As used in this article and article 13.04 of this chapter:
The mayor or his duly authorized representative.
The quantity of oxygen by weight, expressed in mg/l, utilized
in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory
conditions for five (5) days at a temperature of twenty (20) degrees
centigrade.
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer
or other place of disposal (also called house lateral and house connection).
The City of Katy, Texas, or any authorized person acting
in its behalf.
A measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and
organic matter present in the water or wastewater expressed in mg/l
as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific
test, but not differentiating between stable and unstable organic
matter and thus not necessarily correlating with biochemical oxygen
demand.
A manhole giving access to a building sewer at some point
before the building sewer discharge mixes with other discharges in
the public sewer.
A point of access to a course of discharge before the discharge
mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.
Animal and vegetable wastes and residue from preparation,
cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, processing,
storage, and sale of food products and produce.
Waste resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing,
trade, or business or from the development of any natural resource,
or any mixture of the waste with water or normal wastewater, or distinct
from normal wastewater.
The charge made on those persons who discharge industrial
wastes into the city's sewer system.
Means the same as parts per million and is a weight-to-volume
ratio; the milligram-per-liter value multiplied by the factor 8.34
shall be equivalent to pounds per million gallons of water.
Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, lake or other body
of surface water or groundwater.
Wastewater excluding industrial wastewater discharged by
a person into sanitary sewers and in which the average concentration
of total suspended solids is not more than 200 mg/l and BOD is not
more than 200 mg/l.
The imposition of organic or hydraulic loading on a treatment
facility in excess of its engineered design capacity.
Includes a corporation, organization, government or governmental
subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership,
association, and any other legal entity.
The reciprocal of the logarithm (base 10) of the hydrogen
ion concentration expressed in grams per liter.
A pipe or conduit carrying wastewater or unpolluted drainage
in which owners of abutting properties shall have the use, subject
to control by the city.
A public sewer that conveys domestic wastewater or industrial
wastes or a combination of both, and into which stormwater, surface
water, groundwater, and other unpolluted wastes are not intentionally
passed.
Any discharge of water, wastewater, or industrial waste which,
in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow,
exceeds for any period of duration longer than fifteen (15) minutes
more than five (5) times the average twenty-four (24) hour concentration
or flows during normal operation.
The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the
latest edition, at the time of analysis, of Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater, as prepared, approved, and published
jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water
Works Association, and the Water Environment Federation.
A public sewer which carries storm and surface waters and
drainage and into which domestic wastewater or industrial wastes are
not intentionally passed.
Rainfall or any other forms of precipitation.
The water and wastewater superintendent of the city or his
duly authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
Solids measured in mg/l that either float on the surface
of or are in suspension in water, wastewater, or other liquids, and
which are largely removable by a laboratory filtration device.
Includes to deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow
to seep, or otherwise release or dispose of, or to allow, permit,
or suffer any of these acts or omissions.
A device designed to skim, settle, or otherwise remove grease,
oil, sand, flammable wastes or other harmful substances.
Water containing no free or emulsified grease or oil; no
acids or alkalis; no phenols or other substances producing taste or
odor in receiving water; no toxic or poisonous substances in suspension,
colloidal state or solution; no noxious or otherwise obnoxious or
odorous gases; no more than ten (10) mg/l each of suspended solids
and BOD; and color not exceeding fifty (50) units as measured by the
platinum-cobalt method of determination as specified in Standard Methods.
Rejected, unutilized or superfluous substances in liquid,
gaseous, or solid form resulting from domestic agricultural or industrial
activities.
A combination of the water-carried waste from residences,
business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
with any ground, surface, and storm water that may be present.
Includes all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating,
and disposing of wastewater and industrial wastes.
The charge on all users of the public sewer system whose
wastes do not exceed in strength the concentration values established
as representative of normal wastewater.
Any city-owned facilities, devices, and structures used for
receiving, processing and treating wastewater, industrial waste, and
sludges from the sanitary sewers.
A natural or man-made channel in which a flow of water occurs,
either continuously or intermittently.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.301)
(a)
No discharge into public sewers may contain the following:
(1)
Cyanide greater than 1.0 mg/l.
(2)
Fluoride other than that contained in the public water supply.
(3)
Chlorides in concentrations greater than 250 mg/l.
(4)
Gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive
liquid, solid or gas.
(5)
Substances causing an excessive chemical oxygen demand (COD).
(b)
No waste or wastewater discharged into public waters may contain
the following:
(1)
Strong acid, iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solutions,
whether neutralized or not.
(2)
Fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of
100 mg/l or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous
at temperatures between thirty-two (32) and one hundred fifty (150)
degrees Fahrenheit (0 and 65 degrees centigrade).
