6.10.030 General discharge standards and requirements.
(1) Any authorized officer or employee of the district may enter and inspect any part of the sewer system of the district. The right of entry and inspection shall extend to public streets, easements, and property within which the system is located. Moreover, the district shall be allowed to enter on private property to inspect waste discharge facilities. The right of inspection shall include on-site inspection of pretreatment and sewer facilities, observation, measurement, sampling testing and access to all compliance records located on the premises of the discharger. The right of inspection shall include entry into the business premises during normal business hours (with or without prior notification) to ensure that discharge standards, including but not limited to best management practices, are being followed. Persons or occupants of premises where wastewater is produced or discharged must allow any authorized representative of the district ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for the purpose of inspection, sampling, or record examination. The district’s representative has the authority to set up, on the discharger’s property, such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling, inspection, compliance monitoring or flow metering operations.
(2) General Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the sewer system wastewater which causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all users of the POTW whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state, or local pretreatment standards or pretreatment requirements.
(3) The following are prohibited and considered violations: filing false reports, denying access to premises or records, discharging through unauthorized connections, tampering with sampling or metering devices, deliberately circumventing pretreatment facilities, or continuing a prohibited discharge in violation of an order to cease.
(4) Specific Prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW any of the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:
(a) Pollutants which either alone or by interaction may create a fire or explosive hazard in the POTW, a public nuisance or hazard to life, or prevent entry into the sewers for their maintenance and repair or are in any way injurious to the operation of the system or operating personnel. This includes waste streams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21, and wastewater causing any single reading over 10 percent of the lower explosive limit based on an explosivity meter reading at the point of discharge into the POTW or at any point in the POTW. Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphthalene, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, bromides, carbides, hydrides, sulfides, and any other substance that the district, the state, or the EPA has notified the user is a fire hazard or hazard to the POTW.
(b) Wastewater having a pH less than 5.5 or more than 10.0, or otherwise having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, or personnel. Discharges outside this pH range may be authorized by a permit issued by the district pursuant to a finding that the system is specifically designed to accommodate a discharge of that pH.
(c) Solid or viscous substances in amounts which may cause obstruction to the flow in the sanitary sewer or other interference with the operation of the sanitary sewer system or POTW. Specifically prohibited substances in amounts that produce interference include, but are not limited to: FOG, animal guts or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dusts, 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, or glass grinding or polishing wastes.
(d) 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.
(e) Wastewater with concentrations of total suspended solids or five-day biochemical oxygen demand exceeding 600 mg/L, without prior authorization from the operator of the downstream WWTP (King County or city of Everett).
(f) Wastewater having a temperature which will interfere with the biological activity in the POTW, has detrimental effects on the collection system, or prevents entry into the sanitary sewer. In no case shall wastewater be discharged to the district’s collection system at a temperature exceeding 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems or exceed the King County screening levels in https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/wastewater/industrial-waste/limits-regulations/limits-prohibited/organic-compounds.aspx, without prior authorization from the district.
(g) Septage, unless specifically and expressly approved by the district.
(h) Trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the district and when specifically and expressly approved by the district.
(i) The following are prohibited unless approved in writing by the district under extraordinary circumstances, such as lack of direct discharge alternatives due to combined sewer service or need to augment sewage flows due to septic conditions (as required under WAC 173-216-060):
(i) Noncontact cooling water in significant volumes;
(ii) Storm water, or other direct inflow sources;
(iii) Wastewaters significantly affecting system hydraulic loading, which do not require treatment or would not be afforded a significant degree of treatment by the POTW; and
(iv) Surface water, ground water, artesian well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, condensate, deionized water, and other sources of unpolluted water, unless specifically authorized by the district;
(v) Swimming pool drainage, unless dechlorinated and specifically authorized by the district;
(vi) Construction dewatering and TESC discharge (temporary erosion and sediment control) discharges.
(j) Noxious or malodorous liquids, gasses, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sanitary sewers for maintenance or repair.
(k) Chlorine, bleach or other oxidants in quantities that cause interference to the POTW. All oxidants must be neutralized to less than 0.1 mg/L before discharge.
(l) Wastewater which imparts color which cannot be removed by treatment processes, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently impart color to the downstream treatment plant’s effluent.
(m) Wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes except as specifically approved by the district, and in compliance with applicable federal or state regulations.
(n) Sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes.
(o) Medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the district.
(p) Wastewater causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, a downstream treatment plant’s effluent to fail a toxicity test.
(q) Detergents, surface-active agents, or other substances in amounts that may cause excessive foaming in the POTW.
(r) Any fats, oils, or greases, including but not limited to petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil, animal or vegetable origin in amounts that may cause obstructions or maintenance problems in the sanitary sewer system or in the POTW, or in concentrations (combined polar and nonpolar oil and grease) that exceed 100 mg/L.
(s) Any substance which will cause a downstream treatment plant to violate its NPDES and/or other disposal system permit(s).
(t) Any dangerous, extremely hazardous, or hazardous wastes as defined in rules or regulations published by Ecology or by EPA, except as specifically approved by the district.
(u) Any persistent pesticide and/or pesticides regulated by the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as amended.
(v) Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction, to injure or create interference with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, or to exceed the limitation set forth in categorical pretreatment standards, or state or local pretreatment standards.
(w) Any substance which may cause a downstream treatment plant’s effluent or treatment residues, sludges, or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse.
(x) Any slug load, or any pollutant, including oxygen demanding pollutants, released in a single extraordinary discharge episode or in such volume or strength as to cause interference to the POTW; or released with a flow rate causing an exceedance of the capacity of the available trunk sewer.
(y) Antifreeze or a coolant solution used in a vehicle or motorized equipment, except as specifically approved by the district.
(z) An enzyme, chemical, or other agent that emulsifies FOG.
(aa) Wastewater that contains, or has contained, glutaraldehyde or ortho-phthalaldehyde unless it has been completely deactivated with sodium bisulfite or sodium hydroxide, has a pH of between 5.5 and 10.0 standard units, and does not contain any drain clogging solids. The user shall contact the district for review and obtain approval prior to discharge.
(bb) The district may establish and require best management practices (BMPs) for any category of user or type of commercial/industrial customer which creates a nondomestic waste stream. [Res. 830 § 1 (Exh. 1), 2022.]