Santa Paula Municipal Code Part 3 Wastewater Discharged Into City Sewer System

(A) It is unlawful for any person to connect any new building sewer or add any new source to any existing building sewer, which connects to any city sewer or other facility to the city's sewer system without first obtaining a written permit from the city and paying to the city the connection, conveyance, and any other permit fees required thereof.

(B) Domestic and industrial wastewater originating within the city will be accepted into the city's sewer system if there is capacity in the system and the wastewater will not:

(1) Threaten public health;

(2) Detrimentally affect the local environment;

(3) Create a nuisance, including odor and infestation;

(4) Impose excessive collection, treatment or disposal costs upon the city;

(5) Significantly interfere with or impede wastewater treatment processes;

(6) Interfere with or impede wastewater reclamation processes;

(7) Exceed quality limits and quantity requirements established by this chapter or regulations promulgated hereunder;

(8) Significantly contaminate the sludge from the treatment process;

(9) Cause the city's wastewater treatment plant to violate its NPDES permit.

(C) This chapter provides specific limits for prohibited constituents only where they are now reasonably well established. Other constituents will be brought under regulation when specific limits are established. In some cases, the concentration or amount of any particular constituent, which will be judged to be excessive or unreasonable, cannot be foreseen, but will depend on the results of technical determinations relating to the particular situation and actions of regulatory agencies.

(D) It is unlawful for any person to discharge any domestic or industrial wastewater to the ground, into any surface drainage conduit, storm drain or channel, or stream or other watercourse.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

(A) It is unlawful for any user to contribute or cause to be contributed, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the city's sewer system. These city prohibitions apply to all users of the city's sewer system whether or not the user is subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or any other federal, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements.

(B) It is unlawful for a user to contribute the following substances, directly or indirectly, to the city sewer system (40 CFR § 403.5(b)):

(1) Pollutants which create a fire or explosion hazard in the city sewer system, including, without limitation, waste streams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140° Fahrenheit or 60° Centigrade using the test methods specified in 40 CFR § 261.21.

(2) Any liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quantity are or may be sufficient either alone or by interaction with other substances to create a fire or explosion hazard in the city sewer system or be injurious in any other way to the city's sewer system, its operation or personnel. At no time must two successive readings on an explosion hazard meter at the point of discharge into the system (or at any point in the system) be more than 5% nor any single reading over 10% of the lower explosive limit (LEL).

(3) Prohibited materials, include, without limitation, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromates, carbides, hydrides, sulfides or any other substances which violate this chapter or any applicable local, state or federal laws, codes, rules, regulations, standards or permits, or which damage or interfere with the operation or performance of the city's sewer system. See 40 CFR § 403.5(b)(1);

(4) Pollutants, which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the city sewer system in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems;

(5) Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the Public Works Director;

(6) Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.0 or a pH higher than 10.0 or wastewater having any other corrosive or detrimental characteristics capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and/or personnel of the city's sewer system. See 40 CFR § 403.5(b)(2);

(7) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment plant such as, without limitation, grease, garbage with particles greater than one-half inch in any dimension, animal guts or tissues, paunch, manure, bones, hair, hides or flesh, entrails, whole blood and/or components, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, waste paper, wood, plastics, gas, tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating oil, mud, and glass grinding or polishing wastes (40 CFR § 403.5(b)(3));

(8) Rain water, storm water, ground water, street drainage, sub-surface drainage, roof drainage, water from yard fountains, ponds, or lawn sprays or other contaminated water.

(9) Non-biodegradable oils commonly called soluble oils which may form persistent water emulsions or oil, petroleum oil or refined petroleum products beyond a concentration set forth under “Specific Pollutant Limitations,” disposal of oils and fats including lard, tallow, or vegetable oil in concentrations which may be detrimental to the city’s sewer system or which violate the city’s NPDES permit;

(10) Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, or solids which either singly or by interaction with other wastes are sufficient to create a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair;

(11) Any substance which may cause the city’s wastewater treatment plant’s effluent, or any other product such as residues, sludges or scums to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process.

