[Adopted 12-8-75 by Ord.
No. 86]
The discharge into the sanitary sewer system of the Township of Franconia
through any drain, public or private, of any substance or substances which
may injure the said sewer system or any part thereof or which impairs or may
impair the treatment of sewerage in the treatment plant is hereby prohibited.
The Sewer Authority of the Township of Franconia is hereby given the
authority and is directed, in its discretion, to examine the content and character
of all waste, commercial, industrial and other waste, prior to the discharge
thereof into the township sewer system.
A.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any
stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage,
cooling water or unpolluted industrial or commercial process water into any
sanitary sewer.
B.
The discharge of cooling water from air conditioning
units with cooling towers or recirculating systems or from air-conditioning
units using flow-through or unrecirculating systems is prohibited. The sanitary
sewers are not designed to handle the cooling water volumes produced by air-conditioning
units. Cooling water free from bacteria and harmful chemicals may be drained
into stormwater drains or other disposal areas.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall discharge
or cause to be discharged any of the following described wastes or waters
to any sanitary sewer:
(1)
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than
160º F.
(2)
Any water or waste containing more than 100 ppm (parts
per million) by weight of fats, oils or greases.
(3)
Any liquids, solids or gases which, by reason of their
nature or quality, may cause fire or explosion, or be in any other way injurious
to persons, to the sewage works structures or to the operation of these works.
(4)
Any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which, either
singly or by interaction with other wastes, is capable of creating a public
nuisance or hazard to life or preventing entry into sewers for their maintenance
and repair.
(5)
Any garbage that has not been comminuted or shredded
by a garbage-disposal unit, installed with the approval of the Sewer Authority.
(6)
Any ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal,
glass, bones, feathers, tars, plastic, wood, paunch manure, butchers' offal
or any other solids or viscous substances capable of causing obstruction to
the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the
sewage system or the sewage treatment works.
(7)
Any water or waste having a pH lower than 6.0 or higher
than 9.0 or having any corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazards
to structures, equipment or personnel of the sewage works.
(8)
Any water or waste containing any toxic substances in
quantities sufficient to interfere with the biochemical processes of the sewage
treatment works or that will pass through the sewage treatment works and exceed
the state or interstate requirements for the receiving stream.
(9)
Any water or waste containing suspended solids of such
character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle
such materials at the sewage treatment plant.
(10)
Any toxic radioactive isotopes, without special permit.
(11)
Any water or waste that contains fluoride in excess of
a concentration determined by multiplying 1.2 ppm by the ratio of the average
flow in the receiving stream to the design flow of the sewage treatment works.
D.
No statement contained in this article shall be construed
as prohibiting any special agreement or arrangement between the Sewer Authority
and any person whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character
may be admitted into the sanitary sewers for treatment by the Sewer Authority
either before or after pretreatment.
In order to control the admission of industrial wastes, the approval
of the Sewer Authority must first be obtained prior to the discharge into
the public sewers of any waters or wastes having:
A.
A five-day twenty-degree-Celsius BOD greater than 300
ppm.
B.
A suspended solids content greater than 350 ppm.
C.
A chlorine demand greater than 15 ppm.
D.
An average daily flow greater than 2% of the average
daily sewage flow at the sewage treatment works.
E.
Any toxic substance.
F.
Any wastes which are considered by the Sewer Authority
to offer possibilities of harm to structures, processes or operation of the
plant.
No factory effluents or industrial wastes, comprising wastes other than
domestic, shall be discharged into the sewerage system, except upon compliance
with the following rules, regulations and conditions:
A.
Each industry making application for permission to discharge
industrial wastes into the sanitary sewer system shall furnish all the information
necessary to determine the quantity of such waste and the nature or quality
of the materials therein and other characteristics of such waste. The industry
shall agree in such application to bear the cost of the original and any subsequent
chemical analysis and laboratory tests.
B.
Adequate means shall be provided at each industry's connection
with the sewerage system, for periodic determination of all characteristics
and concentrations of wastes. Samples shall be collected in such manner as
to be truly representative of the actual quality of the wastes, and standard
methods of analysis as published by the American Public Health Association,
shall be used.
C.
Industrial waste discharged or proposed to be discharged
into the sanitary sewer system shall be subject to analysis by the Sewer Authority.
D.
Industries shall cooperate by adopting such schedules
of discharge as will minimize peak concentrations when necessary.
E.
