The purpose of this article is to protect the quality of the waters of the State and the environment, including, but not limited to, the groundwater in the vicinity of the City of Dixon's POTW, by limiting the amount of brine entering, and subsequently passing through, the POTW, and to comply with CDO No. R5-2008-0136 issued by the Regional Water Board. It is also the purpose of this article to reduce the expenditure of public funds and mitigate rate increases by lessening the need for new capital facilities to treat wastewater for excessive salinity levels.
(Ord. 12-004)
This article is enacted pursuant to the police power authority contained in the California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7 and also under the authority in Cal. Health & Safety Code § 116775 et seq. and Cal. Water Code § 13148.
(Ord. 12-004)
The following definitions shall apply to the terms used in this article, in addition to the definitions included in DMC § 14.01.040:
"Brine"
means a heavily saturated solution containing sodium, chloride, or other salt of the alkali metals.
"CDO"
means cease and desist order.
"Director"
means the Director of Utilities of the City of Dixon.
"ECO:Logic"
means ECO:Logic Consulting Engineers, Inc.
"Effluent"
means treated water discharged from the City wastewater treatment plant to land, where it both evaporates and percolates into the groundwater.
"POTW"
means publicly owned treatment works, consisting of the City's wastewater collection system and wastewater treatment plant.
"Regional Water Board"
means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, created and exercising its powers pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Cal. Water Code § 13000 et seq.
"Residence"
means a structure which is, or is intended to be, in whole or in part, a place of dwelling, whether occupied or not, whether fully constructed or not, and includes, without limitation, homes, whether attached to another structure or not, duplexes, triplexes, apartments, condominiums and mobile homes.
"Residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance"
means a water softening or conditioning appliance located within or ancillary to a residence located within the City which discharges brine into a sewer system that is tributary to the POTW, whereby the capacity of the appliance to remove hardness from water is renewed by the on-site application of a chloride salt-containing brine solution to the active softening or conditioning material contained therein, followed by a subsequent rinsing of the active softening or conditioning material.
"Saline"
means of or containing a salt of potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, or other of the alkali metals.
(Ord. 12-004)
A. 
The State Legislature has found and declared that pollution prevention should be the first step in a hierarchy for reducing pollution and managing wastes, and to achieve environmental stewardship for society.
B. 
The City owns and operates the City's POTW.
C. 
The POTW is regulated by the Regional Water Board.
D. 
On June 24, 1994, the Regional Water Board adopted waste discharge requirements under Order No. 94-187 applicable to the POTW.
E. 
On June 24, 2005, the Regional Water Board adopted CDO No. R5-2005-0078, which required certain programs and projects, including improvements to the POTW, to ensure compliance with the groundwater limitations of the waste discharge requirements.
F. 
The CDO No. R5-2005-0078 states that the City's "effluent is relatively saline due to a saline and hard water supply." Further, it states that the City "believes that many residences and businesses use water softeners, and that the discharge of brine from the water softeners accounts for most of the excess salinity in the effluent."
G. 
The City was unsuccessful in satisfactorily implementing certain programs and projects within the timelines required under CDO No. R5-2005-0078.
H. 
The City and ECO:Logic worked with the Regional Water Board for several years to obtain a revised CDO.
I. 
On September 11, 2008, the Regional Water Board rescinded CDO No. R5-2005-0078 and adopted CDO No. R5-2008-0136 to address water quality issues at the POTW because the Regional Water Board asserts that the City is in violation of the groundwater limitations of the waste discharge requirements.
J. 
The Regional Water Board found in CDO No. R5-2008-0136 that site-specific numeric groundwater limitations based on the approved Background Groundwater Quality Report, dated March 27, 2006, and included in Item 23 under Numeric Groundwater Limitations in the CDO No. R5-2008-0136, satisfied the groundwater limitations previously established by the Regional Water Board in the waste discharge requirements contained in Order No. 94-187 and CDO No. R5-2005-0078.
K. 
The Regional Water Board further found, in the CDO No. R5-2008-0136, specifically in Item 24 under Numeric Groundwater Limitations, that the City has caused pollution in violation of the groundwater limitations, which are one hundred forty-three (143) milligrams per liter ("mg/l") for sodium and one hundred six (106) mg/l for chloride.
L. 
The CDO No. R5-2008-0136 established immediate and temporary effluent limitations for sodium and chloride, two (2) of the primary constituents of salinity, which are three hundred thirty (330) milligrams per liter ("mg/l") for sodium and three hundred forty (340) mg/l for chloride.
M. 
The CDO No. R5-2008-0136 also established maximum long-term final effluent limitations for sodium and chloride of one hundred forty-three (143) mg/l and one hundred six (106) mg/l, respectively, by January 1, 2014.
