Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)
means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees centigrade, expressed in parts per million by weight.
Domestic sewage
means water-borne wastes normally discharging from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings (including the sanitary conveniences of apartment houses and hotels, office buildings, factories, and institutions).
Garbage
means solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
Industrial wastes
means all water-borne solids, liquids or gaseous wastes resulting from any industrial, manufacturing, or food processing operation or process, or from the development of any natural resources.
Person
means any individual, firm, association, partnership, company, society, corporation, group, or entity of any nature whatsoever.
Properly shredded garbage
means the wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, exclusive of eggshells, bones, etc., that have been shredded to such degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particles greater than one-half (1/2) inch in any dimension.
Public sewer
means a sewer either owned or controlled by the city as a municipal corporation.
Sanitary sewer or sanitary sewer system
means a public sewer other than a storm sewer.
Sewer
means a pipe or conduit used for carrying sewage.
Sewerage works
means all facilities for collecting, carrying, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage, whether domestic or industrial or a combination of both.
Superintendent
means the superintendent of water filtration and sewage treatment of the city or his authorized assistant, agent, or representative.
Suspended solids
means solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; 1972 Code, sec. 26-61)
Any person, as defined herein, violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provided in section 1.01.009 of this code. Each day such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; Ordinance 823 adopted 12/28/82; 1972 Code, sec. 26-66; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)
(a) 
Domestic sewage shall not have a five (5) day, twenty (20) degrees centigrade biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) greater than two hundred fifty (250) ppm (parts per million). The suspended solids content must be no greater than two hundred fifty (250) ppm.
(b) 
Domestic sewage may contain properly shredded garbage. Paper of the tissue type only is permitted in domestic sewage.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; 1972 Code, sec. 26-62)
(a) 
No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, into any public sewer any of the following substances, materials, liquids, or wastes (elsewhere herein referred to as “prohibitive wastes”):
(1) 
Any liquid having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit (sixty-five (65) degrees centigrade).
(2) 
Any water or wastes which contain wax, grease, or oil, plastic or any other substance that will solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) degrees to one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) 
Any solids, liquids or gases, such as crude oil, motor oil, kerosene, gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, etc., which by themselves or by interaction with other substances may cause fire or explosion hazards, or in any other way be injurious to persons or property, including the operators of the sewage treatment plant.
(4) 
Any wastes or waters containing any quantity of formaldehyde or carbide wastes.
(5) 
Any solids, slurries or viscous substances of such character as to be capable of causing obstruction of the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works, such as ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, lime slurry, lime residues, slops, chemical residues, paint residues, or bulk solids.
(6) 
Any garbage which is not properly shredded garbage as that term is herein defined.
(7) 
Any noxious or malodorous substance, which either singularly or by interaction with other substances is capable of causing objectionable odors, or hazard to life; or which forms solids in concentrations exceeding limits established or which creates any other condition deleterious to structures or treatment processes; or requires unusual provisions, alteration, or expense to handle.
(8) 
Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 10.5 or having any corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazards to structures, equipment, or personnel of the sewage treatment works.
(9) 
Any wastes or waters containing suspended or dissolved solids of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle such materials at the sewage treatment plant or in the public sewage works.
(10) 
Any waters or wastes containing a toxic or poisonous substance such as plating or heat treating wastes in sufficient quantity 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.
(11) 
Any cyanide, as CN-, greater than 2.0 parts per million.
(12) 
Any hexavalent chromium greater than 1.0 part per million.
(13) 
Any trivalent chromium greater than 10 parts per million.
(14) 
Any copper greater than 1.0 part per million.
(15) 
Any nickel greater than 1.0 part per million.
(16) 
Any cadmium greater than 1.0 part per million.
(17) 
Any zinc greater than 1.0 part per million.
(18) 
Any phenols greater than 12 parts per million.
(19) 
Any iron greater than 5 parts per million.
(20) 
Any tin greater than 1.0 part per million.
(21) 
Any radioactive wastes greater than allowable releases specified by current United States Bureau of Standards Handbooks dealing with the handling and release of radioactivity and no transient concentration higher than 100 microcuries per liter shall be permitted.
(b) 
In addition to the foregoing list of prohibitive wastes said term shall also include:
(1) 
All waste that cannot be treated in a conventional sewage treatment plant;
(2) 
All waste that will interfere with operation of a conventional sewage treatment plant;
(3) 
All waste that will damage or clog the sewage collection system, or any part of the sewage works;
(4) 
All waste that will constitute a hazard to human life or property.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; 1972 Code, sec. 26-63)
(a) 
Generally.
