Village of Warwick, NY Article V Use of Public Sewers

§ 109-25 Discharge of unpolluted drainage into sanitary sewers prohibited.

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.

§ 109-26 Method of discharge of unpolluted drainage.

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

§ 109-27 Prohibited discharges.

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

A. Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

B. Any waters 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, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of two mg/l as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.

C. Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than five point (5.5),[??266] or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.

D. Solid or viscous substance in quantities or of such 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 and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

§ 109-28 Acceptability of certain discharges to be determined by Superintendent.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if it appeals likely in the opinion of the Superintendent that such 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 or public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Superintendent 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:

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

B. Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° and 150° F. (0° and 65° C.)

C. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of 3/4 horsepower (0.76 horsepower metric) or greater shall be subject to review and approval of the Superintendent.

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

E. Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the Superintendent for such materials.

F. Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances, in such 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 such discharge to the receiving waters.

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

H. Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.

I. Materials which exert or cause:

(1) Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as, but not limited to, fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues, or of dissolved solids, such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.

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

(3) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.

(4) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs, as defined herein.

J. 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 effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

§ 109-29 Possible action by Superintendent regarding proposed discharges.

A. If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substance or possess the characteristics enumerated in § 109-28 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:

(1) Reject the wastes;

(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for 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 § 109-34 of this article.

B. If the Superintendent permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants 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.

§ 109-30 Grease, oil and sand interceptors.

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

§ 109-31 Maintenance of preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities.

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.

§ 109-32 Control manholes and meters.

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 such necessary meters and other appurtenances 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 Superintendent. 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.

§ 109-33 Measurements, tests and analyses.

All measurement, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this Part of this chapter shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for 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 said control manhole. 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 analyses involved will determine whether a twenty-four-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pH's are determined from periodic grab samples.

§ 109-34 Special agreements or arrangements authorized.

No statement contained in this article shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the Village and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the Village for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the industrial concern.

§ 109-34.1 Use of sewage treatment plant by scavengers.

[Added 5-10-1976 by L.L. No. 6-1976]

Scavengers may be allowed to deposit sludge into the Village sewage treatment plant at the sole discretion of the Superintendent of Public Works and upon the following conditions:

A. Only such sludge as is collected within the Town of Warwick limits shall be allowed, and such fact shall be evidenced by a signed receipt of the property owner where collected, to be presented to the sewer plant foreman at the time of deposit.

B. All deposits shall be made at one specific manhole designated by the sewer plant foreman between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. after notification and approval by the sewer plant foreman.

C. Emergency deposits at other hours may be authorized by the Superintendent upon the condition that all manpower costs thus incurred by the Village shall be paid by the scavenger.

D. All scavengers shall secure an annual permit from the Village at a fee as set forth in Chapter 63, Fees, and shall also secure any necessary County Board of Health certificate.

E. Scavengers shall be charged a hookup fee calculated by the maximum capacity of their truck times $0.03 per gallon for each deposit into the Village plant. Billing will be made after each deposit and a statement rendered on the first of each month. Scavengers who do not pay such statement in full within 10 days shall not be allowed further use of the plant, their permit shall be revoked and they shall be liable to a civil suit by the Village for the collection thereof.

F. Scavengers shall secure and maintain liability insurance policies on their trucks with limits of not less than $100,000/$300,000/$25,000 and maintain a current certificate of such insurance with the Village Clerk.

G. Scavengers shall not deposit any wastes prohibited by the Sewer Ordinance.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See § 109-27 of this chapter.

H. Scavengers shall wash down any spillage with their own hoses, leave the area clean after every deposit and not leave the area until the manhole is locked and the faucet is shut off.

I. All use of the Village sewage treatment plant allowed pursuant to this section shall cease immediately upon a determination by the Superintendent that such use will render the sewer system inadequate for the Village or its inhabitants.

J. Any persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not exceeding $250.