation;
(2) A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively; and/or
(3) A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originates.
BILLABLE BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND. The discharge in pounds of BOD calculated using the billable flow and concentration of BOD in the wastewater in excess of 250 mg/l.
BILLABLE CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND. The discharge in pounds of COD calculated using the billable flow and concentration of BOD in the wastewater in excess of 600 mg/l.
BILLABLE FLOW. Recorded water usage as determined by the appropriate water utility, plus measured water from wells and other sources, times the approved percentage factor for wastewater entering the wastewater system. Alternatively, industrial users may have their BILLABLE FLOW determined by continuously measuring their discharge in a manner approved by the Director.
BILLABLE TOTAL NITROGEN. The discharge in pounds of total nitrogen calculated using the billable flow and concentration of total nitrogen in the wastewater in excess of 40 mg/l.
BILLABLE TOTAL PHOSPHORUS. The discharge in pounds of total phosphorus calculated using the billable flow and concentration of total phosphorus in the wastewater in excess of seven mg/l.
BILLABLE TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS). The discharge in pounds of TSS calculated using the billable flow and concentration of TSS in the wastewater in excess of 250 mg/l.
BOD or BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C, expressed in parts per million by weight.
BUILDING DRAIN. The part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives wastewater and is located inside the walls of a building and conveys the wastewater to the building sewer, which begins five feet outside the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. An extension from the building drain to the sanitary sewer or other discharge location.
CATEGORICAL STANDARDS (NATIONAL CATEGORICAL STANDARD OR PRETREATMENT STANDARDS). Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 30(b) and (c) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 134) which applies to a specific category of the industrial users.
COD (CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND). The total quantity of oxygen required for the chemical oxidation of organic matter in waste as described in Standard Methods.
COLOR. The true color due to the substances in solution.
COMBINED WASTEWATER FORMULA. The combined wastewater formula is a mechanism for calculating appropriate limitations specific in applicable regulations to a wastewater in which process waste streams are mixed with regulated, unregulated or dilution streams, thereby resulting in a mixed effluent. For calculation of the combined wastewater formula, see C.F.R. § 403.6(e).
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. For monitoring requirements, a minimum of four grab samples collected at equally spaced two-hour intervals and proportioned according to flow.
CONCENTRATION, BASED LIMIT. A limit based on the relative strength of a pollutant in a wastestream, usually expressed in mg/l.
CONSTRUCTION. Any one or more of the following: Preliminary planning to determine the feasibility of treatment works or sanitary sewers, engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal or economic investigations or studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures, or other necessary actions, erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement or extension of treatment works or sanitary sewers, or the inspection or supervision of any of the foregoing items.
CONTROL AUTHORITY. This term shall refer to the APPROVAL AUTHORITY, defined hereinabove; or the POTW Director of the town upon approval of the town’s pretreatment program.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, during which the only pollutant or constituent added to the water is heat.
DEM. The North Carolina Division of Environmental Management.
DILUTION WASTESTREAM. Boiler blow down, sanitary wastewater, non-contract cooling water or blow down, and waste streams containing none of the regulated pollutant or only trace amounts or it.
DIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the state.
DIRECTOR. The Director of Public Works, or an authorized representative.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. The wastewater generated from normal human living processes, which has consistent strength within the range defined for standard strength wastewater and which contains no parameters of a quantity or concentration exceeding the limits in § 52.071. Normal human living processes include wastewater from bathrooms and toilets, noncommercial kitchens and nonindustrial and noncommercial laundries.
EFFLUENT. Wastewater, water or other liquid, partially or completely treated or in its natural state, as the case may be, flowing out of a reservoir, septic tank, basin or treatment plant, or part thereof.
EFFLUENT, FINAL. The effluent from the final unit of a waste treatment plant.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA). The United States Environmental Protection Agency, or where appropriate the term may also be used as a designation for the administrator or other duly authorized official of the agency.
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat or grease in a physical state so that it will separate by gravity from wastewater.
GARBAGE. The animal or vegetable wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the commercial handling, storage and sale or produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. For monitoring requirements, a single “dip and take” sample collected at a representative point in the discharge stream.