(12) In no case must a material be discharged which causes the city’s wastewater treatment plant to be in noncompliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under §405 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. §1345. Any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act (2 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.), the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. §§2601 et seq., or state criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used;

(13) Any substance that could cause a pass through violation, 40 CFR § 403.5(a)(1), or any slug load or pollutant, 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, could cause Interference with wastewater treatment plant (40 CFR § 403.5(b)(4)).

(14) Any wastewater with objectionable color including, without limitation, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;

(15) Wastewater having a temperature greater than 150° F, or which could 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° F (40° C);

(16) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Director in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;

(17) Any wastewater which could cause a hazard to human life or create a public nuisance;

(18) Deionized water, steam underwaste or distilled water in excess of laboratory usage; single pass cooling water, blow-down or bleed water from cooling towers or other evaporation coolers exceeding one-third of the make-up water (quantities in excess of one-third of the make-up water may be discharged into the city’s sewer system, subject to this chapter, during off-peak hours if hydraulic sewer capacity is available);

(19) Any wastewater with amounts of TDS which may be detrimental to the city’s sewer system;

(20) It is unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged into the city’s sewer system any waste or wastewater if in the opinion of the Director the discharge may have an adverse or harmful effect on sewers, maintenance personnel, wastewater treatment plant personnel or equipment, treatment plant effluent quality, public or private property or may otherwise endanger ecological systems or create a public nuisance.

(21) In determining the acceptability of specific wastewater under this section, the Director, in addition to the foregoing, must consider the nature of the wastewater, the adequacy and nature of the collection, the treatment and disposal system available to accept the wastewater, and the city policy embodied in this chapter.

(22) The Director may promulgate standards as provided herein and upon appropriate application must establish terms and conditions appropriate to specific dischargers.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04; Am. Ord. 1156, passed 10-2-06) Penalty, see § 51.999

(A) (1) It is unlawful for an industrial discharger to discharge wastewater containing any pollutant which exceeds the concentration limits set forth below, or the limits in 40 CFR § 403.5(c), as it may be amended, whichever is more stringent:

(a) BOD-5 day: 600.00 mg/l.

(b) COD: 1,100.00 mg/l.

(c) S.S.: 800.00 mg/l.

(d) Oil and grease: 50.00 mg/l.

(e) Chloride: 110.00 mg/l.

(f) Arsenic: 3.00 mg/l.

(g) Ammonia: 30.00 mg/l.

(h) Cadmium: 1.00 mg/l.

(i) Chromium (total): 2.30 mg/l.

(j) Copper: 1.30 mg/l.

(k) Lead: 3.10 mg/l.

(l) Mercury: 0.01 mg/l.

(m) Nickel: 1.10 mg/l.

(n) Silver: 1.00 mg/l.

(o) Sulfide (dissolved): 0.10 mg/l.

(p) Zinc: 10.00 mg/l.

(q) Cyanide (total): 3.00 mg/l.

(r) TDS: 2,000.00 mg/l.

(2) Any exceedance of any of the foregoing limits, as they may be amended, is a violation of this chapter and subjects the user to enforcement action. Concentration limits apply at the point of discharge to the sewer system. Concentrations for metallic substances are for "total" metal.

(B) When the Director determines that the user is contributing to the city's sewer system any of the above enumerated substances in amounts in excess of these limitations, the Director must notify the user(s) of the violation.

(C) National Categorical Pretreatment Standards (40 CFR Chapter 1, Chapter N, Parts 405-471):

(1) Specific industrial subcategory discharges - pollutants or pollutant properties discharged to a city sewer system by existing or new industrial users in specific Industrial subcategories must be in addition to all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements.

(2) Within 60 days after the effective date of a pretreatment standard for a subcategory under which an industrial user may be included, the industrial user may request written certification on whether the industrial user falls within that particular subcategory.

