§ 51.04. HAZARDOUS WASTE.

(A) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:

(1) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas;

(2) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interfering with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance, or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant.

(3) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.

(4) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of a size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch, manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, paper, dishes, cups, milk containers and the like, either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

(B) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials or wastes if it appears likely in the opinion of the Superintendent that the wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming his or her opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Superintendent will give consideration to factors such as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:

(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F or 65° C;

(2) Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 mg/l or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° and 150° F or 0° and 65° C;

(3) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower (0.76 hp metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Superintendent;

(4) Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not;

(5) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances, or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement to a degree that the material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the Superintendent for chlorine requirements;

(6) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances, in concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the Superintendent as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies of jurisdiction for discharge to the receiving waters;

(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of a half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Superintendent in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;

(8) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5;

(9) Materials which exert or cause:

(a) Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids such as, but not limited to, Fullers earth, lime slurries, and lime residues, or of dissolved solids such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate;

(b) Excessive discoloration such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;

(c) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in quantities so as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works; and/or

(d) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs, as defined in § 51.01.

(10) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to a degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

(C) (1) If any waters or wastes are discharged, or are proposed to be discharged, to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in division (B) of this article, and which in the judgment of the Superintendent may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Superintendent may:

(a) Require new industries or industries with significant increase in discharges to submit information on wastewater characteristics and obtain prior approval for discharges;

(b) Reject the wastes in whole or in part for any reason deemed appropriate by the city;

(c) Require pretreatment of the wastes to within the limits of normal sewage, as defined in § 51.01;

(d) Require control or flow equalization of the wastes so as to avoid any slug loads or excessive loads that may be harmful to the treatment works; and/or

(e) Require payment of a surcharge on any excessive flows or loadings discharged to the treatment works to cover the additional costs of having capacity for and treating the wastes.

(2) If the Superintendent permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plant and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Superintendent and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.

(D) Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his or her expense.

(E) When required by the Superintendent, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole together with any necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. The manhole, when required, shall be accessible and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Superintendent. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his or her expense, and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times. Agents of the city, the State Water Pollution Control Agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing.

(F) All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of water and wastes to which reference is made in this chapter shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at the control manhole, except for application for NPDES permits and report thereof, which shall be conducted in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the U.S. EPA published in the Federal Register of October 16, 1973 (38 CFR 20758), and any subsequent revisions subject to approval by the city. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. The particular analysis involved will determine whether a 24-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, DOD suspended solids analysis are obtained from 24-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pH’s are determined from periodic grab samples.

(G) No statement contained in this chapter shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste or unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment, subject to payment therefore, by the industrial concern, at rates that are compatible with those set forth in §§ 51.25 through 51.38.

(‘89 Code, § 100.04) Penalty, see § 10.99