Industrial Pretreatment Program
The Clean Water Act of 1972 called for the U.S. EPA to
develop national pretreatment standards. These standards are uniform national requirements
that restrict the level of certain pollutants in the sewage from industries. All publicly
owned treatment works (POTW) must enforce the federal standards, which consist of two sets
of rules, 1) categorical pretreatment standards and 2) prohibited discharge standards. In
addition the pretreatment program was required to develop local discharge standards.
Categorical pretreatment standards were developed
for specific types of industries such as electroplaters, metal finishers, coil coaters,
organic chemical manufactures, etc. These standards include regulation of specific
pollutants and require the use of "best available treatment technology" prior to
discharging to the sewer system. Prohibitive discharge standards apply minimum
standards to all discharges to the POTW and prohibit types of discharge that could create
a fire hazard, explosion hazard, corrosion, obstruction of flow, slug loadings, reactivity
and fume toxicity.
The philosophy behind these national standards is to
provide consistent application to all industrial users throughout the country. On the
other hand, local standards for POTWs were developed to prevent the introduction of
pollutants into the sewer system that would interfere with the normal operation of the
system or inhibit the biological process of the POTW. The second object of local standards
is to optimize the cost effective method of sludge disposal (beneficial sludge reuse -
compost). The third objective is to prevent any discharge that would result in
pass-through of any pollutant resulting in a permit violation or adverse water quality
impact of the receiving stream.
The legal authority to conduct the Industrial Pretreatment
Program in the City of Akron is granted through the Sewer Use Ordinance, Chapter 50.44
– 50.99.
City of Akron, Sewer Use Ordinance
Summary of
Local Limitations (9k pdf)
City of Akron
Industrial Pretreatment Section
Water Pollution Control Division
2460 Akron-Peninsula Road
Akron, OH 44313
Phone: (330) 375-2963 | Fax: (330) 375-2966 | e-mail: IPS |
