97.01 STORM WATER.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof run-off, sub-surface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer. Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the Superintendent. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged on approval of the Superintendent, to a storm sewer, combined sewer, or natural outlet.
97.02 SURFACE WATERS EXCEPTION.
Special permits for discharging surface waters to a public sanitary sewer may be issued by the Council upon recommendation of the Superintendent where such discharge is deemed necessary or advisable for purposes of flushing, but any permit so issued shall be subject to revocation at any time when deemed to the best interests of the sewer system.
97.03 PROHIBITED DISCHARGES.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:
- Flammable or Explosive Material. Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas.
- Toxic or Poisonous Materials. 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, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of two (2) milligrams per liter as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.
- Corrosive Wastes. 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.
- Solid or Viscous Substances. Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such 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 fleshings, entrails and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
- Excessive B.O.D., Solids or Flow. Any waters or wastes having (a) a five (5) day biochemical oxygen demand greater than three hundred (300) parts per million by weight, or (b) containing more than three hundred fifty (350) parts per million by weight of suspended solids, or (c) having an average daily flow greater than two percent (2%) of the average sewage flow of the City, shall be subject to the review of the Superintendent. Where necessary in the opinion of the Superintendent, the owner shall provide, at the owner’s expense, such preliminary treatment as may be necessary to (a) reduce the biochemical oxygen demand to three hundred (300) parts per million by weight, or (b) reduce the suspended solids to three hundred fifty (350) parts per million by weight, or (c) control the quantities and rates of discharge of such waters or wastes. Plans, specifications, and any other pertinent information relating to proposed preliminary treatment facilities shall be submitted for the approval of the Superintendent and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approvals are obtained in writing.
97.04 RESTRICTED DISCHARGES.
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 Superintendent 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, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming an opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Superintendent 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 other pertinent factors. The substances restricted are:
- High Temperature. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees F (65 degrees C).
- Fat, Oil, Grease. Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one hundred (100) milligrams per liter or six hundred (600) milligrams per liter of dispersed or other soluble matter.
- Viscous Substances. Water or wastes containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) and one hundred fifty (150) degrees F (0 and 65 degrees C).
- Garbage. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded, that is, to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half (½) inch in any dimension.
- Acids. Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solution whether neutralized or not.
- Toxic or Objectionable Wastes. Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and 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 Superintendent for such materials.
- Odor or Taste. Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the Superintendent as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of state, federal, or other public agencies of jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters.
- Radioactive Wastes. Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Superintendent in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations.
- Excess Alkalinity. Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.
- Unusual Wastes. Materials which exert or cause:
- Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, Fullers earth, lime slurries, and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).
- Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).
- Unusual B.O.D., chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.
- Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting “slugs” as defined herein.
- Noxious or Malodorous Gases. Any noxious or malodorous gas or other substance which either singly or by interaction with other wastes is capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or of preventing entry into sewers for their maintenance and repair.
- Damaging Substances. Any waters, wastes, materials or substances which react with water or wastes in the sewer system to release noxious gases, develop color of undesirable intensity, form suspended solids in objectionable concentration or create any other condition deleterious to structures and treatment processes.
- Untreatable Wastes. Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.
97.05 RESTRICTED DISCHARGES – POWERS.
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 Section 97.04 and which in the judgment of the Superintendent 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 Superintendent may:
- Rejection. Reject the wastes by requiring disconnection from the public sewage system;
- Pretreatment. Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;
- Controls Imposed. Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or
- Special Charges. Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of Chapter 99.
97.06 SPECIAL FACILITIES.
If the Superintendent 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 Superintendent and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, and laws. Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at the owner’s expense.
97.07 CONTROL MANHOLES.
When required by the Superintendent, 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 Superintendent. 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.
97.08 TESTING OF WASTES.
All measurements, tests, and analyses 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 Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said 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 hazards to life, limb, and property. (The particular analyses involved will determine whether a twenty-four (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, B.O.D. and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four (24) hour composites of all outfalls whereas pH’s are determined from periodic grab samples).