(A) No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted industrial process water to any sanitary sewer.
(B) Stormwater and all other drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the city and meeting all appropriate local, state, and federal rules and regulations. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process water may be discharged on approval of the city and the South Fork Sewer District (SFSD) to a storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or natural outlet. If discharged to the sanitary sewer system, additional approval will be required from the SFSD.
(C) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters, or wastes if it appears likely, in the opinion of the city or the SFSD, that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, or public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming its opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the city and the SFSD 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, or 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 or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°F to 150°F, or 0ºC to 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 or greater shall be subject to the review of and approval by 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, lead, cadmium, or similar objectionable or toxic substances, or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the South Fork Sewer District for such 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 such discharge to the receiving waters;
(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the city in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;
(8) Any wastes or waters having a pH in excess of 9.5;
(9) Any mercury or any of its compounds in excess of 0.0005 milligrams per liter of Hg at any time, except as permitted by the city in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations;
(10) Any cyanide in excess of one milligram per liter 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 and sodium sulfate);
(b) Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions);
(c) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works; or
(d) Unusual volumes of flow or concentrations of water constituting slugs, as defined.
(12) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the SFSD sewage treatment process, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters;
(13) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas;
(14) 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, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance, or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant;
(15) 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; and
(16) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with 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, garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair, fleshings, and entrails, either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
(D) If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in division (C) above, and/or which are in violation of the standards for pretreatment provided in 40 C.F.R. part 403 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 waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the city may:
(1) Reject the wastes;
(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers in accordance with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pretreatment requirements. National categorical pretreatment standards found in 40 C.F.R. chapter 1, subchapter N, parts 405 through 471 are hereby incorporated and made enforceable under this code;
(3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or
(4) Require payment to cover the added costs of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges. If the city and the SFSD permit 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.
(E) 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 such 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 so located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
(F) Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at the owner’s expense.
(G) Each industrial business shall be required to install a control manhole when required by the city upon the city’s identification of a need to monitor and/or regulate the drainage. The owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling, and measurement of the wastes. Such 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 the owner’s expense and shall be maintained by the owner so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
(H) (1) The owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes may be required, upon request, to provide laboratory measurements, tests, and analyses of water and wastes to illustrate compliance with this subchapter and any special conditions for discharge established by the city or SFSD having jurisdiction over the discharge.
(2) 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 are being met. The owner shall report the results of measurements and laboratory analyses 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. At such times as deemed necessary, the city reserves the right to take measurements and samples for analyses by an outside laboratory service.
(I) All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this subchapter shall be determined in accordance with regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department of Environmental Quality, and/or the Panhandle Health District, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole.
(1) 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.
(2) 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 hazards to life, limb, and property. The particular analyses 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 analyses are obtained from 24-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pHs are determined from periodic grab samples.
(J) No statement contained in this section shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment, subject to payment therefor, in accordance with this subchapter, by the industrial concern provided that such payments are in accordance with federal and state guidelines for user charge systems.
(Prior Code, § 10-2-4) (Ord. 2018-05, passed 12-12-2018) Penalty, see § 51.99