(A) Prohibition of unpolluted water.
(1) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged, either directly or indirectly, any storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer. Any such connections shall be subject to immediate removal by the owner of the premises so connected and at the owner's expense.
(2) Subfoundation building drains connected to sanitary sewers before the effective date of this section will not be required to be removed unless it is established by the Sanitary Board that such connection is detrimental to the satisfactory operation of the POTW and that such removal is cost-effective in accordance with guidelines established by the United States EPA. Any such connections made after the effective date of this section shall be prohibited and shall be removed.
(3) Should the owner of such an illegally connected premises fail to remove the connection within 90 days after the date of official notice to do so, the Sanitary Board shall cause the connection to be removed and the cost thereof shall be billed to the owner of the premises. If such cost is not paid within 60 days, Council shall certify that such cost shall constitute a lien upon the property.
(B) Illegal discharges to natural outlet or storm sewer. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged to any natural outlet or storm sewer any sanitary or industrial wastewater, unless treatment is provided in accordance with the requirements of this article and/or the owner's NPDES permit.
(C) Allowable discharge of unpolluted water. Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage, such as from air conditioning, swimming pools, and the like, shall be discharged into such sewers as are specifically designed and designated as storm sewers or to a combined sewer or a natural outlet approved by the Sanitary Board. Industrial uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted wastewater may be discharged, on approval of the Sanitary Board, to a storm sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet. If such waters are polluted with insoluble oils or grease or suspended solids, they shall be treated for removal of the pollutants, and the clear water discharged as specified.
(D) Protection of sanitary and building sewers during construction. No person constructing a sanitary sewer, building or house connection shall leave same open, unsealed or incomplete in such fashion as to permit storm, surface or subsurface water or animals to enter such sewers.
(E) Obstructions in sewers. No unshredded garbage or obstruction of any kind shall be placed or thrown in any receiving basin or sewer, and persons so offending shall be subject to penalty for each offense.
(F) General discharge prohibitions.
(1) No user shall contribute or cause to be contributed, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the POTW. These general prohibitions apply to all such users of the POTW whether or not the user is subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements. A user may not contribute the following substances to the POTW:
(a) Any liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quantity are, or may be, sufficient either alone or by interaction with other substances to cause fire or explosion or be injurious in any other way to the POTW or to the operation of the POTW. At no time shall two successive readings on an explosion hazard meter, at the point of discharge into the system (or at any point in the system) be more than 5% nor any single reading over 10% of the lower explosive limit (LEL) of the meter. Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromates, carbides, hydrides and sulfides and any other substances which the Sanitary Board, the state or EPA has notified the user is a fire hazard or a hazard to the system.
(b) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer, or other interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment facilities such as, but not limited to, grease, garbage with particles greater than one-half inch 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, gas, tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating oil, mud, or glass grinding or polishing wastes.
(c) Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.0 or more than 9.5, unless the POTW is specifically designed to accommodate such wastewater, or wastewater having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and/or personnel of the POTW.
(d) Any wastewater containing toxic 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, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the POTW, or to exceed the limitation set forth in a Categorical Pretreatment Standard. A toxic pollutant shall include, but not be limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to § 307(a) of the Act.
(e) Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases or solids which either singly or by interaction with other wastes are sufficient to create a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair.
(f) Any substance which may cause the POTW's effluent or any other product of the POTW such as residues, sludges or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process. 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; any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or state criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used.
(g) Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES and/or state disposal system permit or the receiving water quality standards.
(h) Any wastewater with objectionable color not removed in the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(i) Any wastewater having a temperature which will inhibit biological activity in the POTW treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater with a temperature at the introduction into the POTW which exceeds 40°C (104°F) unless the POTW treatment plant is designed to accommodate such temperature.
(j) Any pollutants, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD and the like), released at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which a user knows or has reason to know will cause interference to the POTW. In no case shall a slug load have a flow rate or contain concentrations or qualities of pollutants that exceed for any time period longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24 hour concentration, quantities or flow during normal operation.