N. 
The CDO No. R5-2008-0136 ordered the City to submit a salinity source study as described in Cal. Health & Safety Code § 116786, by September 30, 2008, to identify sources of saline prior to implementing regulations to control those sources.
O. 
A salinity source study, entitled Wastewater Salinity Characterization and Regulatory Compliance, was completed by ECO:Logic and submitted to the Regional Water Board on September 30, 2008. As then required by Cal. Health & Safety Code § 116786, this salinity source study is an independent study that analyzes all sources of brine entering the POTW, including, but not limited to, the groundwater supply, residential water softening and conditioning appliances, residential discharges, industrial and commercial discharges, and direct groundwater infiltration and surface water inflow into the sewer collection system, and quantifies the total chloride load from each source of brine.
P. 
Further, the City staff and ECO:Logic have provided additional information to the City Council for the record regarding the remedial actions taken by the City to reduce the discharge of brine into the POTW from each saline source, to the extent technologically and economically feasible, to bring the City into compliance with the waste discharge requirements, including the adoption and enforcement of this chapter and the local limits contained therein; the isolating and repairing of significant leaks in sewer lines causing groundwater infiltration caused largely by agricultural irrigation and land use along the sewer line route; and inspections performed by City staff of certain industrial and commercial facilities the housekeeping practices of which had resulted in excessive salinity being introduced into the sewer, which have largely been corrected. The salinity source study and additional information provided to the City Council as described above are collectively referred to as the "Study." A copy of the Study is on file at the City Clerk's Office located at 600 East A Street, Dixon, CA 95620-3697.
Q. 
The Study identified chloride as a constituent of major concern, although not the only saline constituent of concern, because existing chloride effluent levels are the farthest above the final effluent limitations established in CDO No. R5-2008-0136. Chloride is a major component in the brine discharged from residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances.
R. 
The Study also showed that approximately one thousand five hundred twenty (1,520) pounds per day ("lbs/day") of chloride enters the wastewater treatment plant ("total chloride load").
S. 
The Study concluded that approximately one thousand one hundred twenty-four (1,124) lbs/day, or seventy-three and nine-tenths percent (73.9%) of the total chloride load, comes from residential uses.
T. 
The Study further concluded that approximately five hundred eighty (580) lbs/day, or forty-eight and four-tenths percent (48.4%) of the total chloride load, comes from existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances. The Study estimated there are approximately one thousand (1,000) existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances in Dixon.
U. 
The CDO No. R5-2008-0136 requires the City to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the installation of new residential water softening or conditioning appliances that discharge sodium, chloride, or other saline substances to the community sewer system by November 30, 2008.
V. 
The Study assessed the technological and economic feasibility of alternatives to the proposed ordinance, including evaluating and updating local limits; education, monitoring and enforcement of local limits as part of a nonresidential source pretreatment program; improvements to water supply wells; and education and enforcement actions taken to lower chloride and sodium discharge into the community sewer system from residential sources from toilet use, bathing, laundry, cleaning, food preparation and home businesses. The Study concluded that some of these alternatives are not technologically and economically feasible and those that are will not on their own, or cumulatively, reach the level of effectiveness necessary for the City to achieve timely compliance with the waste discharge requirements.
W. 
The Study concluded that the potential brine discharge reduction due to adoption of an ordinance prohibiting the installation of new brine discharging water softening and conditioning appliances, based on projections in the 1993 General Plan of a population of the City at build-out of about twenty-two thousand (22,000) residents, in seven thousand (7,000) households, is a reduction of two hundred (200) lbs/day. The Study also concluded that "control of new residential [brine discharging water softening and conditioning appliance] installation is a necessary means of compliance with the adopted [waste discharge requirements]."
X. 
Based upon the Study's conclusions, the City determined and found that prohibiting the installation of any new residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances is a necessary means of achieving compliance with the waste discharge requirements and CDO No. R5-2008-0136 issued by the Regional Water Board. Therefore, on November 25, 2008, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 08-018, which added Part XIV to Chapter 17 of Article I of the Dixon City Code prohibiting the installation of new brine discharging water softening and conditioning appliances.
Y. 
The Study also concluded that, with reference to existing brine discharging water softening and conditioning appliances,
[e]ven if business and other residential source control efforts are reasonably effective, about 400 pounds per day additional chloride, most practically from control of existing residential [brine discharging water softening and conditioning appliances] must be removed to attain compliance with the [waste discharge requirements], unless saline treatment or dilution strategies can be implemented at the [wastewater treatment plant].
Z. 
