Ventura County Municipal Code Art. 13 Wastewater Discharge Into County Sewerage System

A. Domestic and industrial wastewater originating within the County will be accepted into the County's sewerage system if there is capacity in the system and the wastewater will not:

1. Menace 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 County;

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 these rules or regulations promulgated thereunder;

8. Significantly contaminate the sludge from the treatment process;

9. Cause the County to violate its NPDES permit.

B. This ordinance 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 the actions of regulatory agencies.

C. No person shall discharge any domestic or industrial wastewater to the ground, into any surface drainage conduit, storm drain or channel, or stream or other waste course.

No user shall contribute or cause to be contributed, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the County's sewerage system. These County prohibitions apply to all such users of the County's sewerage system whether or not the user is subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or any other Federal, State or local Pretreatment Standards or Requirements. A user may not contribute the following substance, directly or indirectly, to the County's sewerage system (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.5(b):

A. 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 cause fire or explosion or be injurious in any other way to the County's sewerage system, its operation or personnel. At no time shall 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 five percent nor any single reading over ten percent of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) of the meter. Prohibited materials, include, but are not limited to: gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromates, carbides, hydrides, sulfides or any other substances which violate this ordinance 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 County's sewerage system. (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR, 403.5(b)(1)).

B. Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the County's sewerage system or exceed the limitation set forth in a Categorical Pretreatment Standards or Section 6513-2 of this ordinance. A toxic pollutant shall include but not be limited to any pollutant identified pursuant to Section 307(a) of the Act.

C. Any wastewater having a pH less than 6.0 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 County's sewerage system (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.5(b)(2)).

D. 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 but not limited to: grease, garbage with particles greater than one-half inch in any dimension, animal guts or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, 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 (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.5(b)(3)).

E. Rain water, storm water, groundwater, street drainage, sub-surface drainage, roof drainage, swimming pool and/or spa water, yard drainage, water from yard fountains, ponds or lawn sprays or other uncontaminated water, or water added for the purpose of diluting wastes which exceed maximum concentration limitations. (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.6(d)).

F. 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 Pollutants Limitations", disposal of oils and fats including lard, tallow, or vegetable oil in concentrations which may be detrimental to the County's sewerage system or which violate the County's NPDES permit.

G. 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.

H. Any substance which may cause the County'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. In no case shall a material be discharged which causes the County's wastewater treatment plant to be in non-compliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under Section 405 of the Act. Any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act or State criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used.

I. Any substance in concentration sufficient to cause the County's wastewater treatment plant to violate its NPDES permit or the receiving water quality standards.

J. Any wastewater with objectionable color including, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.

K. Any wastewater having a temperature which will inhibit biological activity in the County's wastewater treatment plant resulting in interference but in no case wastewater with a temperature at the introduction into the County's sewerage system which exceeds 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

L. Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Airports Administrator in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations.

M. Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public nuisance.

N. Deionized water, steam underwaste or distilled water in excess of laboratory usage; single pass cooling water, blow-down or bleed water from cooling towers of other evaporation coolers exceeding 1/3 of the make-up water, (quantities in excess of 1/3 of the make-up water may be discharged into the County's sewerage system, subject to Section 6512-4(B), during off-peak hours if hydraulic sewer capacity is available).

O. Any wastewater with amounts of TDS which may be detrimental to the County's sewerage system.

P. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the County's sewerage system any waste or wastewater if in the opinion of the Airports Administrator 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. In determining the acceptability of specific wastewater under this section, the Airports Administrator shall consider, in addition to the foregoing, the nature of the wastewater, the adequacy and nature of the collection, the treatment and disposal system available to accept the wastewater, and the County policy embodied in this ordinance. The Airports Administrator may promulgate regulations as provided herein and upon appropriate application shall establish terms and conditions appropriate to specific dischargers.

No industrial discharger shall discharge wastewater containing pollutants in excess of:

________

When the Airports Administrator determines that the user is contributing to the County's sewerage system any of the above enumerated substances in amounts in excess of these limitations, the Airports Administrator shall notify the user(s) of the violation. (See Section 6515-7)

Waste from garbage grinders shall not be discharged into the County's sewerage 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 County, and agrees to undertake whatever self-monitoring is required to enable the County to equitably determine the charges and fees based on the waste constituents and characteristics. Such 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 County's sewerage system. Garbage (grinders) shall 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

C. 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 County sewer service to the property.

A. A variance from a specific compatible pollutant limitation may be obtained from the Airports Administrator. Granting of such a variance shall be determined on a case by case basis. The Airports Administrator shall 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 County's sewerage 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;

6. Any other factor the Airports Administrator deems applicable.

Prior to issuing such a variance, the Airports Administrator shall verify with EPA that the variance will not allow the user to exceed applicable categorical standards.

B. The Airports Administrator may require the user to monitor its effluent in excess of previous levels if he deems it necessary to properly enforce any variance granted under this section.

C. The Airports Administrator reserves the right to impose requirements which are stricter than, or are additive to, those specified in Sections 6513-1 and 6513-2 should the quantity or quality of the user's effluent merit unique consideration by virtue of its impact on the County's sewerage system or the public health and welfare.

D. The Airport Administrator reserves the right to revoke the variance at any time.

E. The Airports Administrator reserves the right to charge additional fees as related to the granting of a variance.

In accordance with Federal Pretreatment Standards (40 CFR 403.6(d)), no industrial user shall in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate pretreatment to achieve compliance with a Pretreatment Standard or Pretreatment Requirement, except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable Pretreatment Standard or Pretreatment Requirement. (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.6(d)).

State requirements and limitations on dischargers shall apply in any case where they are more stringent than Federal requirements and limitations or those in this ordinance (Federal Pretreatment Regulations 40 CFR 403.4).

Upon the promulgation of a County Pretreatment Standard or the Categorical Pretreatment Standards for a particular industrial subcategory, the Federal Standard(s), if more stringent than limitations imposed under this ordinance, shall immediately supersede the less stringent limitations. The Airports Administrator shall notify all affected users of the new standards and the applicable reporting requirements under 40 CFR 403.12 and this ordinance.