§ 56-102 — Disposal of wastes and use of public sewers

Sec. 56-102. - Disposal of wastes and use of public sewers.

(a) Polluted water prohibited in storm sewers and watercourses. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged any polluted water into any storm sewer or watercourse within the city. (b) Deposit of wastes in city. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit to be placed or deposited upon public property within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any human or animal excrement, garbage or other waste. (c) Discharge of wastewater in watercourses. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge to any stream or watercourse any domestic or industrial wastewater or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with the provisions of this division or the rules and regulations of the manager of transportation and infrastructure. (d) Construction of privies and other facilities. It shall be unlawful for any person to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, seepage pit or other facility intended or used for the disposal of wastewater, except as provided in this Code. (e) Compliance with Code prior to occupation of structures. It shall be unlawful to occupy any building, industrial facility or other structure until the owner of the premise has complied with all the ordinances, rules and regulations of the city. (f) Mandatory connection to public sewer. The owner of any building situated within the city and abutting on any street or alley in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public sewer of the city, is hereby required, at his expense, to connect the building directly with the public sewer designated by the manager of transportation and infrastructure, within ninety (90) days after date of official notice to do so, provided that the public sewer is within three hundred (300) feet of the nearest point of the property line and the building is within one thousand (1,000) feet of the public sewer. (g) Prohibited discharges in sanitary sewer. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged into the sanitary sewerage system any of the following: (1) Sewage of such nature and at such rate as to impair the hydraulic capacity of any part of the sanitary sewerage system of the city or metro; (2) Sewage of such quantity, quality or other nature as to create flammable, explosive or corrosive conditions in any part of the sanitary sewerage systems of the city or metro; (3) Sewage containing any radioactive substance, garbage, night soil, or septic tank pumpage, except pursuant to rules and regulations established by the manager of transportation and infrastructure; (4) Any solid or viscous material which could cause an obstruction to the flow or interfere with the normal treatment process in any part of the sanitary sewerage systems of the city or metro; (5) Sludge or other material from sewage or industrial waste treatment plants, or from water treatment plants; (6) Water which is the discharge from sump pumps, or which has been used for cooling, heat transfer purposes, condensation, air conditioning, refrigeration or similar use; (7) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature that may cause an odor nuisance; (8) Water or wastes containing grease, oil or other substance that may solidify and clog or interfere with the treatment process of any part of the sanitary sewerage system of the city or metro; (9) Wastes with phenolic compounds, sulfides, cyanides or compounds capable of liberating hydrocyanic acid gas in excess of limits established by the manager of transportation and infrastructure; (10) Wastes that contain a corrosive, noxious, malodorous material, concentrated dye or substance capable of causing damage; (11) Water or wastes containing the discharge of acid iron pickling wastes or plating solutions unless pretreated to standards established by the manager of transportation and infrastructure; (12) Wastes which are unusual in composition and conducive to creating tastes or odors in drinking water supplies or otherwise making such waters unpalatable even after conventional sewage and water purification treatment; (13) Any other material or substance not specifically named in this subsection which in itself is corrosive, irritating to humans and animals, toxic, noxious, prohibited by federal law, rules or regulations, or which by interaction with other wastes can produce undesirable effects, including deleterious action or effect on the sanitary sewerage system of the city or metro or the receiving stream, or could constitute a hazard to humans or animals. (h) Stormwater prohibited in sanitary sewer. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or cause to be discharged into the sanitary sewerage system, except in areas of existing combined sewers, any stormwater drainage from the ground surface, roof leaders, catch basins, or any other source, or subsurface drainage or groundwater. (i) Unpolluted water prohibited in sanitary sewer. It shall be unlawful to discharge through a direct or indirect connection to a public sanitary sewer, without a permit issued by the city, unpolluted water, including, but not limited to, cooling water, process water or blow down from cooling towers or evaporative coolers. (j) Discharge through building sewer only. It shall be unlawful to discharge any substance directly into a manhole or other opening in a public sewer other than through an approved building sewer. (k) Permit for discharge of holding tank waste. It shall be unlawful to discharge any holding tank waste into the public sewer system without a permit issued by the city. Unless otherwise allowed by the city under the terms and conditions of the permit, a separate permit must be secured for each separate discharge. The permit shall state the specific location of discharge, the time of day the discharge is to occur, the volume of the discharge and the wastewater constituents and characteristics. If a permit is granted for discharge of such waste into the public sewer system, the permittee shall pay the applicable charges and fees and shall meet such other conditions as required and set forth by the city. (l) Obstruction of operation. It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct, hinder, deny access to, or in any way prevent, the manager of transportation and infrastructure, or any agent or employee acting under the authority of the manager, from operating, maintaining, supervising or controlling public sewers wherever situated or located. (m) Accessory to offenses. It shall be unlawful for any person to permit, direct or cause any other person to do any of the acts prohibited by this division. (n) Exception by special permit. Whenever the manager of transportation and infrastructure shall determine that any of the provisions of this section shall be impractical, unreasonable or unjust in a particular instance, and shall further determine that an exception to such provision would not be detrimental to the sanitary sewerage system of the city or metro, the manager of transportation and infrastructure may grant a special permit, excepting the individual user from the application of the pertinent provision.

(Code 1950, § 167.11; Ord. No. 73-83, § 10, 1-31-83; Ord. No. 39-20, § 243, 2-3-20)