(3) If an existing industrial user adds or changes a process or operation which may be included in a subcategory, the existing industrial user must request certification before commencing discharge from the added or changed processes or operation.

(4) A new source must request this certification before commencing discharge. See 40 CFR § 403.6.

(5) Indirect dischargers subject to the national categorical standards must comply with those standards in addition to 40 CFR § 403.6.

(6) If the Public Works Director determines it is necessary, any industrial user they may be required to implement measures to limit the possibility slug discharges from their facility. These control measures shall be contained in a slug discharge control plan developed by the industrial user and submitted to the Public Works Director.

(D) As provided in 40 CFR § 403.3, the Public Works Director may determine that an industrial user subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under § 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter N is a non-significant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than 100 gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the other provisions of 40 CFR.

(E) Any industrial permit is in significant noncompliance if its violation meets one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l);

(2) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC=1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l) (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the POTW determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public).

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04; Am. Ord. 1250, passed 5-20-13) Penalty, see § 51.999

Waste from garbage grinders must not be discharged into the city's sewer system except:

(A) Wastes generated in preparation of food in a residence; or

(B) Where the user has an existing garbage grinder and has an approval for that specific use from the city, and agrees to undertake whatever self-monitoring is required to enable the city to equitably determine the charges and fees based on the waste constituents and characteristics.

(1) The grinders must be repaired or replaced as necessary in order to at all times ensure that the waste is shredded to a degree that all particles will be carried freely under normal flow conditions prevailing in the city's sewer system.

(2) Garbage grinders must not be used for grinding plastic, paper products, inert materials, garden refuse, or waste products resulting from the handling, storage and sale of fruits and vegetables in wholesale and retail produce establishments, and wastes from plants engaged in the preparation, processing or preserving of foods not intended primarily for immediate consumption; and

(3) At any time the property or business changes ownership, excluding residential property, any existing garbage grinders installed on the property must be removed and no new garbage grinders may be installed as a condition of continued city sewer service to the property.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

(A) A variance from a specific compatible pollutant limitation may be obtained from the Director. Granting of a variance must be determined on a case-by-case basis. The Director must take into account the following factors when making this determination:

(1) The industrial user's ability to meet the existing limitations;

(2) The industrial user's wastewater discharge volume;

(3) The industrial user's current wastewater constituent concentrations;

(4) The impact of increased constituent concentrations on the city's sewer system, the wastewater treatment plant's processes, effluent and/or sludge quality;

(5) The impact of increased constituent concentrations on the wastewater treatment plant's NPDES permit requirements; and

(6) Any other factor(s) the Director deems applicable.

(B) Before issuing such a variance, the Director must verify with EPA that the variance will not allow the user to exceed applicable categorical standards.

(C) The Director may require the user to monitor its effluent in excess of previous levels if the Director deems it necessary to properly enforce any variance granted under this section.

(D) The Director reserves the right to impose requirements which are stricter than, or are additive to, those specified in this chapter should the quantity or quality of the user's effluent merit unique consideration by virtue of its impact on the city's sewer system or the public health and welfare.

(E) The Director reserves the right to revoke the variance at any time.

(F) The Director reserves the right to charge additional fees as related to the granting of a variance.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

In accordance with 40 CFR § 403.6(d), it is unlawful for any industrial user to increase the use of process water, or in any other way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard or pretreatment requirement (40 CFR § 403.6(d)).

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

State requirements and limitations on dischargers apply in any case where they are more stringent than federal requirements and limitations or those in this chapter (40 CFR § 403.4).

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

The federal general pretreatment regulations for existing and new sources of pollution found at 40 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter Parts 405-471 are hereby incorporated by reference as follows:

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

(B) When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the control authority must impose an alternate limit using the combined waste stream formula in 40 CFR § 403.6(e).

(C) 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.

(D) A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR § 403.15.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04) Penalty, see § 51.999

The control authority reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the wastewater treatment plant.

(Ord. 1093, passed 2-17-04)