(3)
Objectionable or toxic substances exerting an excessive chlorine
requirement to such degree that any such material received in the
composite wastewater at the wastewater treatment works exceeds the
limits established by the public works superintendent for such materials.
(4)
Obnoxious, toxic, or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in quantities sufficient to violate the provisions of section 13.05.002(a) herein.
(c)
No waste, wastewater, or other substance may be discharged into public
sewers which has a pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 9.5, or any other
corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures,
equipment, and personnel at the wastewater facilities.
(d)
All waste, wastewater, or other substances containing phenols, hydrogen
sulfide, or other taste- and odor-producing substances shall conform
to concentration limits established by the approving authority. After
treatment of the composite wastewater, concentration limits may not
exceed the requirements established by state, federal, or other agencies
with jurisdiction over discharges to receiving waters.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.303)
No discharges may contain concentrations of heavy metals greater
than amounts specified in this article.
(1)
Maximum concentrations.
The maximum allowable concentrations
of heavy metals, stated in terms of milligrams per liter (mg/l), determined
on the basis of individual sampling in accordance with Standard Methods,
are:
|
Arsenic
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0.05 mg/l
|
|
Barium
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5.0 mg/l
|
|
Boron
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1.0 mg/l
|
|
Cadmium
|
0.02 mg/l
|
|
Chromium
|
5.0 mg/l (total)
|
|
Copper
|
1.0 mg/l
|
|
Lead
|
0.1 mg/l
|
|
Manganese
|
1.0 mg/l
|
|
Mercury
|
0.005 mg/l
|
|
Nickel
|
1.0 mg/l
|
|
Selenium
|
0.02 mg/l
|
|
Silver
|
0.1 mg/l
|
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Zinc
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5.0 mg/l
|
|
Note: In determining the concentration parameters to be included
in the ordinances, current state, federal, and other appropriate agency
rules, regulations, and orders should be consulted, including Texas
Water Quality Board Order 70-0828-5 regulating the discharge of hazardous
metals into or adjacent to state waters.
|
(2)
Permit required.
No other heavy metals or toxic materials
may be discharged into public sewers without a permit from the approving
authority specifying conditions of pretreatment, concentrations, volumes,
and other applicable provisions.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.304)
(a)
No person may discharge garbage into public sewers unless it is shredded
to a degree that all particles can be carried freely under the flow
conditions normally prevailing in public sewers. Particles greater
than one-half inch (1/2”) in any dimension are prohibited.
(b)
The approving authority is entitled to review and approve the installation
and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths
(3/4) horsepower (0.76 hp metric) or greater.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.305)
(b)
In compliance with the Texas [Water] Quality Act and other standards,
the approving authority may designate storm sewers and other watercourses
into which unpolluted drainage described in this article may be discharged.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.306)
No person may discharge liquid or vapor having a temperature
higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees
Centigrade), or any substance which causes the temperature of the
total wastewater treatment plant influent to increase at a rate of
ten (10) degrees Fahrenheit or more per hour, or a combined total
increase of plant influent temperature to one hundred ten (110) degrees
Fahrenheit.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.307)
No person may discharge radioactive wastes or isotopes into
public sewers without the permission of the approving authority. The
approving authority may establish regulations for discharge of radioactive
wastes into public sewers.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.308)
No person may discharge into the public sewers any substance
capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, interference
with the operation of treatment processes or facilities, or excessive
loading of treatment facilities.
(1)
Discharges prohibited herein include, but are not limited to, materials
which exert or cause concentrations of:
(A)
Inert suspended solids greater than 250 mg/l, including but not limited
to fuller's earth, lime slurries, and lime residues.
(B)
Dissolved solids greater than 500 mg/l, including but not limited
to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.
(C)
Excessive discoloration, including but not limited to dye wastes
and vegetable tanning solutions.
(D)
BOD, COD, or chlorine demand in excess of normal plant capacity.
(2)
No person may discharge into public sewers any substance that may:
(A)
Deposit grease or oil in the sewer lines in such a manner as to clog
the sewers.
(B)
Overload skimming and grease-handling equipment.
(C)
Pass to the receiving waters without being effectively treated by
normal wastewater treatment processes due to the nonamenability of
the substance to bacterial action.
(D)
Deleteriously affect the treatment process due to excessive quantities.
(3)
No person may discharge any substance into public sewers which:
(5)
No person may discharge into public sewers solid or viscous substances
which may violate this section if present in sufficient quantity or
size, including 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;
paper products, either whole or ground by garbage grinders; slops;
chemical residues; paint residues; or bulk solids.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.309)
(c)
The approving authority shall verify prior to discharge that wastes
authorized to be discharged will receive suitable treatment within
the provisions of laws, regulations, ordinances, rules and orders
of federal, state, and local governments.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.310)
(a)
If discharges or proposed discharges to public sewers may deleteriously
affect wastewater facilities, processes, equipment, or receiving waters,
create a hazard to life or health, or create a public nuisance, the
approving authority shall require pretreatment to an acceptable condition
for discharge to the public sewers, control over the quantities and
rates of discharge, and payment to cover the cost of handling and
treating the wastes.
