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Glasgow Substances May Be Prohibited ordinance (§ 700.460)

Chapter 700: Water and Sewer · Article IV. Sewer Regulations

In short: You may not put anything into the sewer that the Superintendent judges likely to harm the sewers, treatment plant or creek, or endanger people, including liquids over 150°F, fats, oil or grease over 100 mg/l, unshredded garbage, toxic metals, radioactive waste, and waste with a pH above 9.5.

Our plain-English summary, not the official text or legal advice. The ordinance below is what counts.

A. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters, or wastes if it appears likely in the opinion of the Superintendent that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, having an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming his/her opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the Superintendent will give consideration to such facts as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant, and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:

1. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (150° F.) (65° C.).

2. Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one hundred (100) mg/l or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two and one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (32° and 150° F.) (0° and 65° C.).

3. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths (3/4) horsepower (0.76 hp metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Superintendent.

4. Any waters or wastes containing strong-acid iron-pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solutions whether neutralized or not.

5. Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the Superintendent for such materials.

6. Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the Superintendent as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the State, Federal or other public agencies of jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters.

7. Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Superintendent in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations.

8. Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of nine and five-tenths (9.5).

9. Materials which exert or cause:

a. Unusual concentrations of inert, suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, Fuller's earth, lime slurries, and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).

b. Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).

c. Unusual BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.

d. Unusual volume of flow or concentration of waters constituting "slugs" as defined herein.

10. Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amendable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

Official source: City of Glasgow official Code of Ordinances (online), § 700.460

Last checked November 1, 2026. The city's official copy controls; this page is a reading copy, not legal advice.