§ 26-62. Discharge prohibitions and limitations.

(a)

It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged any wastewater into any storm drain or watercourse within the city, except for those persons with approved permits for such discharges.

(b)

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage or drainage from downspouts, yard drains, yard fountains and ponds, or lawn sprays into any sanitary sewer. Water from swimming pools, unpolluted industrial water, or cooling water from various equipment shall not be discharged into sanitary sewers if an alternate acceptable means of disposal is available. If an alternate acceptable means of disposal is not available, such water may be discharged into the sanitary sewer provided the water meets the discharge prohibitions and limitations of this article.

(c)

It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or discharge into the sanitary sewer any wastewater or solid, including trucked or hauled wastes, unless such deposit or discharge, at a designated discharge point, has been approved by the authority.

(d)

No person shall contribute or cause to be discharged directly or indirectly, into any public sanitary sewer any of the following described substances, materials, water or waste:

(1)

Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit (sixty-five (65) degrees Centigrade) or which will 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 one hundred four (104) degrees Fahrenheit (forty (40) degrees Centigrade);

(2)

Any water or waste which contains wax, grease, oil, plastic or other substance that will solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) degrees to one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit, thereby contributing to the clogging, plugging or otherwise restricting the flow of wastewater through the collection system;

(3)

Pollutants which create a fire or explosion hazard in the sewer system or POTW, including, but not limited to, wastestreams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than one hundred forty (140) degrees Fahrenheit or sixty (60) degrees Centigrade using the test methods specified in 40 CFR Part 261.21. This includes flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases such as gasoline, kerosene, benzene, naphtha, etc., which by reason of their chemical properties or quantity may be sufficient, either alone or by interaction, to cause fire or explosion;

(4)

Solid or viscous substances in quantities capable of causing obstruction in the flow of sewers or other interference with proper operation of the POTW, such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, lime slurry, lime residues, slops, chemical residues, paint residues, or bulk solids;

(5)

Any garbage that has not been properly comminuted or shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half (½) inch in any dimension;

(6)

Any noxious or malodorous substances which can form a gas which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, is capable of causing objectionable odors or hazards to life or form solids in concentrations exceeding limits established in this division, or creates any other condition deleterious to structures or treatment processes, or requires unusual provisions, attentions or expense to handle such material;

(7)

Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, or solids which either singly or by interaction are capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or which may prevent entry into the sewers for their maintenance and repair;

(8)

Any substance which may cause the POTW's effluent or treatment residues, sludges, or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process as determined pursuant to criteria in this division. In no case, shall a substance discharged to the POTW cause the POTW to be in noncompliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under Section 405 of the Act or any criteria, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or state standards applicable to the sludge management method being used;

(9)

Any substance which will cause the POTW to violate its NPDES or other disposal system permits, or the receiving stream water quality standards;

(10)

Any substance with objectionable color not removed in the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;

(11)

Any slug load;

(12)

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

(13)

Any dump or slug load of waste containing concentrated organic solvents or mixtures of solvents which are defined as hazardous by the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; or

(14)

Detergents, surface-active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the POTW;

(15)

Swimming pool drainage from private residential pools and public and semipublic pools may be discharged to the POTW with prior consent of the director. Swimming pool filter backwash may be discharged to the POTW with prior consent of the director;

(16)

Medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the director in a wastewater discharge permit;

(17)

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 POTW;

(18)

Oil and grease:

a.

Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or nonpolar products of mineral oil origin in concentrations greater than two hundred (200) mg/L from industrial or commercial facilities that discharge into Village Creek Wastewater Treatment System.

b.

Visible free floatable polar oils, fats, or grease or a concentration greater than two hundred fifty (250) mg/L in wastewater discharged from industrial or commercial facilities into Village Creek Wastewater Treatment System.

c.

Free or emulsified fats, oils, and greases exceeding two hundred (200) mg/L in wastewater discharged from industrial or commercial facilities into TRA Central Wastewater Treatment System as determined by an approved EPA method or as determined by the appropriate method as per 40 CFR part 136.

d.

In no case shall discharges in amounts that cause obstruction of flow in the sewer line or interference or operational problems with the POTW.

(19)

BTEX concentration greater than 1.0 mg/L.

(e)

No person shall contribute or cause to be discharged, directly or indirectly, into any sanitary sewer any wastewaters containing or having:

(1)

Acids or alkalis capable of causing damage to sewage disposal structures or personnel or having a pH value lower than 5.0 or higher than 12.0 or lower than 5.5 or higher than 11.0 respective to the receiving POTW facility (TRA or FTW) as indicated in table provided in subsection (2).

(2)

Metals in the form of compounds or elements with total concentrations exceeding the following:

Toxic Pollutant	TRA Central Instantaneous Maximum Limit (mg/l)	Fort Worth Maximum Allowable Discharge Limit (mg/l)
Arsenic	0.2	0.25
Cadmium	0.1	0.15
Chromium	2.9	5.0
Copper	2.3	4.0
Cyanide	0.5	1.0
Lead	0.9	2.9
Mercury	0.0004	0.01
Molybdenum	0.8	—
Nickel	4.6	2.0
Selenium	0.1	—
Silver	0.8	1.0
Zinc	8.0	5.0
Oil and grease	200	250
Free or emulsified fats, oils and grease	—	200
Hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide or nitrous oxide	—	10
Total toxic organics	2.13	—
pH	5.5 to 11.0 Standard Units	5.0 to 12.0 Standard Units

 

(3)

Cyanide or cyanogen compounds (expressed as total CN-) in excess of 0.5 and 1.0 mg/L as referenced in chart respective to POTW.

(4)

Hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide or nitrous oxide in excess of ten (10) parts per million respective to the receiving POTW facility (TRA or FTW) as indicated in the table provided in subsection (2).

(5)

Radioactive wastes or isotopes with a half-life or concentration exceeding limits established by the authority in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.

(6)

Toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, or to pass through the treatment plant and impair aquatic life in receiving water, as expressed by the results of acute or chronic toxicity tests of the POTW effluent.

(7)

A temperature which inhibits or interferes with biological activity in the POTW treatment plant. In no case shall wastewater be introduced which would have a temperature exceeding forty (40) degrees Centigrade (one hundred four (104) degrees Fahrenheit) upon entering the POTW treatment plant.

(8)

Wastewaters which emanate vapors causing the atmosphere in the sewer system to exceed twenty (20) percent of the lower explosive limit in the immediate area of the discharge.

(9)

The director may develop best management practices (BMPs), by ordinance or in individual wastewater discharge permits to help implement local limits and other pretreatment standards and the requirements of section 26-62.

(f)

Pollutants in excess of the limitations established in an applicable categorical pretreatment standard set forth in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the director shall impose an alternate limit in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6(e).

(g)

Right of revision. The city reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the POTW.

(Code 1965, § 26-28; Ord. No. 1349, § 2, 11-12-91; Ord. No. 1853, § 2, 1-14-03; Ord. No. 1993, §§ 2, 3, 8-8-06; Ord. No. 2097, § 1, 2-10-09; Ord. No. 2189, § 1, 1-10-12)