(A) No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any stormwater, surface water, ground water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
(B) Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to the sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the city. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged on approval of the city to a storm sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet.
(C) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:
(1) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas;
(2) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, or constitute a hazard to humans in the receiving water of the sewage treatment plant;
(3) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works; or
(4) Solids or viscous substances in quantities or of a size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage 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 fleshing, entrails and paper dishes, cups, milk containers and the like, either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
(D) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following substances: materials, waters or wastes if it appears likely in the opinion of the city that the wastes can harm either the sewer, sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming the opinion as to the acceptability of the wastes, the city will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant, and maximum limits established by regulatory agencies. The substances prohibited are:
(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150°F (65°C);
(2) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous materials; or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter (100 mg/l) or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°F and 150°F (0°C and 65°C);
(3) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower (0.76 hp metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the city;
(4) Any waters or wastes containing strong acid, iron pickling wastes or concentrated plating solution, whether neutralized or not;
(5) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc or similar objectionable or toxic substances, or water exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to the degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the city for those materials;
(6) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the city as necessary after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies of jurisdiction for the discharge to the receiving waters;
(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of a half-life or concentration that may exceed limits established by the city in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;
(8) Any waste or waters having a pH in excess of 9.5;
(9) Any mercury or any of its compounds in excess of 0.0005 mg/l as Hg at any time except as permitted by the city in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations;
(10) Any cyanide in excess of 2.0 mg/l at any time except as permitted by the city in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations;
(11) Materials which exert or cause:
(a) Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as but not limited to fuller’s earth, lime slurries and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as but not limited to sodium chloride);
(b) Excessive discoloration (such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions);
(c) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chloride requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works; or
(d) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs as defined in § 53.01.
(12) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment process employed, or are amenable to treatment only to the degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.
(E) (1) If any waters or wastes are discharged to the public sewers, which water contains the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in division (D) of this chapter, and/or which are in violation of the standards for pretreatment provided in 40 C.F.R. 403, June 26, 1978, and any amendments thereto, and which in the judgment of the city may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving water, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the city may:
(a) Reject the wastes;
(b) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;
(c) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or
(d) Require payment to cover the added costs of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges, under the provisions of § 53.99.
(2) If the city permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the city and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.
(F) Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the city, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients; except that interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the city and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
(G) Where preliminary treatment or flow equalizing facilities are provided, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his or her expense.
(H) Each industry shall be required to install a control manhole and, when required by the city, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole together with the necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. The manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the city. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his or her expense, and shall be maintained by him or her so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
(I) The owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall provide laboratory measurements, tests and analyses of waters and wastes to illustrate compliance with this chapter and any special conditions for discharge established by the city or regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the drainage.
(1) The number, type and frequency of laboratory analyses to be performed by the owner shall be as stipulated by the city, but no less than once per year the industry must supply a complete analysis of the constituents of the wastewater discharge to assure that compliance with the federal, state and local standards is being met. The owner shall report the results of measurements and laboratory analysis to the city at such times and in such a manner as prescribed by the city. The owner shall bear the expense of all measurements, analyses and reporting required by the city.
(2) At such times as deemed necessary the city reserves the right to take measurements and samples for analysis by an outside laboratory service.
(J) All measurements, tests and analysis of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this chapter shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of IEPA Division of Laboratories Manual of Laboratory Methods, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken in the control manhole. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazard to life, limb and property. The particular analysis involved will determine whether a 24-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended solids analysis are obtained from 24-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pHs are determined from periodic grab samples.
(K) No statement contained in this chapter shall be construed as preventing any special arrangement between the city and any concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment, subject to payment thereof, by the industrial concern, provided the payments are in accordance with the federal and state guidelines for the user charge system.
(1986 Code, § 20-143) (Ord. 1997-17, passed 5-5-1997) Penalty, see § 53.99