(k) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Sanitary Board in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(2) When the Board determines that a user is contributing to the POTW any of the above enumerated substances in such amounts as to interfere with the operation of the POTW, the Board shall advise the user of the impact of the contribution on the POTW; and develop effluent limitations for such user to correct the interference with the POTW. In this regard, the Board shall:
(a) Reject the wastes;
(b) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers, as hereinafter outlined;
(c) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or
(d) Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes under the extra strength surcharge provisions of Article 945.
(G) Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards. Upon the promulgation of the Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards for a particular industrial subcategory, the federal standard, if more stringent than limitations imposed under this article for sources in that subcategory, shall immediately supersede the limitations imposed under this article. The Superintendent shall notify all affected users of the applicable reporting requirements under 40 CFR 403.12.
(H) Modification of Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards. If the city's wastewater treatment system achieves consistent removal of pollutants limited by Federal Pretreatment Standards, the Sanitary Board may apply to the approval authority for modification of specific limits in the Federal Pretreatment Standards. CONSISTENT REMOVAL means reduction in the amount of a pollutant or alteration of the nature of the pollutant by the wastewater treatment system to a less toxic or harmless state in the effluent which is achieved by the system in 95% of the samples taken when measured according to the procedures set forth in 40 CFR 403.7(c)(2), promulgated pursuant to the Act. The Board may then modify pollutant discharge limits in the Federal Pretreatment Standards if the requirements contained in 40 CFR 403.7, are fulfilled and prior approval from the approval authority is obtained.
(I) Specific pollutant limitations. No person shall discharge wastewater containing in excess of:
Substance or Material | Allowable Discharge (mg/l) |
Arsenic | 0.5 |
Cadmium | 0.2 |
Copper | 1.0 |
Cyanide, total (CN) | 0.5 |
Lead | 0.5 |
Mercury | 0.02 |
Nickel | 2.0 |
Silver | 0.2 |
Hexavalent chromium | 1.0 |
Total chromium | 5.0 |
Zinc | 1.0 |
Phenolic compounds which cannot be removed by the city's Wastewater treatment processes | 0.2 |
Fluoride | 5.0 |
Iron (dissolved) | 15.0 |
Manganese (dissolved) | 5.0 |
Sulfides | 10.0 |
Oil or grease (freon soluble) | 100 |
(J) State requirements. State requirements and limitations on discharges shall apply in any case where they are more stringent than federal requirements and limitations or those in this article.
(K) City's right of revision. The city, upon recommendation of the Sanitary Board, reserves the right to establish, by ordinance, more stringent limitations or requirements on discharges to the wastewater disposal system if deemed necessary to comply with the objective presented in § 941.01(B).
(L) Excessive discharge. No user shall increase the use of process water or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with the limitations contained in the Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards, or in any other pollutant-specific limitation developed by the Sanitary Board or state. Upon approval of the Sanitary Board, dilution may be an acceptable means of complying with some of the prohibitions set forth in division (F) hereof, such as pH and temperature prohibition.
(M) Accidental discharges. Each industrial user shall provide protection from the accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other substances regulated by this article. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited materials shall be provided and maintained at the owner's and user's own cost and expense. Detailed plans showing facilities and operating procedures to provide this protection shall be submitted to the Sanitary Board for review, and shall be approved by the Board before construction of the facility. All existing users shall complete such a plan by July 1, 1988. No user who commences contribution to the POTW after the effective date of this section shall be permitted to introduce pollutants into the system until accidental discharge procedures have been approved by the Board. Review and approval of such plans and operating procedures shall not relieve the industrial user from the responsibility to modify the user's facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this article. In the case of an accidental discharge, it is the responsibility of the user to immediately telephone and notify the POTW of the incident. The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume, and corrective actions.
(1) Written notice. Within five days following an accidental discharge, the user shall submit to the Superintendent a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and the measures to be taken by the user to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification shall not relieve the user of any expense, loss, damage or other liability which may be incurred as a result of damage to the POTW, fish kills or any other damage to person or property; nor shall such notification relieve the user of any fines, civil penalties or other liability which may be imposed by this article or other applicable law.
(2) Notice to employees. A notice shall be permanently posted on the user's bulletin board or other prominent place advising employees whom to call in the event of a dangerous discharge. Employers shall insure that all employees who may cause or suffer such a dangerous discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedure.
('71 Code, § 941.06) (Ord. 647, passed 5-11-81) Penalty, see § 941.99