[Adopted 12-3-1984 by Ord. No. 12-1-84; revised and readopted 3-4-1991 by Ord. No. 2-1-91 (Ch. 140, Art. IV, of the 1991 Code)]
A. 
It is the objective of the Town Council of the Town of Indian Head, Maryland, to permit the discharge of sanitary sewage and industrial wastes to the sewerage system of the Town of Indian Head, provided that such discharge does not damage the sewerage system, unduly restrict the capacity of the system to receive wastewater, adversely affect the treatment process or in any other way constitute a detriment to the sewerage system, including the sewers, the pumping facilities, the wastewater treatment plant or the receiving waters.
B. 
It is declared to be the purpose of this article to specify:
(1) 
Those wastewaters, including industrial wastes, which will be accepted in the sewerage system of the Town of Indian Head.
(2) 
Types of wastes which will be prohibited from discharge to the sewerage system of the Town of Indian Head.
(3) 
Conditions, including pretreatment or screening, under which certain wastes will be accepted in the sewerage system of the Town of Indian Head, after review and upon approval of the Town Council or Town Engineer.
A. 
Unless the content specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
BOD (denoting "biochemical oxygen demand")
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in five days at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter, as determined in accordance with the latest edition of the American Public Health Association's Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater or by the latest edition of Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes published by the Environmental Protection Agency or by a method acceptable to the State Department of Health.
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveyed to the building sewer beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
ENGINEER
A consulting engineer retained by the Town of Indian Head or a duly authorized representative of the Town of Indian Head.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and disposing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid and solid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.
PERSON or ESTABLISHMENT or OWNER
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, public or private corporation, the state or any other entity whatsoever.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTED WATERS
Waters which have been contaminated by the addition of sewage, industrial wastes or other harmful or objectionable materials in amounts in excess of that allowed by the governing regulatory agencies.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely in flowing water.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer which is controlled by the Town of Indian Head or its duly authorized representative.
SANITARY SEWER
A pipe or conduit which carries wastewater and to which stormwater, surface water and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SCREENING
The removal of solids by straining through No. 20 mesh screens, or finer, if desired by the Town Engineer.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III)]
SEWAGE or SANITARY SEWAGE
The wastewaters from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, except industrial wastes.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit defined as a sanitary sewer.
SEWERAGE SYSTEM
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater.
SLUG
Any discharge of significant quantities, in the opinion of the Engineer, of water, sewage or industrial waste which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
STORM DRAIN (sometimes termed "STORM SEWER")
A pipe or conduit which carries stormwater and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by the wastewater process.
TOWN
The Town Council of Indian Head, a municipal corporation of the State of Maryland, or its duly authorized representative.
WASTEWATER
Sewage and/or industrial wastes.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating wastewater.
WATERCOURSE
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
B. 
Word usage. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit to be deposited in any manner on public or private property within the Town of Indian Head or in any area under the jurisdiction of the Town of Indian Head any sewage, industrial wastes or other polluted waters.
B. 
Where public sewers are provided, it shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
C. 
The owners of all houses, buildings or properties that are equipped with toilet facilities and are situated within the Town and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is now located a public sanitary sewer of the Town are hereby required at their expense to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this article, within 60 days after date of official notice to do so.
D. 
New sewers and connections to the sewer system will be properly designed and constructed.
A. 
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, tidewater, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
B. 
Industrial cooling water or process waters free of contamination may be discharged, on approval of the Engineer, to a storm drain or natural outlet if such discharges are allowed by the governing state or federal regulatory agencies and are in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.
C. 
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters, materials or wastes to any public sewer or storm drain:
(1) 
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, motor oil, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases.
(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, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals or to create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of 0.2 milligram per liter as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.
(3) 
Solid or viscous substances capable of causing an obstruction to the flow in the sewer or other interferences with the proper operation of the sewerage system, such as but not limited to ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, shells, tar, waxes, plastics, wood, unground garbage, paunch manure, hair, fleshings, entrails or paper products such as dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
A. 
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the sewerage system the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if, in the opinion of the Engineer, such wastes can harm either the sewers, pumping facilities, wastewater treatment process or equipment or have an adverse effect on the receiving stream or can otherwise endanger life, public property, or limb or constitute a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Engineer will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of the subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, the materials of construction of the sewers, the nature of the wastewater treatment process, the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant and other pertinent factors. The wastes thus prohibited, except as may be approved by the Engineer, are:
(1) 
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F. (65° C.).
(2) 
Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter or 1/4 pound per day or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° and 150° F. (0° and 65° C.).
(3) 
Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder or comminutor equipped with a motor of 3/4 horsepower (0.76 horsepower metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Engineer.
(4) 
Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances to such degree that any such material received in the wastewater at the treatment plant exceeds the limits established by the Engineer for such materials.
(5) 
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Engineer in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.
