It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged into any public sewer system which directly or indirectly connects to the City of Rio Dell sanitary sewer system any sewage if, in the determination of the City Manager or designee, such sewage may have an adverse or harmful effect on sewers, maintenance personnel, wastewater treatment plant personnel or equipment, treatment effluent quality, public or private property, or may otherwise endanger the public, local environment, or create a public nuisance. The City Manager or designee, in determining the acceptability of specific sewage, shall consider the nature of the sewage and the adequacy and nature of the collection, treatment and disposal system available to accept the sewage.
(Formerly 13.10.420; Ord. 190 § 48, 1987; Ord. 203, 1990; Ord. 286, 2012; Ord. 322 § 1, 2014)
(1) 
No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all users of the POTW whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, State, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
(2) 
No person shall discharge any substances directly into a manhole or other opening in a community sewer other than through an approved building sewer unless, upon a written application by the user and the payment of the applicable user charges and fees, the City issues a permit for such direct discharges.
(3) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged any surface water, rain water, stormwater, ground water, street drainage, subsurface drainage, yard drainage, roof drainage, water from yard fountains, ponds or lawn sprays, cooling water, or any other uncontaminated water into any sewage facility which directly or indirectly discharges to a sanitary sewer system owned by the City of Rio Dell.
(4) 
Specific Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:
(a) 
Pollutants which create a fire or explosive hazard in the municipal wastewater collection and POTW, including, but not limited to, waste-streams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21.
(b) 
Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.5 or more than 8.5, or otherwise causing corrosive structural damage to the POTW or equipment, or endangering City personnel.
(c) 
Solid or viscous substances in amounts which will cause obstruction of the flow in the POTW resulting in interference, but in no case solids greater than one inch or 25.4 millimeters in any dimension.
(d) 
Any wastewater containing pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, and the like), 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 either the POTW, or any wastewater treatment or sludge process; or which will constitute a hazard to humans or animals.
(e) 
Any wastewater having a temperature greater than 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65.5 degrees Celsius), or which will inhibit biological activity in the treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater which causes the temperature at the introduction into the treatment plant to exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
(f) 
Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass through.
(g) 
Any pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause worker health and safety problems.
(h) 
Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the City in accordance with RDMC § 13.10.430.
(i) 
Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance, a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair.
(j) 
Any wastewater which imparts color which cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently imparts color to the treatment plant's effluent thereby violating the City's NPDES permit. Color (in combination with turbidity) shall not cause the treatment plant effluent to reduce the depth of the compensation point for photosynthetic activity by more than 10 percent from the seasonably established norm for aquatic life.
(k) 
Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes, except as specifically approved in writing by the City Manager or designee, in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations.
(l) 
Stormwater, surface water, ground water, artesian well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, swimming pool drainage, condensate, deionized water, noncontact cooling water, and unpolluted industrial wastewater, unless specifically authorized in writing by the City Manager or designee.
(m) 
Any sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes.
(n) 
Any medical wastes, except as specifically authorized in writing by the City Manager or designee in a wastewater discharge permit.
(o) 
Any wastewater causing the treatment plant's effluent to fail a toxicity test.
(p) 
Any wastes containing detergents, surface active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the POTW.
(q) 
Any discharge of fats, oils, or greases of animal or vegetable origin is limited to 100 mg/l.
(r) 
Any discharge of petroleum/mineral oil products is limited to 25 mg/l.
(s) 
Gasoline, benzene, naphtha, solvent, fuel oil or any liquid, solid or gas that would cause or tend to cause flammable or explosive conditions to result in the sewerage system.
(t) 
Waste containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in such quantities that, alone or in combination with other waste substances, may create a hazard for humans, animals or the local environment, interfere detrimentally with wastewater treatment processes, cause a public nuisance, or cause any hazardous condition to occur in the sewerage system.
(5) 
Wastes prohibited by this section shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the POTW. All floor drains located in process or materials storage areas must discharge to the industrial user's pretreatment facility before connecting with the POTW.
(Formerly 13.10.410; Ord. 190 § 47, 1987; Ord. 203, 1990; Ord. 286, 2012; Ord. 322 § 1, 2014)
No industrial user or wastewater hauler shall ever increase the use of process water, or in any 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 City Manager or designee may impose mass limitations on industrial users which are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases when the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.
(Ord. 286, 2012; Ord. 322 § 1, 2014)
The City reserves the right to enter into special written agreements with industrial users setting out special terms under which they may discharge to the POTW. In no case will a special agreement waive compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement. However, the industrial user may request a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR 403.15. They may also request a variance from the categorical pretreatment standard from EPA. Such a request will be approved only if the industrial user can prove that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when establishing that pretreatment standard. An industrial user requesting a fundamentally different factor variance must comply with the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR 403.13.
(Ord. 286, 2012; Ord. 322 § 1, 2014)