Coachella Municipal Code Art. III General Sewer Use Requirements

A. General Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the city's collection system any pollutant or wastewater which, alone or in conjunction with other substances, causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all users whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.

B. Specific Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the city's collection system the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:

1. Pollutants which create a fire or explosive hazard in the city's RWRFs or collection system, including, but not limited to, wastestreams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 ° F (60 ° C) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21;

2. Wastewater having a pH less than 5.0 or more than 10.5, or otherwise causing corrosive structural damage to the city's RWRFs or collection system or equipment;

3. Solid or viscous substances in amounts which will cause obstruction of the flow in the city's RWRFs or collection system resulting in interference but in no case solids greater than three-eighths (⅜) inches in any dimension;

4. Pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), 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 the city's RWRFs or collection system;

5. Wastewater having a temperature greater than 140 ° F (60 ° C), or which will inhibit biological activity in the RWRF resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater which causes the temperature at the introduction into the RWRF to exceed 104 ° F (40 ° C) or which falls below 40 ° F;

6. Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass through;

7. Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the city's RWRFs or collection system in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems;

8. Trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the general manager;

9. 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 or a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance or repair;

10. 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 RWRF's effluent;

11. Wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes except in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;

12. Stormwater, surface water, ground water, artesian well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, swimming pool drainage, condensate, deionized water, noncontact cooling water, and unpolluted wastewater, unless specifically authorized by the general manager;

13. Sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes;

14. Detergents, surface-active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the city's RWRFs or collection system;

15. Wastewater required to be manifested under RCRA, unless specifically authorized by the general manager.

16. Infectious wastes as defined in the California Health and Safety Code.

C. Pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by this section shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the city's collection system.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No person shall circumvent or obviate the intent or purpose of this chapter by discharging or by causing to be discharged, into any storm drain, channel, natural watercourse or public street, any material or waste prohibited or restricted as to its discharge into a sewer system.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No person shall deposit or discharge or cause to be deposited or discharged into any sump which is not impermeable, or into any pit or well, or onto the ground, or into any storm drain or watercourse, any material which, by seeping underground or by being leached or by reacting with the soil, can pollute usable groundwaters, or any pretreatment wastes.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No person, excluding authorized city personnel involved in maintenance functions of sanitary sewer facilities, shall discharge or cause to be discharged any wastewater or any other matter directly into a manhole or other opening leading to the POTW other than through an approved building sewer, unless written permission for the discharge has been provided by the general manager.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No person shall 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 the limitations contained in this chapter, in categorical standards, or in any other pollutant-specific limitations developed by the city.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No person shall enter, break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any temporary or permanent structure, equipment or appurtenance which is part of the POTW or is required or authorized by the provisions of this article.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

A. The categorical pretreatment standards found at 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471 are hereby incorporated.

B. Where a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed only in terms of either the mass or the concentration of a pollutant in wastewater, the general manager may impose equivalent concentration or mass limits in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6(c).

C. When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the general manager shall impose an alternate limit using the combined wastestream formula in 40 CFR 403.6(e).

D. A user may obtain a variance from a categorical pretreatment standard if the user can prove, pursuant to the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR 403.13, that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when developing the categorical pretreatment standard.

E. A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR 403.15.

F. Any user operating under a permit incorporating equivalent mass or concentration limits calculated from a production-based standard shall notify the general manager within two business days after the user has a reasonable basis to know that the production level will significantly change within the next calendar month. Any user not notifying the general manager of such anticipated change will be required to meet the mass or concentration limits in its permit that were based on the original estimate of the long term average production rate.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

State requirements and limitations on dischargers shall apply in any case where they are more stringent than the federal requirements and limitations, or those in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

A. No user shall discharge or cause to be introduced directly or indirectly into the city's collection system, a quantity or quality of wastewater which exceeds the local limits on discharges to public sewer mains established by the city. The local limits, conventional pollutant surcharge limits, and surcharge fees specific to each city RWRF may be adopted by resolution of the city council or district.

