(A) General Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW (Publicly Owned Treatment Works) any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass through or interference.
(1) These general prohibitions apply to all users of the POTW whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other National, State, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or discharge, or to cause to be deposited or discharged, to any POTW Treatment Facility, any solid, liquid or gaseous waste unless through a connection approved by the POTW.
(3) It shall be unlawful to discharge wastewater, without an NPDES permit, to any natural outlet within the POTW or in any area under its jurisdiction.
(B) Specific prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:
(1) Pollutants which create a fire or explosive hazard in the POTW, including, but not limited to, waste streams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140°F (60°C) using the test methods specified in 40 C.F.R. 261.21;
(2) Wastewater having a pH less than five (5.0) or more than ten (10.0), or otherwise causing corrosive structural damage to the POTW or equipment;
(3) Solid or viscous substances in amounts which will cause obstruction of the flow in the POTW resulting in interference but in no case solids greater than one half inch (1/2) or two and fifty four hundredths centimeters (2.54 cm) in any dimension, including, but not limited to: grease, garbage with particles greater than one half inch (1/2) in any dimension, animal guts or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, waste paper, wood, plastics, tar, asphalt residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating oil, mud or glass grinding or polishing wastes, or tumbling and de burring stones;
(4) Pollutants, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause interference to the POTW or will pass through the POTW;
(5) Wastewater having a temperature greater than 140°F (60°C), or which will inhibit biological activity in the treatment plant resulting in interference but in no case wastewater which causes the temperature at the introduction into the treatment plant to exceed 104°F (40°C);
(6) Petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass through;
(7) Pollutants which 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;
(8) Trucked or hauled wastewater;
(9) Noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance or repair;
(10) 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 Mt. Vernon’s NPDES permit;
(11) Wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes except in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations;
(12) Storm water, foundation drain water, surface water, ground water, artesian well water, roof runoff, surface drainage, subsurface drainage, swimming pool drainage, condensate, deionized water, cooling water, noncontact cooling water, and unpolluted wastewater, unless specifically authorized by the City Manager;
(13) Sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes;
(14) Medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the City Manager in a wastewater discharge permit;
(15) Wastewater causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, the treatment plant’s effluent to fail a toxicity test;
(16) Detergents, surface active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the POTW;
(17) Fats, oils, or greases of animal or vegetable origin in concentrations greater than one hundred (100) mg/L;
(18) Wastewater causing two readings on an explosion hazard meter at the point of discharge into the POTW, or at any point in the POTW, of more than five percent (5%) or any single reading over ten percent (10%) of the Lower Explosive Limit of the meter. Materials for which discharge is prohibited under this subsection include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorides, bromates, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyls, carbides, hydrides, Stoddard reagents, and sulfides;
(19) Any wastewater containing incompatible pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, cause a violation of the water quality standards or the receiving waters of the POTW, exceed the limitation set forth in a National Categorical Pretreatment standard (when effective) or in § 52.018 or create a public nuisance;
(20) In no case shall a substance discharged to the POTW cause the POTW to be in noncompliance with sludge 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 sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the RCRA, SWDA, the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq. (Pub. L. 92-500), the Toxic Substances Control Act, being 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq., or state regulations 35 Ill. Adm. Code Subtitle C, Part 391 applicable to the sludge management method being used;
(21) Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES permit or the receiving water quality standards;
(22) Any wastewater containing BOD, total solids, or suspended solids of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expenses is required to handle such materials at the wastewater treatment plant; provided however, that a user may be permitted by specific written agreement with the POTW, which agreement to discharge such BOD or TSS may provide for special charges, payments or provisions for treating and testing equipment;
(23) Ammonia nitrogen in amounts that would or contribute to interference or pass through;
(24) Any discharge exceeding the standards established in 35 Illinois Administration Code 307; or
(25) Any slug discharged to the POTW.
(C) Pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by this section shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the POTW.
(Prior Code, Art. 16B, § 2.1)