Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated.
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 (NH3-N). Ammonia measured as nitrogen. The laboratory determinations shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in the latest edition of 40 C.F.R. pt. 136.3.
APPLICABLE PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any pretreatment limit or prohibitive standard (federal, state, or local) and considered to be the most restrictive with which non-domestic users will be required to comply.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The United States Environmental Protection Agency - Region V.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER.
(1) If the user is a corporation:
(a) The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
(b) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding 25 million dollars (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2) If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.
(3) If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.
(4) The individuals described in divisions (1) through (3) above may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the city.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or BOD. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20° centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l). The laboratory determinations shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in the latest edition of 40 C.F.R. pt. 136.3.
BOARD. The City Board of Public Works and Safety.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD OR CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 C.F.R. ch. I, subch. N, pts. 405-471.
CITY. The City of Mount Vernon, Indiana, acting through its Common Council or Board of Public Works and Safety.
CITY SEWER SYSTEM. The sanitary sewer system of the city, located both within the city limits and within that area beyond the boundaries of the city limits, over which the city has jurisdiction as to sewers.
CLEAN OUT. A vertical standpipe, with a cap, extending above a lateral pipe and giving access to the lateral pipe on an owner’s property.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to serve as a sanitary sewer and a storm sewer.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH, and fecal coliform bacteria, plus any additional pollutants identified in the POTW’s NPDES permit, where the POTW is designed to treat such pollutants to the degree required by the POTW’s NPDES permit a substantial degree. Substantial degree contemplates removals in the order of 85% or greater. Minor incidental removals in the order of 10% to 65% are not considered substantial. Except as prohibited herein or where these materials would interfere with the operations and performance of the POTW, examples of additional pollutants which may be considered compatible, depending on the concentration, include: chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, phosphorus and phosphorus compounds, ammonia-N, E. coli, fats, oils and greases of animal or vegetable origin. INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT is any pollutant that is not defined as a compatible pollutant.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. The sample resulting from the combination of individual samples taken at selected intervals based on the increment of flow or time. Composite wastewater samples shall contain a minimum of four discrete samples taken at equal time intervals over the compositing period or proportional to the flow rate over the compositing period.
CONNECTION AND TAP-IN. These words shall be identical whether used independently or jointly and shall cover not only situations where there is an initial or first tap-in or connection into the city sewer system but also where improvements which are already connected are tapped into a sewer line, and there are additions to, enlargements, or expansions of the existing improvements.
COUNCIL. The Common Council of the City of Mount Vernon, Indiana.
DAILY DISCHARGE. Discharge of wastewater measured during a 24-hour period that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling.
DAILY MAXIMUM. The highest total discharge for any calendar day during a calendar month.
DISCHARGER or INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGER. Any non-residential user who discharges industrial wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. Wastewater discharged from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, apartment houses, hotels, office buildings, industrial plants and institutions and a water supply of a community after it has been used and discharged into a sewer, excluding storm and surface water.
EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT COSTS. The expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories, or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the sewage works to maintain the capacity and performance for which the works are designed and constructed.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by the EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with section 307 of the Act.
GARBAGE. Any solid wastes from preparation, cooking, or dispensing of food and from handling, storage, or sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
GROUND (SHREDDED) GARBAGE. Garbage that is shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely in suspension under the conditions normally prevailing in the sewerage system, with no particle being greater than ½-inch in dimension.
IMPROVEMENT. Any building, structure, or physical enclosure, whether attached or unattached to real estate, and whether mobile or immobile.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant that is not defined as a compatible pollutant including non-biodegradable dissolved solids.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER (IU). Any industrial or commercial establishment that discharges industrial (process) wastewater or waste to the publicly owned treatment works.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Solid, liquid, or gaseous waste resulting from any industrial, manufacturing, trade, or business process or from the development, recovery, or processing of natural resources exclusive of sanitary sewage.
INFILTRATION. Water entering a sewer system and service connections from the ground, through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manhole walls. (Infiltration does not include and is distinguished from inflow). This shall not exceed 200 gallons per inch of pipe diameter per mile of pipe per day. The following table shall be used to determine maximum allowable infiltration:
Pipe Size | x | Allowable Flow | ÷ | Feet/Mile | = | Gallons/Day/Foot of Pipe |
6-inch
| x | 200 gallons
| ÷ |
5280
| = |
0.2273
|
8-inch
| x | 200 gallons
| ÷ |
5280
| = |
0.3030
|
10-inch
| x | 200 gallons
| ÷ |
5280
| = |
0.3788
|
12-inch
| x | 200 gallons
| ÷ | 280
| = |
0.4545
|
INFLOW. Water discharged into a sewer system and service system and service connections from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, foundation drains, cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections from storm waters, surface run-off, street wash waters, or drainage is hereby expressly prohibited. Inflow does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.
