ARTICLE VII - USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS

Sec. 1. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any storm water surface waters, groundwater, roof run off, substance drainage, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted commercial or industrial process waters to any public sanitary sewer.

Sec. 2. Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm water sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the Maine DEP and the Director of Public Works. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process water may be discharged, on approval of the Maine DEP and the Director of Public Works, to a storm sewer or natural outlet.

Sec. 3. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or waste to any public sewers:

(A). Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas, which will create a fire or explosive hazard in the wastewater facilities.

(B). Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or in interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewer 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.

(C). Any water or waste having a pH lower than 6.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, and personnel of the sewage works.

(D). Solids or viscous substances 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, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, bones, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, underground garbage, fibers, whole blood, paunch, manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, paper, dishes, cups, milk containers, or other substances which are whole or ground by garbage grinders.

(E). Any waste or pollutants including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.) which released in quantities of flow or concentrations or both constitute a "slug" as defined in Article II.

(F). Any heated water or pollutants in amounts which will inhibit or interfere with biological activity in the waste water treatment works but in no case heated water or pollutants in such quantities that the temperature at the wastewater treatment works influent exceeds 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius); unless the wastewater treatment works is designed to accommodate such heat.

Sec. 4. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, water, or waste if it appears likely in the opinion of the Director of Public Works that such waste may harm the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving streams, or may otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming an opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Director of Public Works shall consider such factors as the quantities of subject waste in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of sewage treatment process, capacity of the wastewater treatment plant, degree of treat ability of waste in the wastewater treatment plant, and other relevant factors.

Substances prohibited are:

(A). Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred four (104) degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

(B). Wastewater containing petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oils, or products of mineral oil origin.

(C). Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not.

(D). Garbage grinders are prohibited for the commercial users.

(E). Any water or waste containing strong acid, iron, pickling waste, or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(F). Any waste or water containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or waste exerting an excessive chlorine residual to such a degree that any such material in the composite sewage at the wastewater treatment plant exceeds the limits established by the Director of Public Works for such materials.

(G). Any water or waste containing phenols or other taste or odor-producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding limit which may be established by the Director of Public Works as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirement of the State, federal, or other public agencies having jurisdiction over such discharge to any receiving waters.

(H). Any radioactive waste or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Director of Public Works in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations.

(I). Any water or waste having a pH in excess of 8.0.

(J). Materials, which exert or cause:

1. Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, Fullers 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 waste and vegetable tanning solutions.
3. Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the wastewater treatment works.
4. Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting a "slug" as defined in Article II.

(K). Waters or waste containing substances which are not amenable to proper treatment or reduction by the Town's wastewater treatment process, or which would result in impermissible levels of phosphates and nitrates being discharged in the wastewater treatment plant effluent.

(L). Overflow by draining from cesspools or receptacles storing organic waste (other than septic tank disposal at the Town’s treatment plant in accordance with Town procedures).

(M). Steam exhausts, boiler blowoffs, sediment traps, or pipes carrying hot circulating water.

Sec. 5. If any water 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 of this Article, and which in the judgment of the Public Works Director may have detrimental effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment, or receiving water, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Director of Public Works may:

(A). Reject the water;

(B). Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;

(C). Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or

(D). Require payment to cover the cost of handling and treating the waste not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges, pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of this Article VII.

When considering the above alternatives, the Director of Public Works shall give consideration to the economic impact of each alternative on the discharger. If the Director of Public Works permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the pretreatment or equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Director of Public Works, and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, laws, and the municipal discharge permit.

Sec. 6. Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when in the opinion of the Director of Public Works, they are necessary for the proper handling of the liquid waste containing floatable grease or for any flammable waste, sand, 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 Director of Public Works, and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. All new construction and the remodeling of any old construction shall conform to the requirements of the Maine State Plumbing Code and the State of Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules for grease and oil interceptors. The minimum size for an external grease trap shall be at least one thousand (1,000) gallons of liquid capacity.

With the approval of the Director of Public Works, an automatic / mechanical (self-cleaning) grease removal unit may be used instead of the external grease trap. The automatic grease removal unit must be sized in accordance with the manufacturer’s written recommendations and the water temperature of the influent, as it enters the unit ca not exceed one hundred fifty (150) degrees F.

Dishwasher wastewater shall not be discharged into a automatic grease removal unit, except that the wastewater from the pre-rinse station shall discharge to the grease removal unit.

In maintaining these interceptors, 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, which are subject to review by the Director of Public Works. Any removal and hauling of the collected materials not performed by the owner (s) or the owner (s)' agent (s) must be performed by currently licensed waste disposal firms.

Sec. 7. Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any water or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at the owner's expense.

Sec. 8. When required by the Director of Public Works, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying commercial, industrial waste shall install a suitable manhole together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the waste. Such manhole, if required, shall be accessible and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Director of Public Works. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at the owner's expense and shall be maintained by the owner so as to be safe and accessible at all times.

Sec. 9. The Director of Public Works may require a user of the sewer services to provide information needed to determine compliance with this Ordinance. These requirements may include:

1. Description of wastewaters discharged, together with peak rate and volume over a specified time period.
2. Chemical analyses of wastewaters.
3. Information on raw materials, processes, and products affecting wastewater volume and quality.
4. Quantity and disposition of specific liquid, sludge, oil, solvents, or other materials important to sewer use control.
5. A plot plan of sewers of the user's property showing sewer and pretreatment facility location.
6. Details of wastewater pretreatment facilities.
7. Details of systems to prevent and control the losses of materials though spills to the municipal sewer.

Sec. 10. All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of water and pollutants to which reference is made in this Ordinance shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater", published by the American Public Health Association or other methods approved by the U.S. EPA and the Me. DEP, and shall be determined at the structure as required in Article VII, Section 8, or upon suitable samples taken at said structure. In the event that no special structure has been required, suitable samples shall be taken at the downstream manhole in the public sewer nearest to the point or origin. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the wastewater facilities and to determine the existence of any hazard to life, limb, or property.

(A). All industries discharging into a public sewer shall perform such monitoring of their discharges as the Director of Public Works and/or other duly authorized employees of the Town may reasonably require, including installation, use, and maintenance of monitoring equipment, keeping records and reporting the results of such monitoring to the Director of Public Works. Such records shall be made available upon request by the Director of Public Works to other agencies having jurisdiction over discharges.

Sec. 11.The municipality shall develop, and the Director of Public Works shall enforce, pretreatment regulations for existing and new sources of pollution that are discharging or proposed to be discharged into the municipally owned wastewater treatment facilities as set forth in Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 128 and Part 403 of the Final Rules of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Sec. 12. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to prevent any agreement between the Town and any industrial concern whereby industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the Town for treatment, subject to payment therefore, by the industrial concern; provided that such agreements do not contravene any requirement of existing Federal or State laws and/or regulations and are compatible with any User Charge and Industrial Cost Recovery System in effect.