To further reduce the saline levels of wastewater passing through the POTW, the City must either further reduce sources of brine in wastewater entering the POTW, remove brine from wastewater at the treatment plant, or both. Construction and operation of advanced treatment facilities for brine removal at the treatment plant will require large amounts of energy, at a high cost, and will generate a brine waste byproduct that will require high cost waste disposal.
AA. 
A technical memorandum, prepared by ECO:Logic in 2009, preliminarily evaluated removal of saline substances from wastewater at the treatment plant and estimated, without any brine source control, the present-worth cost of installing and operating a reverse osmosis treatment facility for a period of twenty (20) years to be approximately sixty million dollars ($60,000,000.00). The design, environmental review, and construction of such a reverse osmosis treatment facility was estimated to take approximately thirty-six (36) to forty (40) months.
BB. 
On October 11, 2009, the Governor approved Assembly Bill No. 1366, an act to add Cal. Water Code § 13148, which allows any local agency that owns or operates a community sewer system, within specified areas of the State, to take action, by ordinance or resolution, to control saline inputs from residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances to protect the quality of waters of the State, including requiring the removal of previously installed residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances. The addition of Cal. Water Code § 13148 took effect on January 1, 2010.
CC. 
The removal of the estimated 1,000 existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances is anticipated to take up to two (2) years if an effective incentive program is implemented. If the incentive program is successful at removing all of the existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances, and if additional salinity reduction efforts for nonresidential water softening or conditioning sources are successful, it is possible the City may be able to meet the final effluent limitations established in CDO No. R5-2008-0136 without constructing advanced reverse osmosis treatment facilities. However, in the event the reduction of salinity due to the removal of existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances does not fully meet the established effluent limits, advanced treatment facilities required to further reduce salinity levels to meet the limits will be smaller, have a lower capacity requirement, and a lower associated cost than if no existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances were removed. Therefore, it is the intent of this article to establish an incentive program to encourage the timely removal of existing residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances.
DD. 
The City Council has considered the technological and economic feasibility of alternatives to this article, as well as the potential saline discharge reduction achievable as a consequence of adopting this article.
EE. 
Residents within the City of Dixon shall maintain the ability to soften or condition their water by using water softening or conditioning appliances that do not discharge brine to the POTW. Among these are portable exchange water softeners, which use a removable tank to hold the ion-exchange conditioning material. The ion-exchange tank is removed by a vendor and is "regenerated" with brine at a facility outside the City of Dixon where brine discharges are allowed.
FF. 
The City has adopted and is enforcing regulatory requirements that limit the volumes and concentrations of saline discharges from nonresidential sources in the POTW to the extent technologically and economically feasible, including enforcement of local limits and related regulations provided in this chapter.
(Ord. 12-004)
No person shall install or in any manner assist in the installation of a residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance that discharges into the POTW, or that discharges into a private sewer or community sewer system that is tributary to the POTW, or that discharges to land within the City.
A violation of this section is unlawful and punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). A violation of this section is also declared to constitute a public nuisance, which nuisance may be abated by civil action brought by the City Attorney, or by the issuance of administrative citations pursuant to Chapter 9.01 DMC, Article VI.
(Ord. 12-004)
Every person who has an existing brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance that is installed upon residential property or premises owned by him or her and that discharges into the POTW shall remove and dispose of the installed residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance no later than November 11, 2010. Persons occupying or leasing the residential property or premises of another who has an existing brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance installed thereon shall promptly notify the property owner of the requirements of this chapter.
(Ord. 12-004)
The Director shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this article. In addition to any other provision of this article, the Director may implement any other enforcement remedies included in this chapter, including disconnecting the unlawfully installed residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliance from the POTW, and billing the property owner for the costs to remove and dispose of the appliance. All remedies contained in this chapter shall be cumulative and the use of one (1) or more remedies by the Director shall not bar the use of any other remedy for the purpose of enforcing the provisions hereof.
(Ord. 12-004)
The Director shall have the authority to allow medical exemptions and may permit the installation or continued use of individual residential brine discharging water softening or conditioning appliances; provided, that all of the following conditions are met:
A. 
An application for medical exemption has been made on forms prescribed by the Director and the exemption shall not be effective until approved by the Director;
B. 
The medical need for soft water is verified in writing by the applicant's physician; and
C. 
The applicant's finances, in the opinion of the Director, preclude the use of an alternative water softening or conditioning appliance that does not discharge brine into the POTW.
The Director shall have the authority to rescind medical exemptions if the City is in violation of State waste discharge requirements for salinity levels, and in the opinion of the Director it is essential that the medical exemption be terminated, or upon the termination of any of the required criteria for such exemption. Such termination shall become effective after sixty (60) days' written notice from the City to the applicant.
(Ord. 12-004)