Limitations on wastewater strength.
Reno Administrative Code § 12.16.565
in effectSec. 12.16.565. - Limitations on wastewater strength.
(a) Specific discharge limitations. It shall be unlawful for any Class III, IV or V industrial user or other permit limited industrial user to discharge, deposit, cause, or allow to be discharged any waste or wastewater which fails to comply with the limitations imposed by this section.
(b) Dilution is prohibited as a substitute for treatment and shall be a violation of this article. Except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirement, no industrial user shall ever increase the use of process water, or in any other way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement. The city may impose mass limitations on industrial users which are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements or in other cases where the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.
(c) No Class III, Class IV or Class V industrial user shall discharge wastewater that exceeds the following limits:
Pollutant | Daily Maximum Discharge Limits(1) for IUs discharging to TMWRF(3) | Daily Maximum Discharge Limits(1) for IUs discharging to RSWRF(3) | Daily Maximum Discharge Limits(1) for IUs discharging to STMWRF(3)
Arsenic | 1.73 | 1.49 | <0.005
Boron | No Limit | No Limit | <0.10
Cadmium | 0.138 | 0.119 | 0.44
Chromium | 4.32 | 3.27 | 4.22
Copper | 0.87 | 4.72 | 3.10
Lead | 0.73 | 0.636 | 0.78
Mercury | 0.214 | 0.211 | 0.217
Nickel | 4.23 | 0.44 | 0.51
Selenium | 0.40 | 0.44 | 0.58
Silver | 0.182 | 0.34 | 0.62
Zinc | 4.37 | 6.4 | 6.9
5-Day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD 5 ) | 10,010 (2) | 4,404 (2) | 4,363 (2)
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) | 13,937 (2) | 979 (2) | 2,615 (2)
Phosphorus | 202.8 (2) | No Limit | No Limit
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) | 19,598 (2) | No Limit | No Limit
Total Nitrogen (TKN +NO 3 ) | 566 (2) | No Limit | No Limit
(1) All limits are in milligrams per liter (mg/L) unless otherwise specified and shall be analyzed as total.
(2) Total mass in pounds per day (lbs/day) available for allocation to all significant industrial users and other designated and permitted non-significant industrial users. The total combined lbs/day allocated in all permits issued cannot exceed this value for the given water reclamation facility.
(3) TMWRF is the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility; RSWRF is the Reno—Stead Water Reclamation Facility and STMWRF is the South Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility.
(d) A significant industrial user or other designated industrial user who introduces wastewater into the POTW may be required to submit a salinity control plan if monitoring of the industrial user's discharge shows it exceeds 1,200 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS). This plan shall contain a description of the chemicals and materials used that contribute to the TDS concentration and the source control measures that could be implemented to reduce the TDS concentration in the discharge to less than 1,200 mg/L or to a level specified by the city that prevents discharges that cause or contribute to pass through or interference.
(e) The following limits shall apply to wastewaters that are discharged from
(1) Groundwater cleanup of petroleum or gasoline underground storage tanks or other remediation wastewaters containing these pollutants;
(2) Discharges where one or more of these pollutants are present; or
(3) Where these pollutants are appropriate surrogates.
It shall be unlawful for any industrial user to discharge or cause to be discharged any waste or wastewater to the POTW that exceeds the following limits, as applicable.
Pollutant(a) | Daily Maximum Discharge Limit
Benzene | 0.050 mg/l
BTEX (b) | 0.750 mg/l
(a) All pollutants shown in the table are total.
(b) BTEX shall be measured as the sum of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylenes.
(Ord. No. 6305, § 1, 8-28-13; Ord. No. 6490, § 1, 11-28-18)
Source: City of Reno, Nevada, Administrative Code, City Charter and Annexation and Land Development Code (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nv/reno/codes/administrative_code?nodeId=PT2READCO_TIT12PUWOUT_CH12.16SESE_ARTIIIREWADI_DIV2WARE_S12.16.565LIWASTFetched: 11/1/2026