Code of Massachusetts Regulations
360 CMR - MASSACHUSETTS WATER RESOURCE AUTHORITY
Title 360 CMR 10.000 - Sewer Use
PROHIBITED WASTES AND LOCAL LIMITS
Section 10.023 - Specific Prohibitions

(1) Groundwater, storm water, surface water, roof or surface runoff, tidewater, or subsurface drainage, except Construction Site Dewatering in a combined sewer area when permitted by the Authority and municipality.

(2) Non-contact Cooling Water, non-contact industrial process water, uncontaminated Contact Cooling Water, and uncontaminated industrial process water, except:

(3) Fuel oil, crude oil, lubricating oil, or any other oil or grease of hydrocarbon or petroleum origin except:

(4) Any liquid, solid, or gas including, but not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides and methyl ethyl ketone, which by reason of its nature or quantity is or may be sufficient, either alone or by interaction with other substances, to create a fire or explosion hazard or to be otherwise injurious to a Municipal Sewerage System, the Authority Sewerage System, Treatment System, or to Receiving Waters, including:

(5) Any noxious or malodorous liquid, gas, or solid or any other pollutant which either singly or by interaction with any other Waste causes or contributes to the creation of a public nuisance, makes it dangerous for personnel or equipment to enter the Sewer for purposes of maintenance, repair, inspection, sampling, or any other similar activity, or which results in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the Authority Sewerage System or Municipal Sewer in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems.

(6) Any water or Wastewater with a pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 12.0 or with any corrosive or injurious property which may cause damage or be hazardous to the Sewer, the Sewerage System, the Treatment System, or any person.

If a Person continuously measures the pH of its wastewater by a properly located, installed, calibrated, maintained, and operated pH measurement system, the pH of the wastewater shall be maintained as required by the Authority, except excursions below a pH of 5.5 are permitted subject to the following limitations:

(7) Any water or Wastewater, not otherwise governed by 360 CMR 10.000, containing pollutants at levels which may adversely affect the Authority's ability to process and/or dispose of its Wastewater Residuals in an environmentally sound and economic manner in accordance with applicable state and federal requirements.

(8) Any solid or viscous substance in an amount or size which obstructs or may obstruct the flow in any Sewer, or which causes or may cause an Interference including, but not limited to, sand, mud, metal, glass, wood, plastics, Improperly Shredded Garbage, rubber, latex, lime or other slurries, grease, animal guts or tissues, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, feathers, ashes, cinders, stone or marble dust, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing fuel or lubrication oil, or glass grinding or polishing Wastes.

(9) Any liquid or vapor with a temperature higher than 180°F (82 °C), unless the Authority approves an alternative temperature limit; however, in no case may any Person discharge heat in such quantity that it causes or may cause the temperature at the Authority's Sewage Treatment Facility to exceed 104°F (40°C).

(10) Any water or Waste containing fats, wax, oil, and grease, in excess of 300 mg/1 (based on the materials recovered in the applicable EPA approved procedure, unless otherwise authorized or required by the Authority and EPA), or containing any substance which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°F (0°C) and 180°F (82°C). Waters or Wastes containing such substances, excluding normal household Waste, shall exclude all visible floating oils, fats and greases. The use of chemical, biological, or physical means to bypass or to release fats, wax, oil, and grease into the sewer is prohibited. If a Person is unable to comply with the 300 mg/1 requirement after reasonable pretreatment measures, the Authority may increase the limit on a case by case basis if the Authority and appropriate Municipality are satisfied that such increase will not contribute to nuisance conditions or an adverse impact on the Sewerage System, Receiving Waters, or the Authority's Wastewater Residuals program. In no circumstance will the Authority increase the limit to allow a discharge of more than 300 mg/1 of oil or grease of hydrocarbon or petroleum origin, including fuel oil, crude oil, and lubricating oil. The Authority may apply a monetary charge to any increase in the 300 mg/1 limit to recover the costs it reasonably expects to incur as a result of the increase.

(11) Waste or Wastewater discharged through a Bypass, unless such discharge through the Bypass was approved in advance by the Authority, or the discharge through the Bypass is allowed by 40 CFR 403.17 and the Person using the Bypass provided to the Authority the notices required by 40 CFR 403.17.

(12) Any radioactive Waste or isotope with a half-life or concentration in excess of any limit established by federal or state law.

(13) Any Sludge, except from:

(14) Any substance, including dye water or any vegetable tanning solution, which causes turbidity or discoloration such that the color of the wastewater at the Authority Sewage Treatment Facility changes noticeably.

(15) Any Slug.

(16) Any Hazardous Waste, or any Wastewater which results from the treatment of Hazardous Waste, and is discharged to the Authority Sewerage System by dedicated pipe, truck, rail, or by other method.

(17) Septage containing Hazardous Waste, Septage from haulers other than those permitted under 360 CMR 10.000, or Septage discharged at a location not designated as a Septage discharge location in the Municipal Permit issued by the Authority to the Municipality where the discharge took place.

(18) Any substance containing pathogenic organisms in such quantities as determined by local, state and/or federal law as hazardous to the public health or the environment including, but not limited to, any "Infectious or Physically Dangerous Medical or Biological Waste" as defined and identified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 105 CMR 480.010: Storage and Disposal of Infectious or Physically Dangerous Medical or Biological Waste, State Sanitary Code Chapter VIII, and whose disposal via the municipal Sewerage System or via a septic system is prohibited by 105 CMR 480.200: Disposal.

(19) Any filter backwash not specifically authorized to be discharged by a permit issued to the discharger by the Authority; any filter backwash that is not treated to meet the limits and prohibitions of 360 CMR 10.000; or any filter backwash which causes or contributes to a violation of 360 CMR 10.021 through 10.025.

(20) Any trucked or hauled pollutants except at discharge points designated by the Authority in a permit issued by the Authority for the discharge.

(21) Wastes or Wastewater from outside the Authority Sewerage District, unless the Wastes or Wastewater is discharged with the Authority's approval and pursuant to the Authority policy for sewer connections serving property partially located in a non-Authority community or for requests for sewer service to locations outside MWRA's sewer service area including, where necessary, a general or special law authorizing the discharge from a location outside the MWRA sewer service area.

(22) Oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause Interference with the POTW.