HEADWORKS ANALYSIS. An evaluation of the capability of the POTW to receive pollutants performed in accordance with DEM and EPA regulations.
HOLDING TANK WASTE. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum pump tank trucks.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge or the introduction of nondomestic pollutants from any source regulated under § 307(b) or (c) or the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) to the POTW.
INDUSTRIAL USER or I.U. A source of indirect discharge which does not constitute a “discharge of pollutants” under regulations issued pursuant to § 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER. The wastewater generated from activities operations or processes which require water and which add to the water pollutant parameters at a strength exceeding standard wastewater strength or at a quantity or concentration exceeding allowable limits defined in § 52.071.
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER SURCHARGE. The additional charge for service provided to any user in the town’s wastewater system service area which has effluent characteristics exceeding those of standard strength wastewater.
INFILTRATION. Water other than wastewater that enters a sewage system (including sewer service connections) from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manholes.
INFLOW. Water other than wastewater that enters a sewage system (including sewer service connections) from sources such as roof leaders, cellar drains, yard drains, area drains, foundation drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, storm water, surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage.
INFLUENT. The wastewaters arriving at the public wastewater treatment facility for treatment.
INSTANTANEOUS MEASUREMENT. For monitoring requirements, a single reading, observation or measurement.
INTERFERENCE. The inhibition or disruption of the POTW treatment process or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirement of the town’s NPDES permit. The term includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with § 405 of the Act, or any criteria, guidelines or regulation developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
LOCAL LIMITS. Numerical pollutant concentration or mass-based values that are developed by a POTW for controlling the discharge of pollutants.
MASS-BASED LIMIT. A limitation based on the actual quantity of a pollutant in a discharge, usually expressed in some unit of production.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act which applies to a specific category of industrial users.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) PERMIT. A permit issued for discharge to the navigable waters of the United States.
NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD or PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD. Any regulation developed under the authority of § 307(b) of the Act and 40 C.F.R. § 403.5.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other surface water or groundwater.
NEW SOURCE. Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which is commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under § 307(c) of the Act which will be applicable to the source, if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, with the provisions stipulated in 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(k).
NPDES or NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM. A permit issued pursuant to § 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342), or pursuant to G.S. § 143-215.1 by the state under delegation from EPA.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS. All costs, direct and indirect, not including debt service and capital related expenditures, but inclusive of expenditures attributable to administration, monitoring, inspections, reviewing applications, maintenance of equipment and treatment and collection of wastewater, necessary to assure adequate wastewater collection and treatment on a continuing basis which conforms to applicable regulations and assures optimal long-term facility management.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representative, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
pH. A term to indicate the degree of acidity or alkalinity as determined by Standard Methods.
POLLUTANT. Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, commercial and agricultural waste discharged into water.
POLLUTION. The human-made or man-induced alteration of chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.
PPM (PARTS PER MILLION). A ratio of weight to volume; for the purposes of this chapter, it is interchangeable with mg/l (milligrams per liter).
PRETREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging the pollutants to the POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes of other means, except as prohibited by 40 C.F.R. § 403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENT. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a categorical pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sanitary or storm sewer which is controlled by the town and in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned in this instance partially by the town and partially by the Greenville Utilities Commission. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this chapter, POTW shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons outside the town who are, by contract or agreement with the town, users of the POTW.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW) TREATMENT PLANT. The portion of the town’s POTW designed to provide treatment of wastewater.
QUALIFIED LABORATORY. A laboratory currently certified by the state to perform water and wastewater analyses.
RECEIVING STREAM. The body of water, stream or watercourse receiving the discharge water from the wastewater treatment plant or formed by the waters discharged from the wastewater treatment plant.
REGULATED PROCESS WASTESTREAM. An industrial process wastestream regulated by National Categorical Pretreatment Standards.
REPLACEMENT. Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the treatment works to maintain the capability and performance for which the works were designed and constructed. The term “operation and maintenance” includes REPLACEMENT.
SANITARY CLOSET. A privy, closet, urinal or other device for the receiving of human excrement, connected with proper fittings so that its contents may empty into the town’s sewer.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries wastewater.