(6) 
Acids or alkalies having pH values upon point of discharge into the public sewer lower than 5.5 or higher than 9.5 or which would in any way cause damage to sewer, structures, equipment or wastewater treatment process.
(7) 
Materials which exert or cause:
(a) 
Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs, as defined herein.
(b) 
Excessive discoloration, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(8) 
All industrial wastes that will not pass a No. 20 mesh screen.
B. 
If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers and said waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in Subsection A of this section and which are prohibited from discharge to the sewerage system because, in the judgment of the Engineer, they may have a deleterious effect upon the sewerage system, treatment process or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Town may:
(1) 
Reject the waste discharge or not approve the request for treatment of the proposed wastes, as the case may be; or
(2) 
Request the owner to comply with the following requirements in order to obtain the written approval of the Engineer and thereby be permitted to discharge the particular wastewater to the public sewerage system:
(a) 
Pretreat, at his expense, the wastewater to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers, as described herein, except that he would be required to pay standard Town surcharge rates for handling excess amounts of BOD and/or suspended solids. Plans, specifications and any other pertinent information relating to proposed preliminary treatment facilities shall be submitted for the approval of the Engineer and of the State Department of Health and the State Department of the Environment, and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approvals are obtained in writing.
(b) 
Provide necessary and approved controls over the quantities and rates of discharge.
C. 
The Engineer may require any or all of the following as conditions before approval of the discharge of the wastes to the sewer: preliminary treatment, payment of the Town surcharge rate where applicable or flow equalization.
(1) 
If the Engineer permits discharge to the sewer after preliminary treatment or equalization of wastes flows, the design and installation of the requisite facilities and equipment shall be subject to the joint review and approval of the Engineer, the State Department of Health and the State Department of the Environment, subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.
(2) 
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 his expense.
(3) 
As part of such preliminary treatment, the Engineer will require grease removal and screening of industrial wastes, where applicable. Facilities for said pretreatment will be subject to the approval of the Engineer.
(4) 
The owner of a pretreatment facility shall properly dispose of collected sludges and/or materials at his own expense.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III)]
D. 
Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the Engineer, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, any flammable wastes, sand, shellfish particles or other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be designed to reduce the liquid waste velocity to a maximum of one foot per second and, unless otherwise authorized by the Town Engineer, shall have a minimum depth of two feet six inches, and the velocity shall be determined by the peak hourly discharge. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Engineer and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection by the Town or the Engineer.
E. 
When required by the Engineer, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such approved meters and other appurtenances, in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessible and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Engineer. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
F. 
All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of water and wastes to which reference is made in this article 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 or the latest edition of Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes published by the Environmental Protection Agency or by a method acceptable to the State Department of Health and shall be determined at the control manhole provided or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewerage system and to determine the existing hazards to life, limb and property. The particular analysis involved will determine whether twenty-four-hour composites or grab samples should be taken; pH is to be determined by periodic grab samples. When additional sampling and analysis beyond the normal are requested by a wastewater contributor, he shall pay the Town's cost for performing the same unless said samples show appreciable difference from the previous sampling and analysis.
G. 
When the wastewater treatment facilities have reached a point near maximum loading as determined and approved by the state and/or the Town Engineer, the Town shall prohibit increased industrial discharge, either on the basis of flow or quantity of waste constituents, or both.
The maximum allowable concentration of heavy metals or substances for discharge to the Town sewer system is:
Aluminum
1.0 part per million
Arsenic
0.1 part per million
Phenol
1.0 part per million
Cadmium
1.0 part per million
Chromium (hexavalent)
1.0 part per million
Copper
1.0 part per million
Cyanide
0.2 part per million
Lead
1.0 part per million
Mercury
1.0 part per million
Nickel
1.0 part per million
Iron
5.0 parts per million
Zinc
5.0 parts per million
A. 
Any person who maliciously, willfully or negligently breaks, damages, destroys, uncovers, defaces or tampers with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the sewerage system shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct. In addition, the Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the Town shall institute legal proceedings against such person to recover damages for any losses incurred.
B. 
The Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the Town, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the Town shall have no authority to inquire into any processes, including shellfish preparation and packaging, metallurgical, chemical, oil, ceramic, foodstuffs, paper or other industries, beyond that point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the public sewers, waterways or waste treatment facilities.
C. 
The Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the Town, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the Town holds a duly negotiated easement for the purpose of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewerage system lying within said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.
D. 
While performing necessary work on private properties, the Engineer or duly authorized employees of the Town shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the owner, and the owner shall be held harmless for injury or death to the Town employees, and the Town shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in § 425-22E.
A. 
Any person found to be violating any provision of this article shall be served by the Town with a written notice, stating the nature of the violation and providing a time limit deemed reasonable by the Engineer for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
B. 
Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in Subsection A of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty, § 1-5.
C. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article will become liable to the Town for any expense, loss or damage occasioned the Town by reason of such violation.