INFLOW/INFILTRATION (I/I). The total quantity of water from both inflow and infiltration without distinguishing the source.
INSTANTANEOUS MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DISCHARGE LIMIT. The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge, which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the city’s NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
MAY. The act referred to is permissive.
MEDICAL WASTE. Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
MONTHLY AVERAGE. The total discharge during a calendar month. The monthly average shall be determined by the summation of the measured daily discharge divided by the days during the calendar month when measurements were taken.
NEW SOURCE.
(1) Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under section 307(c) of the Act which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:
(a) The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;
(b) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
(c) The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source, should be considered.
(2) Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of division (1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this division has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:
(1) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment;
(2) Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment;
(b) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this division.
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER. Water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
NORMAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE. Wastewater or sewage having an average daily concentration as follows:
(1) CBOD not more than 250 mg/l;
(2) TSS not more than 250 mg/l;
(3) Ammonia-N not more than 25 mg/l; and
(4) COD not more than 500 mg/l.
NPDES PERMIT. A permit issued pursuant to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System as provided in 33 U.S.C. § 1341.
OTHER WASTES. Decayed wood, sawdust, shavings, bark, lime, refuse, ashes, garbage, offal, oil, tar, chemicals, and all other substances except sewage and industrial wastes.
OWNER. The owner of the property that is being served by the sewage works of the city.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city’s NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and local governmental entities.
pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT. Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).
PRETREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS. Prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances. These prohibitions appear in § 50.015.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW. A treatment works, as defined by section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
SANITARY SEWAGE. Includes liquid waste and wastewater from water closets, urinals, lavatories, sinks, bathtubs, showers, laundries, bars, soda fountains, cuspidors, refrigerator drips, drinking fountains, and all other water-carried wastes except industrial wastes.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that carries liquid and water wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, into which ground, storm, and surface waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. Human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, and the like).
SEWAGE WORKS. All of the works heretofore or hereafter established, financed, and constructed under the provisions of any federal or state statute.
SHALL. The act referred to is mandatory.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
(2) A user that:
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater);
(b) Contributes a process wastestream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
(c) Is designated as such by the city on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(3) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in division (2) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the city may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards of this chapter. Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial wastewater which in concentration of any given constitutent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 30 minutes more than four times the average 24-hour concentration for flows during normal operation.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE. A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
STANDARD METHODS. The laboratory procedures set forth in the latest edition, at the time of analysis of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,” prepared and published
jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation.
STORM SEWER. A sewer intended to carry only storm waters, surface runoff, street wash waters, and drainage.
STORMWATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
SUPERINTENDENT. The person designated by the city to supervise the operation of the POTW, and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or a duly authorized representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS). The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering. The laboratory determination shall be made in accordance with the latest editions of 40 C.F.R. pt. 136.
TOXIC AMOUNT. Concentrations of any pollutant or combination of pollutants which upon exposure or assimilation into an organism will cause adverse effects, such as cancer, genetic mutations, and physiological manifestations as defined in standards issued pursuant to section 307(a) of the Act.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Those substances referred to in section 307(a) of the Act, as well as any other known potential substance capable of producing toxic effects.
TOTAL TOXIC ORGANICS (TTOs). TTOs are toxic organics, as defined and analytically measured by definition in the Federal Register.
UPSET. An exceptional incident in which a discharger unintentionally and temporarily is in a state of noncompliance with the standards set forth herein due to factors beyond the reasonable control of the discharger, and excluding noncompliance to the extent caused by operator error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventative maintenance, or careless or improper operation of the facilities.
USER. Any person or persons or any establishment of any kind discharging or causing the discharge of wastewater into the sewer system of the city.
WASTEWATER. Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT. That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
WEEKLY AVERAGE. The highest average of a calendar week during a calendar month. The weekly average shall be determined by the summation of the measured daily discharge divided by the number of days during the calendar week when measurements were taken.
(Ord. 02-09, passed 5-28-02; Am. Ord. 05-34, passed 10-24-05)