(b)
The approving authority is entitled to determine whether a discharge
or proposed discharge is included under this article.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.311)
(a)
If pretreatment or control is required, the approving authority shall
review and approve the design and installation of equipment and processes.
(b)
The design and installation of equipment and processes must conform
to all applicable statutes, codes, ordinances, and other laws.
(c)
Any person responsible for discharges requiring pretreatment, flow-equalizing,
or other facilities shall provide and maintain the facilities in effective
operating condition at his own expense.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.312)
(b)
Any person responsible for discharges requiring a trap shall, at
his own expense and as required by the approving authority, provide
equipment and facilities of a type and capacity approved by the approving
authority, locate the trap in a manner that provides ready and easy
accessibility for cleaning and inspection, and maintain the trap in
effective operating condition.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.313)
Any person responsible for discharges through a building sewer
carrying industrial wastes shall, at his own expense and as required
by the approving authority:
(1)
Install an accessible and safely located control manhole.
(2)
Install meters and other appurtenances to facilitate observation,
sampling and measurement of the waste.
(3)
Maintain the equipment and facilities.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.314)
(a)
Sampling shall be conducted according to customarily accepted methods,
reflecting the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and determining
the existence of hazards to health, life, limb, and property. Note:
The particular analysis involved will determine whether a twenty-four
(24) hour composite sample from all outfalls of the 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 twenty-four
(24) hour composites of all outfalls. Where applicable, a sixteen
(16) hour, eight (8) hour or some other period may be required. Periodic
grab samples are used to determine pH.
(b)
Examination and analysis of the characteristics of waters and wastes
required by this article shall be conducted in accordance with the
latest edition of Standard Methods and determined from suitable samples
taken at the control manhole provided or other control point authorized
by the approving authority.
(c)
BOD and suspended solids shall be determined from composite sampling.
The city may select an independent firm or laboratory to determine
flow, BOD, and suspended solids. Also, the city is entitled to select
the time of sampling at its sole discretion so long as at least annual
samples are taken. Industrial waste shall be sampled for BOD and total
suspended solids and reports submitted to the city each month.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.315)
(a)
Persons making discharges of industrial waste shall pay a charge
to cover the cost of collection and treatment as follows.
(b)
When discharges of industrial waste are approved by the approving
authority, the city or its authorized representative person shall
enter into an agreement or arrangement providing terms of acceptance
by the city and payment by the person making the discharge.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.316)
(a)
When waste does not cause overloading.
If the volume
or character of the waste to be treated by the city does not cause
overloading of the sewage collection, treatment, or disposal facilities
of the city, then, prior to approval, the city and the person making
the discharge shall enter into an agreement which provides that the
discharger pay an industrial waste charge to be determined from the
schedule of charges.
(b)
When waste will cause overloading.
If the volume or
character of the waste to be treated by the city requires that wastewater
collection, treatment, or other disposal facilities of the city be
improved, expanded, or enlarged in order to treat the waste, then,
prior to approval, the city and the person making the discharge shall
enter into an agreement which provides that the discharger pay in
full all added costs the city may incur due to acceptance of the waste.
(c)
Agreement.
The agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall include but not be limited to:
(1)
Amortization of all capital outlay for collecting and treating the
waste, including new capital outlay and the proportionate part of
the value of the existing system used in handling and treating the
waste.
(2)
Operation and maintenance costs, including salaries and wages, power
costs, costs of chemicals and supplies, and proper allowances for
maintenance, depreciation, overhead, and office expense.
(d)
Amortization.
Amortization shall be completed in a twenty
(20) year period and payment shall include all debt service costs.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.317)
Industrial waste charges shall be determined by resolution duly
adopted by the city council. The following formula shall be used,
subject to change by resolution:
 |
|
Ci
|
=
|
Charge to industrial users
|
|
k
|
=
|
Percentum (expressed as a decimal fraction)
|
|
w
|
=
|
Water charge in $
|
|
BOD
|
=
|
Total amount of BOD in mg/l
|
|
SS
|
=
|
Total amount of SS in mg/l
|
(1999 Code, sec. 11.318)
(a)
Annual adjustment.
The city shall adjust charges at
least annually to reflect changes in the characteristics of wastewater
based on the results of sampling and testing.
(b)
Increases retroactive; duration.
