Brisbane Municipal Code Art. IV Regulation of Discharges

No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, or subsurface drainage into any sanitary sewer.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

No person shall discharge, deposit, throw, or cause, allow, or permit to be discharged, deposited, or thrown, into any public sewer or into any plumbing fixture, manhole, or private sewer or drain connected to a public sewer, any substance of any kind whatever tending to obstruct or injure the sewage works, or to cause a nuisance or hazard, or which will in any manner interfere with the proper operation or maintenance of the sewage works in the opinion of the director.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

A. Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following waters or wastes into any public sewer:

1. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature detrimental to the sewer system;

2. Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas;

3. Any water or waste which contains excessive amounts of grease, oil, or fats;

4. Any garbage, except properly ground garbage from individual dwelling units, as specified in Section 13.04.530

5. Any sand, cement, cinders, ashes, metal, glass or other heavy solids; any straw, shavings, animal hair, feathers, paunch manure, or other fibrous matter; and tar, asphalt, resins, plastics, or other viscous substance; or any other matter of such a nature as to obstruct the flow in sewers or as to cause other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works;

6. Any water or waste containing excessive amounts of acid, alkali, or dissolved sulfide, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, or personnel of sewage works;

7. Any waters or wastes containing a toxic or poisonous substance in sufficient quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, or to create a hazard in the waters receiving effluent from the sewage treatment plant;

8. Any waters or wastes containing suspended solids or dissolved matter of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle such materials at the sewage treatment plant;

9. Any noxious or malodorous gas or substance capable of creating a public nuisance;

10. Any radioactive wastes, as provided in Sections 13.04.540 and 13.04.550

B. Whenever deemed necessary by the director, the owner shall, at his own expense, provide such treatment or take such other measures as shall be required in order to reduce the objectionable characteristics, contents, or rate of discharge of waters or wastes being deposited in the sewer, so that the same may be received therein without any damage to the sewage works or any undue interference with its operation and without any hazard of any kind to humans or animals.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

A. The admission into the public sewers of any wastes or waters having an average daily flow greater than two percent (2%) of the average daily flow at the sewage treatment plant, or having any of the following characteristics, shall be subject to the review of the director:

1. Temperature in excess of one hundred fifty degrees (150°) Fahrenheit, approximately sixty-five and six-tenths degrees (65.6°) Centigrade;

2. Suspended solids, or matter which upon dilution with water or sewage results in the formation of suspended solids, in excess of five hundred (500) parts per million;

3. Biochemical oxygen demand in excess of four hundred (400) parts per million;

4. Floatable grease of animal or vegetable origin in excess of fifty (50) parts per million, and of mineral origin in excess of fifteen (15) parts per million, or dispersed grease in excess of six hundred (600) parts per million;

5. A pH of less than five and five-tenths (5.5) or more than ten and five-tenths (10.5);

6. Dissolved sulfides in excess of one part per million.

7. Discharge characteristics that in the opinion of the director may adversely affect the public sewers or sewage works.

B. The provisions of subsection A and the values therein set forth shall not be regarded or construed as regulating or limiting the quantity or character of any specific industrial waste which may be received into the sewer system, but shall serve as a guide in the administration of this chapter for the purpose of determining, in general, the acceptability of waste for admission into the sewer system.

C. In addition to the provisions of subsections A and B, whenever the city is provided wastewater treatment by the city and county of San Francisco, wastewater dischargers shall also comply with the "Permit Provisions" of the Industrial Waste Article of the San Francisco Public Works Code.

1. The general manager of the public utilities commission of San Francisco will require dischargers to obtain a class I permit authorizing wastewater discharge if they meet the definition of a significant industrial user; (1) a person subject to categorical pretreatment standards; (2) a person discharging twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day or more of wastewater, excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater; (3) a person discharging wastewater that constitutes five percent (5%) or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic (BOD, TSS) capacity of the tributary water pollution control plant; or (4) a person discharging a wastestream that, in the opinion of the general manager, will or may adversely affect the sewerage system by causing interference, pass-through of pollutants, sludge contamination, or endangerment of city workers.

