The Industrial Pretreatment Program
What is the Pretreatment Program?
The Pretreatment Program is an EPA-mandated program which requires the Metro District to regulate the wastewater and other discharges from industry and other non-domestic wastewater sources into the Metro District’s system, thereby reducing the amount of pollutants released into the environment. The purpose of the program is to :
- Protect the Metro District's system from non-domestic pollutants that could interfere with the treatment processes.
- Protect the South Platte River from non-domestic pollutants that could pass through the plant untreated, and ensure that the Metro District's biosolids remain of high quality and can be used as a soil conditioner and fertilizer.
- Protect Metro District employees from potentially harmful chemicals.
The term "pretreatment" refers to the requirement that non-domestic sources control their wastewater before discharging it to the sanitary sewer system to meet all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements (federal, state  and local ).
What kind of industries are regulated under the Pretreatment Program?
All businesses, including industrial, commercial and governmental establishments, that discharge anything other than normal sanitary wastewater are subject to the requirements of the Pretreatment Program. For most businesses, this simply means they cannot discharge anything that will adversely affect the wastewater system, its workers, or the resulting effluent or biosolids. While the Metro District has not established specific discharge standards and requirements for Pharmaceuticals (drugs) we have developed a policy that contains guidelines on the prefered action for disposing of unused drugs.
Businesses with a reasonable potential to violate pretreatment standards and requirements or who perform a process deemed by EPA as a “categorical process”, have additional requirements. These businesses, classified by the Metro District as Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) (see attached brochure ), are required to obtain industrial discharge permits in order to discharge to the sewer system. Each permit contains specific limits on the industrial pollutants that are present in an industry's discharge. Permits also contain monitoring and reporting requirements with which the industry must comply if it is to continue discharging into the sewer system.
What happens if a facility fails to comply with the Pretreatment Program Requirements?
Any non-domestic discharger who fails to comply with pretreatment program standards and requirements faces the possibility of serious enforcement actions, including monetary penalties and termination of service. The Metro District‘s Pretreatment Enforcement Management System details the Metro District’s policies and procedures for identifying, documenting, and responding to Pretreatment Program violations.
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