Increases in charges
shall be retroactive for two (2) billing periods and shall continue
for six (6) billing periods unless subsequent tests determine that
the charge should be further increased.
(c)
City to review basis for charges.
The city shall review
at least semi-annually the basis for determining charges and shall
adjust the unit treatment cost in the formula to reflect increases
or decreases in wastewater treatment costs based on the previous year's
experience.
(d)
Monthly billing.
The city shall bill the discharger
by the month and shall show industrial waste charges as a separate
item on the regular bill for water and sewer charges. The discharger
shall pay monthly in accordance with practices existing for payment
of sewer charges.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.319)
A person discharging industrial wastes into public sewers prior
to the effective date of this article may continue without penalty
so long as he:
(1)
Does not increase the quantity or quality of discharge without permission
of the approving authority.
(2)
Has discharged the industrial waste at least six (6) months prior
to the effective date of this article.
(3)
Applies for and is granted a permit no later than one hundred fifty
(150) days after the effective date of this article.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.320)
(a)
The city may grant a permit to discharge to persons meeting all requirements
of the savings clause provided that the person:
(1)
Submits an application within one hundred twenty (120) days after
the effective date of this article on forms supplied by the approving
authority.
(2)
Secures approval by the approving authority of plans and specifications
for pretreatment facilities when required.
(3)
Has complied with all requirements for agreements or arrangements,
including but not limited to provisions for payment of charges, installation
and operation of pretreatment facilities, and sampling and analysis
to determine quantity and strength.
(4)
Provides a sampling point subject to the provisions of this article
and approval of the approving authority.
(b)
A person applying for a new discharge shall meet all conditions of
this article and secure a permit prior to discharging any waste.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.321)
The approving authority and other duly authorized employees
of the city bearing proper credentials and identification are entitled
to enter any public or private property at any reasonable time for
the purpose of enforcing this article.
(1)
Anyone acting under this authority shall observe the establishment's
rules and regulations concerning safety, internal security, and fire
protection.
(2)
Except when caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain
safe conditions, the city shall indemnify the company against loss
or damage to its property by city employees and against liability
claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted
against the company and growing out of the sampling operation.
(3)
The superintendent and other duly authorized employees of the city
bearing proper credentials and identification are entitled to enter
all private properties through which the city holds a negotiated easement
for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling
or repair, maintenance of any portion of the sewer system supplying
[lying] within the easements, and conducting any other authorized
activity. All activities shall be conducted in full accordance with
the terms of the negotiated easement pertaining to the private property
involved.
(4)
No person acting under authority of this provision may inquire into
any processes including metallurgical, chemical, oil refining, ceramic,
paper, or other industries beyond that point having a direct bearing
on the kind and source of discharge to the public sewers.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.322)
(a)
The city may terminate water and wastewater disposal service and
disconnect an industrial customer from the system when:
(1)
Acids or chemicals damaging to the sewer lines or treatment process
are released to the sewer causing rapid deterioration of these structures
or interfering with proper conveyance and treatment of wastewater.
(2)
A governmental agency informs the city that the effluent from the
wastewater treatment plant is no longer of a quality permitted for
discharge to a watercourse, and it is found that the customer is delivering
wastewater to the city's system that cannot be sufficiently treated
or requires treatment that is not provided by the city as normal domestic
treatment.
(3)
The industrial customer discharges industrial waste or wastewater
that is in violation of the permit issued by the approving authority,
discharges wastewater at an uncontrolled variable rate in sufficient
quantity to cause an imbalance in the wastewater treatment system,
fails to pay monthly bills for water and sanitary sewer services when
due, or repeats a discharge of prohibited wastes to public sewers.
(b)
If service is disconnected pursuant to subsection (a)(2), the city shall disconnect the customer, supply the customer with the governmental agency's report and provide the customer with all pertinent information, and continue disconnection until such time as the industrial customer provides additional pretreatment or other facilities designed to remove the objectionable characteristics from his industrial wastes.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.323)
The city shall serve persons discharging in violation of this
article with written notice stating the nature of the violation and
providing a reasonable time limit for satisfactory compliance.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.324)
No person may continue discharging in violation of this article
beyond the time limit provided in the notice.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.325)
(a)
Continuing prohibited discharge.
A person who continues prohibited discharges is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code.
(b)
Criminal mischief.
The city may pursue all criminal
and civil remedies to which it is entitled under authority of statutes
and ordinances against a person negligently, willfully or maliciously
causing loss by tampering with or destroying public sewers or treatment
facilities.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.326)
In addition to sanctions provided for by this article, the city
is entitled to exercise sanctions provided for by the other provisions
of this chapter for failure to pay the bill for water and sanitary
sewer service when due.
(1999 Code, sec. 11.327)
