No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the publicly owned treatment works any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions and the specific prohibitions in section 106-817 apply to all users of the publicly owned treatment works, whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(a)(1); 2001 Code, sec. 106-816; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
(a) 
No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the publicly owned treatment works the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:
(1) 
Pollutants which create a fire or explosive hazard in the publicly owned treatment works, including but not limited to wastestreams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21.
(2) 
Wastewater having a pH less than five or more than 12, or otherwise causing corrosive structural damage to the publicly owned treatment works or equipment.
(3) 
Solid or viscous substances in an amount which will cause obstruction of the flow in the publicly owned treatment works resulting in interference, but in no case solids greater than two inches or five centimeters in any dimension.
(4) 
Pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause interference with the publicly owned treatment works.
(5) 
Heat in amounts which will inhibit biological activity in the treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case heat in such quantities which causes the temperature at the introduction into the treatment plant to exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
(6) 
Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass through.
(7) 
Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the publicly owned treatment works in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems.
(8) 
Trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the city in accordance with section 106-854.
(9) 
Fats, oils and grease in concentrations greater than 500 mg/l, or which violate any other section of this subdivision.
(b) 
Pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by this section shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the publicly owned treatment works.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(a)(2); 2001 Code, sec. 106-817; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
(a) 
The categorical pretreatment standards found at 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N, parts 405–471 are incorporated. All existing or new users shall also comply with all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements, including those set forth in 40 CFR 403.6.
(b) 
When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the control authority shall impose an alternate limit using the combined wastestream formula in 40 CFR 403.6(e).
(c) 
A user may obtain a variance from a categorical pretreatment standard if the user can prove, pursuant to the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR 403.13, that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by the Environmental Protection Agency when developing the categorical pretreatment standard.
(d) 
A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR 403.15.
(1) 
Categorical pretreatment standards may be adjusted to reflect the presence of pollutants in the industrial user’s intake water in accordance with this section. Any industrial user wishing to obtain credit for intake pollutants must make application to the control authority. Upon request of the industrial user, the applicable standard will be calculated on a “net” basis (i.e., adjusted to reflect credit for pollutants in the intake water) if the requirements of subsection (2) of this section are met.
(2) 
Criteria:
a. 
Either:
(i) 
The applicable categorical pretreatment standards contained in 40 CFR subchapter N specifically provide that they shall be applied on a net basis; or
(ii) 
The industrial user demonstrates that the control system it proposes or uses to meet applicable categorical pretreatment standards would, if properly installed and operated, meet the standards in the absence of pollutants in the intake waters.
b. 
Credit for generic pollutants such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), and oil and grease should not be granted unless the industrial user demonstrates that the constituents of the generic measure in the user’s effluent are substantially similar to the constituents of the generic measure in the intake water or unless appropriate additional limits are placed on the process water pollutants either at the outfall or elsewhere.
c. 
Credit shall be granted only to the extent necessary to meet the applicable categorical pretreatment standards(s), up to a maximum value equal to the influent value. Additional monitoring may be necessary to determine eligibility for credits and compliance with standard(s) adjusted under this section.
d. 
Credit shall be granted only if the user demonstrates that the intake water is drawn from the same body of water as that into which the POTW discharges. The control authority may waive this requirement if it finds that no environmental degradation will result.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(b); 2001 Code, sec. 106-818; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
State requirements and limitations on discharges to the publicly owned treatment works shall be met by all dischargers which are subject to such standards in any instance in which they are more stringent than federal requirements and limitations or those in this article or any other applicable ordinance.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(c); 2001 Code, sec. 106-819; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
(a) 
The city has two publicly owned treatment works: POTW #1, known as the Northside Treatment Plant, located at 5645 Burkburnett Road, Wichita Falls, Texas, and POTW #2, known as the Wichita Falls Resource Recovery Facility, located at 1005 River Road, Wichita Falls, Texas. As these two publicly owned treatment works have different capacities, flow characteristics, and receiving waters, the city has developed maximum allowable discharge limits for industrial users for each treatment works.
(b) 
Each industrial discharger will be required to adhere to those limits established at the treatment works receiving its wastewater discharge. The following local limits are established to protect against pass through and interference and to protect sludge quality. These limits are deemed pretreatment standards for the purpose of section 307(d) of the Act. Except as provided, no person shall discharge wastewater in excess of the following maximum allowable discharge limits:
Pollutant
Wichita Falls Resource Recovery Facility
mg/l
Northside Treatment Plant
mg/l
Antimony
1.42
0.34
Arsenic
0.89
0.21
Beryllium
0.07
0.47
Cadmium
0.39
0.08
Chromium
6.82
3.48
Copper
6.75
2.30
Cyanide
0.38
0.06
Lead
2.26
0.58
Mercury
0.0083
0.0073
Nickel
4.64
0.34
Phenols
3.94
0.87
Selenium
0.17
0.02
Silver
0.66
0.66
Zinc
42.54
1.72
(c) 
Discharge of wastewater containing BOD and/or TSS in concentrations greater than 300 mg/l and fats, oils and grease in concentrations greater than 100 mg/l will be subject to a sewer surcharge at a rate set by the city council to defray the additional costs of treatment for excessive BOD, TSS and fats, oils and grease at the publicly owned treatment works.
(d) 
The surcharge will be an additional charge to the current monthly industrial sewer charge. The surcharge will not be retroactive, but will continue until such time subsequent tests determine that the surcharge requires adjustment.
(e) 
The limits in this section applies to local limits only at the point where the wastewater is discharged to the publicly owned treatment works. All concentrations for metallic substances are for total metal unless indicated otherwise. The control authority may impose mass limitations in addition to the concentration-based limitations in this section.
(f) 
The control authority may impose additional and/or alternative limits by permit on specific individual industrial users. These limits shall be technically based on the allowable loading of the specified pollutant at the appropriate treatment plant. In no case shall these additional and/or alternative limits be less stringent than the above limits, or any applicable federal or state statute.
(g) 
The control authority may develop best management practices (BMPs), by ordinance or in individual wastewater discharge permits, to implement local limits and the requirements of this article.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(d); 2001 Code, sec. 106-820; Ordinance 25-2002, sec. 1, adopted 4/2/02; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
The city reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the publicly owned treatment works.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(e); 2001 Code, sec. 106-821; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)
No user shall ever increase the use of process water or in any other way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a discharge limitation unless expressly authorized by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirement. The control authority may impose mass limitations on users who are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements or in other cases when the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.
(1966 Code, sec. 32-124(f); 2001 Code, sec. 106-822; Ordinance 20-2020, sec. 1, adopted 4/7/20; Ordinance 12-2021 adopted 4/20/21)