Any discharge of industrial wastewater to “waters of the state” requires a discharge permit from Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water. This permit is called a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Examples of waters of the state include: streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells and springs. Wastewater discharges entering a conveyance system (like a ditch or storm sewer) that leads to a waterway may also require a NPDES permit.
You may also be required to treat wastewater to remove harmful contaminants (for example, metals, chemicals, oils or grease) before it is discharged. If treatment is required, a separate permit is needed to construct wastewater treatment units, called a Permit-to-Install (or PTI). The PTI application is reviewed by Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water.
Often, the local publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) are responsible for regulating the companies that discharge wastewater to them. A large POTW may be able to handle the wastewater from your business. However, even large wastewater treatment plants are not generally designed to handle industrial wastes like chemicals, metals, oils, etc. They are designed to handle sewage related wastes and wastewater. Because of this limitation, the treatment plant may require you to conduct “pre-treatment” (for example, removal of metals, oil or grease, etc.) before discharging your wastewater to them.
If you want to discharge industrial wastewater to a local POTW, discuss it with the treatment plant directly. Permission to discharge to the POTW and/or obtaining a permit may be necessary. If you must construct wastewater treatment or storage units, a PTI from Ohio EPA is required.
Contact the Division of Surface Water at your local Ohio EPA District Office for more information on the wastewater discharge and permitting requirements.
Many small businesses have floor drains. A common floor drain system can include a concrete trench that runs down the center of a shop floor. The trench is designed to capture water, cleaners, oil, dirt or other materials. Some shops have small rectangular or round floor drains connected to underground piping.
Some floor drains are necessary for day-to-day operations. Others are used for emergency purposes only. And some floor drains don’t seem to have any apparent use. Do you know where the floor drains in your business go? Are you discharging wastewater or other fluids into your floor drains?
It is very important that you know where all your floor drains lead and are aware of Ohio EPA’s regulations that apply to your discharge activities. If you do not know where your drains lead, or if you are using floor drains improperly, you could be contaminating nearby surface waters or drinking waters.
Some floor drains lead into a sanitary sewer, where wastewater goes directly to a POTW. Other floor drains lead to an on-site sewage treatment system like a septic tank. Sometimes floor drains lead directly to an underground holding tank or discharge to a waterway or to the ground outside. Ohio EPA’s water pollution control regulations apply to all of these activities.
Any company that wants to discharge industrial wastewater to waters of the state needs to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from Ohio EPA. If your floor drains lead to any water of the state, you must have a discharge permit for this activity.
Companies that discharge industrial wastewater directly to a publicly owned treatment work (POTW) are also regulated. Often, the POTW regulates the discharge activities. If you are discharging to a POTW, you need to contact the plant to discuss your activities. You may be required to obtain a permit for the discharge. In addition, you may be required to treat the wastewater before discharging (for example, oil/water separation, removing solids, chemicals, etc.).
If you have a floor drain which leads to an injection well, you are subject to Ohio’s underground injection control (UIC) regulations. The UIC regulations are in place to protect underground drinking water sources from becoming contaminated. If you are discharging industrial wastewater to a floor drain that leads to a septic system or other injection well system, you could be in violation of Ohio’s water pollution control laws. Examples of injection wells include dry wells, drain fields and cesspools. In addition, a floor drain that is tied to a septic tank, mound system or leach field is defined as an injection well system.
Under Ohio EPA’s water pollution control regulations, a company cannot discharge industrial wastewater into an injection well. This activity is strictly prohibited unless a company has obtained a permit to drill and a permit to operate (UIC permit) from Ohio EPA’s Division of Drinking and Ground Waters. This includes discharging industrial wastewater to an on-site sewage treatment system (for example, a septic tank or leach field). Not only would this activity without a permit be a violation, the discharged materials (chemicals, solids, oil, etc.) could also damage your on-site system.
The use of some disposal wells has been completely banned, including the use of motor vehicle waste disposal wells.
- Check all your floor drains and make sure you know where they drain.
- If you are using floor drains to discharge industrial wastewater into a septic system or onto the ground, you must stop these discharge activities immediately. You must find another way to manage your wastewater.
- If you are using floor drains to discharge industrial wastewater to a water of the state, and you do not have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, you must stop these discharge activities immediately. You must either obtain a permit or find another way to manage wastewater.
- If you are using floor drains to discharge wastewater to a local wastewater treatment plant, make sure the treatment plant knows about this activity. You may be required to conduct treatment on the wastewater before discharging it. You may also need to get a permit for the discharge.
- Do not put other fluids like oil, solvents, paints or chemicals into a floor drain. This could contaminate your property and lead to large fines and clean-up costs.
- Consider installing an emergency shut-off on the drain pipes to prevent accidental spills from entering the sewer.
- If you have floor drains at your company that you are not using, think about having them capped or plugged. Good housekeeping and planning can help avoid costly problems later.
If you have any questions about floor drains and Ohio’s water pollution control requirements, contact your local Ohio EPA District Office, Division of Surface Water (DSW) for assistance.
Contact Ohio EPA’s Division of Drinking and Ground Water, underground injection control (UIC) Program at (614) 644-2752 for more information about injection wells.