City of Oneonta, NY Article V Use of Public Sewers

§ 236-23 Discharging into public sanitary sewer.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.

§ 236-24 Disposal of stormwater or unpolluted industrial waters.

Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the City Engineer. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged, on approval of the City Engineer, to a storm sewer or natural outlet.

§ 236-25 Limitations on use of City sewers.

A. Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any of the following described waters or wastes to any public city sewer:

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

(2) Any waters or wastes which contain grease or other oil or other substance that will solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between 32° F. and 150° F.

(3) Any waters or wastes containing emulsified oil and grease exceeding an average of 50 parts per million (417 pounds per million gallons) ether soluble matter.

(4) Any gasoline, benzine, naphtha, fuel oil or mineral oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

(5) Any noxious or malodorous gas, such as hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide or nitrous oxide or other substance, which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, is capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or of preventing entry into sewers for their maintenance and repair.

(6) Any garbage that has not been properly pulverized or ground to fine powder.

(7) Any ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastic, wood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, lime slurry, lime residues, beer and distillery slops, chemical residues, paint residues, cannery, waste bulk solids or any other solid or viscous substance capable of causing obstruction to the flow of the sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage system.

(8) Any waters or wastes, acid and alkaline in reaction, having corrosive properties capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage system. Free acids and alkalies must be neutralized, at all times, within a permissible pH range of 6.0 to 9.5.

(9) Any cyanides in excess of two parts per million by weight as CN.

(10) Any long half-life (over 100 days) of toxic radioactive isotopes without a special permit.

(11) Any waters or wastes that, for a duration of 15 minutes, have a concentration greater than five times the average of that of normal sanitary sewage as measured by suspended solids and BOD and/or which is discharged continuously at a rate exceeding 1,000 gallons per minute except by special permit.

(12) Any stormwater, cistern or tank overflow, cellar drain, discharge from any vehicle wash rack or water motor, or the contents of any privy vault, septic tank or cesspool or the discharge of effluent from any air-conditioning machine or refrigeration unit.

(13) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any waters or wastes containing a toxic or poisonous substance, a high chlorine demand or suspended solids in sufficient quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals or create any hazard in the receiving waters or the effluent of the city sewage treatment plant. Such toxic substances shall be limited to the average concentrations listed hereinafter in the sewage as it arrives at the treatment plant and at no time shall the hourly concentration at the sewage treatment plant exceed three times the average concentration. If concentrations listed are exceeded, individual establishments will be subject to control in volume and concentration by the City Engineer.

	Limits of Toxic Substances in Sewage
	Substance	Limit (parts per million)
	Cadmium, as CD	0.3
	Chlorine requirement	15.0
	Chromium, as Cr (hexavalent)	3.0
	Copper, as Cu	0.2
	Cyanide, as CN	0.1
	Iron, as Fe	5.0
	Nickel, as Ni	2.0
	Phenol	10.0
	Zinc, as ZN	0.3

(14) "Normal sanitary sewage" shall be construed to fall within the following ranges at the effluent of the industrial plant in question:

	Constituents	Normal Range (parts per million)
	BOD	140 to 300
	Chlorine demand	15 to 15
	Suspended solids	80 to 350

B. Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the City Engineer, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts for any flammable wastes, sand and other harmful ingredients, 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 Engineer and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.

C. Grease and oil interceptors shall be constructed of impervious materials capable of withstanding abrupt and extreme changes in temperature. They shall be of substantial construction, watertight and equipped with easily removable covers which, when bolted in place, shall be gastight and watertight. All collected grease shall be kept in a sanitary and orderly manner. Disagreeable odors shall require deodorants to combat said offensive odors.

[Amended 6-5-2007 by Ord. No. 3-2007]

D. Where installed, all grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be maintained, inspected, cleaned, and repaired by the owner, at his expense, in continuously efficient operation at all times and shall be readily accessible and open to inspection by the City Engineer at any time.

[Amended 6-5-2007 by Ord. No. 3-2007]

(1) In the maintaining of grease receptors, the owner(s) shall be responsible for the proper removal and disposal by appropriate means of the captured material and shall maintain records of the dates and means of disposal. Such records shall be subject to review by the City.

(2) The City Engineer may require owners to inspect grease interceptors at regular intervals and may require that inspection reports be submitted periodically to the City.

(3) Any person who fails to submit grease interceptor inspection reports when required by the City Engineer shall be required to pay a late inspection fee, the amount of which is to be set by resolution from time to time by the Common Council of the City of Oneonta. Said fee if not paid shall be assessed and collected in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties, and having the same lien upon the property so assessed as the general city tax and as a part thereof.

(4) Upon failure by an owner to perform required inspections or to submit required inspection reports, the City may inspect and, if deemed necessary by the City Engineer in order to protect the proper working of the City sewer system, shall remove captured material. In that event, the cost of said inspection and/or removal of captured material including a fifty-percent charge thereof for supervision and administration shall be charged to the owner of said premises, and if not paid, shall be assessed and collected in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties and having the same lien upon the property so assessed as the general city tax and as a part thereof.

(5) The City Engineer shall require that all grease interceptors be efficient in operation and may, at the expense of the owner, require independent laboratory tests to ascertain the concentration of grease being emitted from the effluent line of the unit.

E. The admission into the public sewers of any waters or wastes having a five-day biochemical oxygen demand greater than 300 parts per million by weight; or containing more than 350 parts per million by weight of suspended solids; or containing more than 15 parts per million of chlorine demand; or containing any quantity of substances having the characteristics above the previously described limits; or having an average daily flow greater than 2% of the average daily sewage flow of the city shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Engineer. Where necessary, in the opinion of the City Engineer, the owner shall provide, at his expense, such preliminary treatment as may be necessary to reduce the biochemical oxygen demand to 300 parts per million and the suspended solids to 350 parts per million by weight; or reduce the chlorine demand in 15 parts per million; or reduce objectionable characteristics or constituents to within the maximum limits provided for; or control the quantities and rates of discharge of such waters or wastes.

F. Plans, specifications and any other pertinent information relating to proposed preliminary treatment facilities shall be submitted for the approval of the City Engineer and of the appropriate agency of the State of New York, and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approvals are obtained in writing.

G. Where preliminary treatment 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. When required by the City Engineer, the owner of any property served by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the City Engineer. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.

I. All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made shall be determined in accordance with Standard Methods of Examination of Water and Sewage upon suitable samples taken at control manhole provided for above. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole in the public city sewer nearest to the point at which the building sewer is connected shall be used.