In the event that the materials and wastes discharged
or proposed to be discharged from any industry or the chemicals in or characteristics
of such wastes cause or threaten injury to the sanitary sewer system or impair
the sewage treatment process or unduly increase the cost of operation thereof,
said industry shall produce wastes of acceptable quality before discharge
thereof into the sanitary sewer system by reducing its peak discharges by
construction of equalizing tanks, by pretreatment, by partial pretreatment,
by elimination of troublesome wastes or by other approved means.
F.
Industries applying for permits to discharge industrial
wastes into the sanitary sewer system from new or existing treatment facilities
are required to furnish, in quadruplicate, complete engineering reports, plans
and specifications covering connection to the sanitary sewer system, industrial
waste treatment facilities and measuring devices. This applies also to alteration
and additions to such connections or treatment facilities. Reports and supporting
data herein referred to must be prepared by an engineer registered in Pennsylvania.
G.
Industries will not connect to the sanitary sewer system
or proceed with any construction of industrial wastes treatment facilities
or changes to existing waste treatment facilities unless plans and specifications
covering same have been approved by the Sewer Authority.
H.
The industry shall indemnify the Sewer Authority for
any damages caused by its industrial wastes to the sanitary sewer system,
its function and for its treatment processes. Such indemnification shall be
in strict conformance with the applicable local and state laws and shall be
in effect during the life of agreements between industries and the Sewer Authority.
I.
The Sewer Authority reserves the right to cancel any
agreement between any industry and the Sewer Authority after one year. However,
whenever it shall be found that a service installation or industrial waste
treatment facility has been made contrary to these rules and regulations and
constructed and operated in any other manner than that approved by the Sewer
Authority, the service shall be disconnected and removed within 30 days. The
services shall not again be supplied until the service installation and industrial
waste treatment facilities are constructed and operated according to these
rules and regulations and all expenses and damages shall be paid by the industry
or its successors.
Each industry discharging factory effluents or industrial wastes into
the sanitary sewer system shall install a suitable device for continuously
indicating recording and totalizing the flow discharged by it into the sanitary
sewer system and shall submit for approval by the Sewer Authority plans for
complete metering installation. All meters or the measuring devices installed
or required to be used shall be under the control of the Sewer Authority.
The industry by which any such measuring device is installed at its own expense,
shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping and all repairs thereto
shall be made at the industry's cost, whether such repairs are made necessary
by ordinary wear and tear or other cause. Bills for such repairs, if made
by the Sewer Authority, shall be due and payable within 30 days after the
date of issuance by the Sewer Authority.
Charges for the treatment of industrial wastes shall be made in accordance
with the rates as noted on the permit when issued by the Sewer Authority.
A.
Before any permits shall be issued by the Sewer Authority
for the connection to and use of the sanitary sewer system by any person or
corporation for use other than domestic sewerage and household wastes, such
person or corporation shall enter into a written agreement with the Sewer
Authority wherein the connection charge shall be fixed and the character,
quantity and rate of discharge of such waste into said sanitary sewer system
from the property shall be particularly set forth.
B.
All connection permits for industrial or commercial waste
shall be provisional in nature and conditional upon the character and quantity
of the waste proposed to be discharged, and said Sewer Authority reserves
unto itself the right to refuse to permit industrial, commercial or other
waste to be discharged into said sanitary sewer system if, in the opinion
of the Sewer Authority, such industrial, commercial or other waste would be
injurious to or destructive of the physical property of said sewage disposal
system, including also unusual burdens on the process of disposal.
C.
If, after permission to connect and discharge into the
township sewer system, in the opinion of the Sewer Authority, the waste should
prove to be injurious to or destructive of the physical property of said system
or the processes of disposal, the Sewer Authority reserves the right for the
immediate refusal to permit further discharge of said sanitary sewer system,
and to require the industry to make whatever preliminary or further treatment
is necessary before again allowing such industrial waste to be discharged
into the system.
D.
The Sewer Authority shall have the right to inspect treatment
plants and require reports on operation of such plants and analyses of effluent
from time to time as may be deemed necessary.
Notwithstanding any of the above requirements, any industrial, manufacturing
or commercial plant may discharge normal domestic sewage from the above plants
into the sanitary sewer system without the issuance of a special permit as
herein provided.
A.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this
article shall, upon being liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the township, pay a fine not exceeding $600 plus all court costs,
including reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the township. No judgment
shall be imposed until the date of the determination of violation by the District
Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the
township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Pennsylvania
Rules of Civil Procedure.
[Amended 9-12-1988 by Ord.
No. 147; 6-10-1996 by Ord.
No. 237]
B.
The fines herein fixed may be imposed in addition to
the disconnection privileges wherever the same have been provided.
