§ 4-2-34. Use of the public sewer.

(a)

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff or subsurface drainage, to any public sewer.

(b)

Pollutants introduced into the city's sewer system by any source of a non-domestic discharge shall not inhibit or interfere with the operation or performance of the wastewater collection or treatment system. These general prohibitions apply to all such users of the city system, whether or not the user is subject to other national pretreatment standards or any national, state, or local pretreatment requirements.

(c)

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following waters or wastes to any public sewers.

(1)

pollutants which create a fire or explosion hazard in the city system;

(2)

any water or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, to create a public nuisance, or to create any hazard in the receiving waters in the sewage treatment plant;

(3)

pollutants which will cause corrosive structural damage to the city system, but in no case discharges with pH lower than 5.0, unless the works is specifically designed to accommodate such discharges;

(4)

solids or viscous substances in such quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction in the flow of sewage or other interference to 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, hair and fleshing, or entrails, either whole or ground by garbage grinders;

(5)

heat in amounts which will inhibit biological activity in the city system resulting in interference but in no case heat in such quantities that the temperature at the treatment works influent exceeds 40 degrees C (104 degrees F).

(d)

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters, or wastes if it appears likely, in the opinion of the city, that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment having adverse effect on the receiving stream or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming their opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the city will give consideration to such factors 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 degrees F. or 65 degrees 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 have excessive viscosity at temperatures between 32 or 150 degrees F. or 0 and 65 degrees C.

(3)

Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of 3/4 h.p. or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the city.

(4)

Any waters or wastes containing strong acid, iron pickling wastes or concentrated plating solution whether neutralized or not.

(5)

Any waters or wastes containing metals or other toxics as established by the city in consideration of stream quality standards, wastewater treatment plant inhibitory levels and other factors required by SCDHEC or EPA.

(6)

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

(7)

Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the city in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.

(8)

Materials which exert or cause:

a.

unusual concentration of inert suspended solids; such as, but not limited to, 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.

BOD and suspended solids exceeding 275 mg/l or unusual chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works;

d.

unusual volume of flow or concentrations of wastes constituting slugs as defined herein.

(9)

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 such degree that the sewage treatment plant cannot meet the requirements of other state or federal agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

(e)

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 section 4-2-34 (d), which in the judgement of the city may have a deleterious affect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment, or receiving water, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the city after implementing a pretreatment program as required by 40 CFR Part 128, may:

(1)

reject the wastes;

(2)

require pretreatment to reduce the waste to an acceptable condition in accordance with federal regulation 40 CFR Part 128 prior to discharge to the public sewers;

(3)

require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or

(4)

require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges, under the provisions of section 4-2-34 (i).

If the city 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 city subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, and laws.

(f)

Interceptors shall be provided to prevent rags, plastic materials, grease, oil, and sand from entering the city sewer system when, in the opinion of the city they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing such materials in excessive amounts, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the city and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. All interceptors shall be supplied and properly maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.

(g)

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 expense.

(h)

It shall be required by the city that the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes, install a suitable control manhole. When deemed necessary, the city may require additional waste metering devices and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the waste. Such manhole shall be readily accessible for representatives of the city and safely located and shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and assessible at all times.

(i)

(1)

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 amendments to 40 CFR Part 136 "Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Clean Water Act" and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole. 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.

(2)

In order for the city to properly evaluate the effect of the waste on the system, an industry must submit, an industrial waste questionnaire summary describing maximum, minimum and average wastewater characteristics.

(j)

Upon the promulgation of the Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards for a particular industrial subcategory, the Federal Standard, if more stringent than limitations imposed under this chapter for sources in that subcategory, shall immediately supersede the limitations imposed under this chapter. The city shall notify all affected users of the applicable reporting requirements under 40 CFR, Section 403.12.

(k)

The city has no industrial users as defined in 40 CFR Part 35, Subpart E (Federal Register Vol. 43, No. 188, Wednesday, September 27, 1978). Should any industrial user connect onto the city sewer system, a pretreatment program/industrial cost recovery system that meets current EPA regulations will be developed and the industry will be required to agree to comply prior to tapping onto the city sewers. All fees shall be as directed by ordinances of city council.

(l)

Uncontaminated cooling water may be discharged into the storm sewer upon approval by the city.

(m)

The discharge of wastewaters to storm sewers is, without exception, prohibited.

(n)

Any person causing malicious damage to the treatment works or appurtenances shall be subject to any local, state or federal laws which may apply to the nature of the damage.

(Code 1984, Sec. 4-2-34, as amended by Ord. No. 91-03-25(A), 3/25/91)