DISCHARGE OF WASTES INTO SEWERS

Richmond, Va., City Code ch. 28, art. VII, div. 3

in effect

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-975 Strong wastewater generally.

Sec. 28-975. - Strong wastewater generally. (a) The City will provide wastewater service to users having strong wastewater, provided the wastewater is amenable to treatment and is not of a nature otherwise prohibited, all in accordance with this article. (b) Wastes containing more than 275 milligrams per liter of suspended solids or more than 250 milligrams per liter of BOD or other characteristics in concentrations not normally found in sanitary sewage shall be considered strong wastewaters. (Code 1993, § 29-328; Code 2004, § 106-663; Code 2015, § 28-744; Code 2020, § 28-744)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-976 Control of strong wastewater discharges.

Sec. 28-976. - Control of strong wastewater discharges. (a) If any wastewater is discharged or is proposed to be discharged within or without the corporate City limits to the public wastewater system, which wastewater, in the judgment of the Director, may have a deleterious effect upon the wastewater works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise creates a hazard to health or constitutes a public nuisance, the Director may: (1) Reject the wastewater; (2) Require or permit pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public wastewater system; (3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; or (4) Permit the user to provide full treatment of the wastewater and discharge the effluent to an adjacent receiving waterway. (b) If the Director permits the pretreatment or equalization or full treatment of wastewater, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Director and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws. (Code 1993, § 29-329; Code 2004, § 106-664; Code 2015, § 28-745; Code 2020, § 28-745)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-977 Control manholes.

Sec. 28-977. - Control manholes. (a) When required by the Director, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying strong wastewater 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 Director. The manhole, together with such meters and other appurtenances, 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. (b) The owner of property served by more than one building sewer may, at the owner's option, revise the building sewers to connect to the wastewater system through a single building sewer. One control manhole shall then be constructed, when required, on the single connection. (Code 1993, § 29-330; Code 2004, § 106-665; Code 2015, § 28-746; Code 2020, § 28-746)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-978 Users having strong wastewaters not connected to wastewater system.

Sec. 28-978. - Users having strong wastewaters not connected to wastewater system. (a) Users having strong wastewaters not connected to the wastewater system shall construct building sewers at their own expense and apply for sewer connections and become connected to the wastewater system or shall advise the Director that separate wastewater treatment and disposal facilities will be provided at the expense of the user. The information submitted to the Director shall include information on the kinds of treatment works proposed and a time schedule for the construction of the necessary facilities. (b) The design, construction and operation of any private wastewater disposal facilities and the time schedule for the construction of such facilities shall be subject to the approval of the Director of Public Works. (c) Such users having more than one point of waste discharge shall construct building sewers, at their own expense, to combine the waste discharges into the minimum practical number of connections. (d) When required by the Director, the owner of any property proposed to be connected to the wastewater system shall construct on each new building sewer 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. Each manhole shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Director. Each 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. (Code 1993, § 29-331; Code 2004, § 106-666; Code 2015, § 28-747; Code 2020, § 28-747)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-979 Program for sampling and analysis of wastewater.

Sec. 28-979. - Program for sampling and analysis of wastewater. (a) All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes shall be determined at the control manhole provided or upon suitable samples taken at such control manhole. If 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 wastewater works and to determine the existence of hazards to health and property. (b) Determinations of the concentrations of BOD and suspended solids and other waste characteristics shall be made in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, prepared by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation or in accordance with such other recognized and analytical methods acceptable to the State Water Control Board and the State Department of Health. (c) Waste discharges of users having strong wastewaters shall be sampled by the Director once each calendar quarter or such other period as the Director may determine for the length of time, as determined by the Director, to be necessary to establish the characteristics of the wastewaters. (d) The results of the analysis of the quarterly samples shall be used to determine the concentrations of suspended solids or BOD for the computation of charges. (Code 1993, § 29-332; Code 2004, § 106-667; Code 2015, § 28-748; Code 2020, § 28-748)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-980 Permit required to place materials on or near open sewers or watercourses used as sewers.

Sec. 28-980. - Permit required to place materials on or near open sewers or watercourses used as sewers. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, store or deposit, on, along or within 30 feet of the sides of any open sewer or watercourse used as a sewer within the City, any lumber, waste building material, excavated material or other material or debris or otherwise make such deposit in a place where such material is likely to be washed or carried into such sewer in times of flood or overflow, without first obtaining from the Commissioner of Buildings a permit to do so, after the Commissioner of Buildings shall have approved a plan by which such material shall be secured so that it may not be washed into such sewer in times of flood or overflow along the banks of such sewer or watercourse. (Code 1993, § 29-312; Code 2004, § 106-668; Code 2015, § 28-749; Code 2020, § 28-749)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 28-981 Regulations for chemical and other characteristics of waste.

Sec. 28-981. - Regulations for chemical and other characteristics of waste. (a) When the City is required, for the purpose of complying with either Federal or State laws or regulations which may have been or may be promulgated in pursuance to such Federal or State laws, to furnish to either the United States or to the Commonwealth, or to both, information regarding the chemical and other characteristics of waste discharged into the wastewater system of the City, whether discharged directly or indirectly, the Directors of the Departments of Public Utilities and Public Works shall jointly promulgate regulations regarding persons discharging waste from any source, whether discharged directly or indirectly into the wastewater system of the City, requiring such persons to determine and to furnish to the City the information regarding the waste required by Federal or State law or by Federal or State regulations. The regulations promulgated by the Directors pursuant to this section may incorporate in whole or in relevant part any Federal or State law or Federal or State regulations, and such regulations promulgated by the Directors may make further provision for the orderly and expeditious collection and furnishing of the information so required. Regulations promulgated shall be made in accordance with requirements of this Chapter. Any such regulations shall be available for public inspection in both the offices of the Director of Public Utilities and the Director of Public Works. Such regulations shall be promulgated pursuant to a single notice published as required by law informing the public of the hearing upon any proposed regulation and the adoption and filing of any regulation which may be promulgated pursuant to this section. (b) Violations of regulations promulgated pursuant to this section shall constitute a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction for violation of such regulations punishment of a person convicted, shall be as provided in Section 1-16. (Code 1993, § 29-318; Code 2004, § 106-670; Code 2015, § 28-750; Code 2020, § 28-750)

Source: City of Richmond, Virginia, Code (2026 recodification) and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/va/richmond/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH28UT_ARTVIIWASECOSY_DIV3DIWAINSEFetched: 11/8/2026