Industrial wastes which do not contain prohibitive wastes, other than excessive BOD or suspended solids, but have a concentration for a duration of fifteen (15) minutes greater than four (4) times that of the daily average as measured by suspended solids and BOD and/or a concentration during a twenty-four (24) hour period average of suspended solids or BOD content in excess of domestic sewage must be pretreated by the party discharging or causing same to be discharged into a public sewer and will not be accepted by city unless the following requirements are met:
(1) 
Said waste must not have a BOD content exceeding two thousand (2,000) ppm. It is expressly prohibited that any sanitary sewer waste be deposited into the city sanitary sewer system when such sewer waste has a BOD content exceeding two thousand (2,000) ppm;
(2) 
The wastes must not be of a type or nature as will cause damage to the collection system;
(3) 
The wastes must not be such as will impair the treatment processes;
(4) 
Free or emulsified oil and grease contained in same must be less, on analysis, than an average of one hundred (100) parts per million (eight hundred thirty-three (833) pounds per million gallons) of either or both or combinations of free or emulsified oil and grease, if, in the opinion of the superintendent of water and sewage treatment, it appears probable that such waste:
(A) 
Will deposit grease or oil in the sewer lines in such a manner to clog the sewers;
(B) 
Is capable of overloading the skimming and grease-handling equipment;
(C) 
Is not amenable to bacterial action and will, therefore, pass to the receiving waters without being affected by normal sewage treatment processes; and/or
(D) 
Will have deleterious effects on the treatment process due to the excessive quantities;
(5) 
The waste shall not contain cyanides or cyanogen compounds capable of liberating hydrocyanic gas on acidification in excess of one-half (0.5) part per million by weight as CN; and
(6) 
The waste shall not contain materials which exert or cause:
(A) 
Unusual concentrations of solids or composition, as, for example, in total suspended solids of inert nature (such as fuller’s earth) and/or in total dissolved solids (such as sodium chloride, or sodium sulfate).
(B) 
Excessive discoloration.
(C) 
Unusual biochemical oxygen demand or an immediate oxygen demand.
(D) 
High hydrogen sulfide content.
(b) 
Pretreatment.
(1) 
Unusual flow and concentration of industrial wastes shall be pretreated by the person discharging same or causing it to be discharged into a public sewer to a concentration acceptable to the city, if such wastes will:
(A) 
Cause damage to collection facilities;
(B) 
Impair the processes;
(C) 
Create treatment costs exceeding those of normal sewage; or
(D) 
Render the water unfit for stream disposal or industrial use.
(2) 
Where discharge of such wastes into the sanitary sewer is not properly pretreated or otherwise corrected, the superintendent may:
(A) 
Reject the wastes or terminate the service of water and/or sanitary sewer; or
(B) 
Require control of the quantities and rates of discharge of such wastes.
Ten (10) day notice of either of said actions will be given prior to the taking of same.
(c) 
Admission of industrial wastes into public sewers.
(1) 
Notification.
In order to control the admission of industrial wastes into the public sewer, any person, etc., desiring to deposit or discharge an industrial waste mixture into the sewer or sewer works of the city, or any sewer connected therewith, or who is now doing so, shall notify the superintendent within sixty (60) days from the date of passage of this article [December 28, 1971].
(2) 
Control chambers.
Within eight (8) months from the date of passage of this article [December 28, 1971], any person (as herein defined) discharging or desiring to discharge an industrial waste mixture into the public sewer shall provide and maintain in a suitable accessible position on his premises, or the premises occupied by him, an inspection chamber or manhole near the outlet of each sewer, drain, pipe, channel or connection of his which joins the public sewer or sanitary sewer system. Should the superintendent deem necessary every such manhole or inspection chamber shall be equipped with a screen with maximum openings of one inch but of sufficient fineness to prevent the entrance of slugs of solids into the sanitary sewer system. Said manholes and/or inspection chambers shall be so maintained by the person discharging, or causing to be discharged, industrial wastes that the superintendent may readily and safely measure the volume and obtain samples of the flow at all times. Plans for the construction of inspection chambers or manholes shall be approved by the superintendent prior to the commencement of construction thereof.
(3) 
Grease, oil and sand interceptors.
Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be provided for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable wastes or sand and other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwellings. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the superintendent and shall slow the waste flow to one foot per second and shall be located so as to be readily accessible for easy cleaning and inspection. All interceptors shall be maintained by the owner, at his expense, in continuously efficient operation at all times.
(4) 
Sampling of wastes.
Sampling of the effluent of waste may be accomplished manually or by use of mechanical equipment to obtain a composite sample which would be representative of the total effluent. Samples shall be taken at intervals to be established by an agreement between the owner and the superintendent, or at such intervals as determined by the superintendent as necessary to maintain a control over the discharges from the establishment. The method used in examination of all industrial wastes to determine suspended solids, BOD, and prohibited wastes shall be those set forth in Volume II, Standard Methods For the Examination of Water, Sewage and Industrial Waste, published by the American Public Health Association, or any more recent supplement thereto.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; 1972 Code, sec. 26-64)
The superintendent of water and sewage treatment and other duly authorized employees of the city acting as his duly authorized agents and bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to gain access to all premises as may be necessary for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(Ordinance 641, sec. 1, adopted 12/28/71; 1972 Code, sec. 26-65)