SEWAGE. A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments.
SEWER. The pipes and systems for transporting wastewater, including septic tanks, effluent pumps, pressure service laterals, pressure mains and pump stations.
SEWER SERVICE CHARGE. A charge to a customer for transporting and treating wastewater.
SHALL. Mandatory; MAY is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. Any industrial user of the wastewater disposal system which:
(1) Has a process wastewater flow of 25,000 gallons or more per average work day;
(2) Contributes more than 5% of any design or treatment capacity of the wastewater treatment plant receiving the discharge; and
(3) Is required to meet a National Categorical Pretreatment Standard; or
(4) Is found by the town, the Division of Environmental Management or the EPA to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge, the system’s effluent quality or air emissions generated by the system.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. A violation as defined in this chapter. Significant noncompliance shall occur when the analytical results of more than two of three samples taken from a discharge during a reporting period indicate violation of a limitation. SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE shall also occur when the analytical results of more than one of three samples taken from a discharge during a reporting period exceed a limitation by a factor of 1.4 for BOD, TSS and TKN and by a factor of 1.2 for all other parameters, except pH.
SLUG. Any discharge of wastewater which in concentration of any given constituent or is quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flow during normal operation or which causes interference.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC). A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1987 or later edition.
STANDARD METHODS. The laboratory procedures set forth in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, prepared and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Control Federation or any other procedures recognized by the DEM and EPA (40 C.F.R. § 136).
STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM (STORM SEWER). A system of pipes, culverts, ditches, catch basins and manholes which collects water from rainfall and discharges it into a natural drain way.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SUPERINTENDENT. The person designated by the town to supervise the operation of the town’s publicly owned treatment works and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or his or her duly authorized representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS) or TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS). Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, wastewater or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
TOTAL KIELDAHL NITROGEN (TKN). The total amount of nitrogen in the tri-negative state, including ammonia, ammonium and organically bound nitrogen as measured by standard laboratory procedures and expressed in terms of concentration by weight (milligrams per liter/part per million or kilogram/pounds.
TOTAL NITROGEN. The total kjeldahl nitrogen plus nitrite nitrogen plus nitrate nitrogen.
TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON (TOC). A measure of the amount of organic carbon in water.
TOTAL PHOSPHORUS. All orthophosphates and condensed phosphates, both dissolved and particulate, organic and inorganic.
TOWN. The Town of Grimesland, North Carolina or the Town Board of Aldermen of Grimesland, North Carolina.
TOXIC PARAMETERS OR SUBSTANCES. Any wastes, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which, when discharged into the sanitary sewer in sufficient quantities, may tend to interfere with any wastewater treatment process, may constitute a hazard to human beings or animals or may inhibit aquatic life or create a hazard to recreation in the receiving waters of the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the EPA under the provisions of CWA § 307(a) or other Acts.
UNREGULATED PROCESS WASTESTREAM. An industrial process wastestream that is not regulated by a categorical standard. Note: a wastestream from a process may be “regulated” for one pollutant and “unregulated” for another.
USEFUL LIFE. Estimated period during which a treatment works will be operated.
USER. Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the town’s POTW.
USER CHARGE. A charge levied on users of a publicly owned treatment works for the user’s proportionate share of the cost of operation and maintenance of such.
WASTE DISCHARGE PERMIT. A permit to be issued by the Town Directors as a necessary condition to being granted, or retaining, a publicly provided access point for connection to a public sewer for any industrial user.
WASTEWATER. Any combination of liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, including cooling water, holding tank waste and infiltration/inflow.
(1) INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER. A combination of liquid and water-carried wastes discharged from any industrial establishment and resulting from any trade or process carried on in that establishment and shall include the wastes from pretreatment facilities and cooling water.
(2) SANITARY WASTEWATER. The combination of liquid and water-carried wastes discharged from toilet and other sanitary plumbing facilities.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (WWTP). The plant of the town which receives wastewater and provides necessary treatment. It may also be referred to as POTW.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourse, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation system, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or bordered upon the state, or any portion thereof.
(Ord. passed 5-9-2000)