An ACWA fact sheet titled, Summary of the National and State Industrial Pretreatment Programs, is available on the ACWA web site and includes a flow chart illustrating the pretreatment permit issuance process. For more information see the Pretreatment Committee.
EPA and Oregon DEQ regulations require municipal wastewater treatment systems to put formal industrial pretreatment programs in place if an industrial source meets any of these categories:
- The industrial source has the potential to adversely affect the POTW, or
- The industrial source discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day (gpd), or more, of process wastewater to the POTW, or
- The industrial source contributes a process waste stream making up 5 percent, or more, of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant, or
- The industrial source is designated by the POTW as having a reasonable potential to adversely affect the POTW’s operation or violate any pretreatment standard or requirement, or
- The industry is subject to the federal categorical pretreatment standards.
An inventory of the federal categorical industries and links to the associated effluent guidelines is available online.
The federal categorical industrial standards cover specific industrial processes designated by EPA’s effluent guidelines as requiring effluent limits. Any industry that conducts the EPA listed industrial processes is subject to the industrial effluent limits and must be regulated by the local POTW. There are 57 industry types identified by federal regulations, including food and seafood processing, dairy processing, electroplating, hospitals, metal finishing, paint formulators, pesticide formulators, and petroleum refining.
Identifying industries with categorical processes can be the most difficult part of conducting an industrial survey. To properly categorize a specific industry or business, the municipal staff must have an understanding of the manufacturing processes associated with a specific type of manufacturing. The ACWA Pretreatment Committee can provide additional technical assistance in properly categorizing specific types of industry.
See State and Federal pretreatment regulations. More information about the DEQ program, including guidance and reference documents, are available on the State of Oregon website.
More information about the EPA program is available on the State of Oregon website.