B. These limits apply at the point where the wastewater is discharged to the city's collection system. The general manager may impose limitations based on concentrations of pollutants in milligrams per liter or as an amount of pollutants in pounds per day.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

Water softeners will be regulated in accordance with state law.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

The city reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the city's RWRFs or collection system.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

No user 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 general manager may impose such limitations on the amount, in pounds per day, of pollutants discharged by users who are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases when the imposition of such limitations is appropriate.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

A. Cesspool, septic tank and holding tank pumpings containing only domestic and/or sanitary wastes may be accepted only at city designated locations from holders of both a valid liquid waste hauler water discharge permit issued by the city and a valid environmental health permit issued by the County of Riverside Health Services Agency Department of Environmental Health. The contents of any cesspool or septic tank may not be pumped directly into a public sewer main unless specifically approved by the city under emergency or other abnormal short duration circumstances. Wastes from industrial process sources are prohibited and may not be hauled and discharged to the public sewer system.

B. No waste hauler shall discharge to the POTW except as set forth herein:

1. Septic tank waste may be introduced into the POTW only at locations designated by the general manager, and at such times as are established by the general manager. Such waste shall not violate any requirements established by the city. The general manager may require septic tank waste haulers to obtain a control mechanism.

2. Industrial waste haulers may discharge loads only at locations designated by the general manager. No load may be discharged without prior consent of the general manager. The general manager may collect samples of each hauled load to ensure compliance with applicable standards. The general manager may require the industrial waste hauler to provide a waste analysis of any load prior to discharge. Industrial waste haulers must provide a waste tracking form for every load. This form shall include, at a minimum, the name and address of the industrial waste hauler, permit number, truck identification, names and addresses of sources of waste, and volume and characteristics of waste. The form shall identify the type of industry, known or suspected waste constituents, and whether any wastes are RCRA hazardous wastes.

3. Wastewater from recreational vehicles and boats shall only be discharged at dump sites designated for such use. The city reserves the right to inspect records of individual wastewater dumps from the authorized operators of each designated dump site. Detailed plans describing such facilities and operating procedures shall be submitted to the general manager for review, and shall be acceptable to the general manager before such facilities are constructed.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

A. Any facility maintained for the servicing, washing, cleaning or repair of vehicles licensed by the state department of motor vehicles, construction equipment, industrial transportation or power equipment shall install and maintain a gravity separation interceptor in accordance with Section 13.02.384. Wastewaters from toilets shall not be allowed to pass through this interceptor, but all wastewaters arising from the servicing and repair of vehicles shall pass through this interceptor before discharge to the POTW. If the vehicle servicing facility does not include facilities for the washing of more than one vehicle at a time, the interceptor shall have a fluid capacity of not less than one thousand five hundred (1,500) gallons. If the vehicle servicing facility has facilities for washing or cleaning more than one vehicle at a time, the interceptor shall be as large as necessary so that a seven-day accumulation of sand and oil together will not fill more than twenty-five (25) percent of the fluid capacity. The interceptor shall be designed so as to retain any oil and grease which will float and any sand which will settle.

B. Any interceptor legally and properly installed at a vehicle servicing facility before January 1, 2012, shall be acceptable as an alternative to the interceptor specified in subsection (a) of this section, provided such interceptor is effective in removing sand and oil and is so designed and installed that it can be inspected and properly maintained.

C. The plumbing official shall not approve the plumbing of a vehicle servicing facility if it does not have a gravity separation interceptor meeting the requirements of this section.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)

A. All restaurants or other food processing facilities shall direct all wastes from floor drains, sinks, waste container wash racks and dishwashers through a two-compartment gravity separation interceptor. All domestic wastewaters from restrooms, showers and drinking fountains shall be kept separate until the previously specified wastes have passed through the interceptor. The interceptor shall have a minimum fluid capacity of seven hundred fifty (750) gallons, or as required by Appendix H of the latest edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code, whichever is greater. Any interceptor or grease trap legally and properly installed at a food processing facility before January 1, 2012, shall be acceptable as an alternative to the interceptor specified in this subsection, provided such interceptor or grease trap is effective in removing grease and is so designed and installed that it can be inspected and properly maintained.

B. Conditional waivers for the grease interceptor requirement may be granted by the city for those restaurants determined not to have adverse effects on the POTW. Conditional waivers may be revoked for the following reasons:

1. Changes in types of food prepared;

2. Falsification of information submitted in the restaurant survey form;

3. Changes in operating hours;

4. Changes in equipment used;

5. Violation of any conditions contained in the waiver.

(Ord. No. 1057, § 2(Exh. B), 10-23-13)