2. The general manager may require minor dischargers (i.e., a person other than a significant industrial user) to obtain a class II permit if necessary to further the objectives of the industrial waste article.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

When private treatment facilities are provided for any waters or wastes to meet the requirements of this chapter, they shall be maintained in a satisfactory and effective manner of operation by the person discharging such waters or wastes, all at his own expense.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall, at the expense of the owner or tenant, be provided in all commercial plumbing systems, new or existing, for those establishments producing liquid waste containing, or likely to contain, any flammable substance or sand or quantities of grease in excess of the amounts set forth in Section 13.04.500. Interceptors shall conform with all requirements of the plumbing code of the city insofar as the same are applicable, shall be of a type and capacity approved by the director, and shall be so located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. Where installed, all grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be maintained by the owner, at his expense, in a continuously efficient operation.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

Garbage, fruit, vegetable, animal or other solid kitchen waste materials from individual dwelling units, resulting from the preparation of any food or drink, may be admitted into the sanitary sewer if first passed through a mechanically operated grinder so designed that:

A. It shall operate with cold water flowing into the grinder and through the sink drain line in such manner as to congeal and aerate the solid and liquid greases within the grinding unit;

B. It shall discharge wastes at a reasonably uniform rate in fluid form, which shall flow readily through an approved trap, drain line, or soil line in a manner which prevents clogging or stoppage of the drain line;

C. It shall be of such construction and have such operating characteristics that not more than five percent (5%) by weight of all material discharged from it shall have any dimension larger than one-fourth (¼) inch, and no particle shall have any dimension greater than one-half (½) inch. Weights shall be determined on a dry basis;

D. It shall be self-scouring, with no fouling surfaces to cause objectionable odors;

E. It shall be free from electrical or mechanical hazards and shall adequately protect the user against injury during operation;

F. It shall be permanently connected to the drain in compliance with the plumbing code of the city and shall be free from cross-connection to any water pipe; and

G. The entire installation shall comply in all particulars with the provisions of the plumbing and electrical codes of the city.

The decision as to the sufficiency of the design to meet these requirements shall rest with the director.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any radioactive wastes into any public sewer or appurtenances thereof, except where:

A. The waste is discharged in strict conformity with current Atomic Energy Commission recommendations for safe disposal of radioactive wastes; and

B. The person discharging the radioactive wastes assumes full responsibility for any injury to personnel or damage to the sewage works that may result from such discharge.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

Any person discharging a radioactive waste to a public sewer, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.04.540, shall submit to the director such reports as the director may deem necessary. In the event of an accidental spilling or depositing of any radioactive material into a sanitary or storm sewer, the person who causes such occurrence, or who is responsible therefor, shall:

A. Immediately notify the director; and

B. Render such technical or other assistance to the department of public works as may be required to avoid any hazard from the radioactivity.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

When deemed necessary by the director for the preservation of public health or safety, or for protection of public or private property, he may suspend sewer service to any person or persons using the sewage works in a manner or way as to endanger the public health or safety on public or private property, and in this regard may sever from the public sewer all pertinent connections thereto. If such endangerment shall be imminent, then the director may act immediately to suspend sewer service without giving any advance notice or warning whatsoever to the person or persons.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)

No statement contained in Sections 13.04.460 through 13.04.560 shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any individual or industrial concern, whereby any water or waste of unusual strength or character or composition may be accepted by the city for treatment. In the event that any such special agreement or arrangement shall involve additional or extraordinary expense to the city, such individual or industrial concern may, at the option of the city, be required to reimburse the city therefor and, in that connection, to post with the city such bond or other guarantee as shall be acceptable to the city.

(Ord. No. 591, § 1, 3-19-15)