§ 24-42. Prohibitions against water pollution.

(1)

PROHIBITIONS AGAINST DISCHARGE. It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drain, run or otherwise discharge into any of the waters of this County, or to cause, permit or suffer to be thrown, run, drained, allowed to seep, or otherwise discharged into such water any organic or inorganic matter which shall:

(a)

Breach the values set forth in Section 24-42(2);

(b)

Cause water pollution as herein defined; or

(c)

Cause a nuisance or sanitary nuisance as herein defined.

(2)

EFFLUENT STANDARDS FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. All sewage treatment plants and industrial waste treatment plants (except those discharging to approved ocean outfalls) shall effect ninety (90) percent treatment or better at the defined sampling point (24-44.2(1)). However, in no case shall the following effluent standards be exceeded (except where the standard is noted to be a minimum).

Chemical, Physical, or Biological Characteristic	Standard
Dissolved oxygen	Not less than 2.0 mg/l
Suspended solids	40 mg/l
Biochemical oxygen demand	30 mg/l
Floating solids	None visible to the naked eye
pH	6.0—8.5
Settleable solids	Not greater than 0.1 mg/l on Imhoff cone 1 hr. test
Oil and grease	30 mg/l
Odor-producing substances	None attributable to sewage or industrial wastes
Temperature
Sources permitted after July 1, 1972
Fresh water	92°F
Salt water	(June—September) 92°F
	(October-May) 90°F
Turbidity	29 NTU above background
Chlorides	500 mg/l
Chromium
Hexavalent	.5 mg/l
Total	1.0 mg/l
Copper	.5 mg/l
Cyanides	0.01 mg/l
Color	Not more than 10 units above normal background of the receiving water
Foam	Effluent shall not cause foaming in the stream
Chlorine	Minimum residual level of .5 mg/l after a ½ hour contact time at peak flow, where the nature of the waste requires disinfection
LAS	6.0 mg/l
Mercury	None detectable
Lead	0.05 mg/l
Arsenic	.05 mg/l
Phenol	0.001 mg/l
Iron	.3 mg/l
Zinc	1.0 mg/l
Sulfides	0.2 mg/l
Coliform organisms
(MPN 100 ml)	1,000 total 0 Fecal
Other compounds	Other toxic or undesirable compounds than those listed above may occur in individual waste streams. Limits for these components may be specified by the Director based on the latest scientific knowledge concerning toxicity and adverse effects on the intended water use.
Synergistic action	Whenever scientific evidence indicates that a combination of pollutants exert a greater effect than the individual pollutants, the Director may, on the basis of these findings, lower the herein established limits to the level necessary to prevent damage to the waters of the County.

 

In waters other than fresh water, waste shall not increase natural background more than ten (10) percent.

(3)

DISCHARGES AFFECTING WATER QUALITY AND PROHIBITION OF POSITIVE DRAINAGE. It shall be unlawful for any person to dewater or to discharge sewage, industrial wastes, cooling water and solid wastes, or any other wastes into the waters of this County, including but not limited to surface water, tidal salt water estuaries, or ground water in such quantities, and of such characteristics as:

(a)

May cause the receiving waters, after mixing with the waste streams, to be of poorer quality than the water quality standards set forth in Section 24-42(4);

(b)

To cause water pollution as defined in Section 24-5; or

(c)

To cause a nuisance or sanitary nuisance as herein defined.

It shall be unlawful for any County or municipal officer, agent, employee or board to approve, grant, or issue any permit, or permit, allow, let or suffer the approval or issuance of any permit, which authorizes positive drainage without the prior written approval of the Director or the Director's designee. The Director or the Director's designee shall issue a written approval only if the Director or the Director's designee determine, after reviewing data submitted by the applicant, that one (1) or more of the following conditions exist at the subject site:

(d)

Inadequate size, shape or topographic characteristics of the site to provide full on-site disposal of stormwater.

(e)

Extremely poor soil seepage capacity which prevents full on-site disposal of stormwater.

(f)

An existing groundwater contamination plume under or in the vicinity of the subject site which will be adversely impacted by full on-site stormwater disposal.

(4)

WATER QUALITY STANDARDS FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY:

Chemical, Physical or Biological Characteristic	Fresh Water (water containing less than 500 ppm chlorides)	Tidal Salt Water (water containing more than 500 ppm chlorides)	Groundwater
Dissolved oxygen (mg/l)	5 ppm during at least 10 hours per 24-hour period, never less than 4 ppm, unless acceptable data indicate that the natural background dissolved oxygen is lower than the values established herein.		—
Biochemical oxygen demand (mg/l)	Shall not exceed a value which would cause dissolved oxygen to be depressed below values listed under dissolved oxygen and in no case shall be great enough to produce nuisance conditions.		—
pH	6.0—8.5	6.0—8.5	6.0—8.5
Floating solids, settleable solids, sludge deposits	None attributable to sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes.	None attributable to sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes.	—
Oil and grease (mg/l)	15	15	15
Odor-producing substances	None attributable to sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes. Threshold odor number not to exceed 24 at 60°C as a daily average.		—
Temperature
Sources permitted prior to July 1, 1972	Shall cause no environmental damage.
Sources permitted after July 1, 1972	3° above ambient.	(June—September) 2° above ambient. (October—May) 4° above ambient.	—
Turbidity	29 NTU above background
Ammonia (mg/l)	.5 ppm as N	.5 ppm as N	.5 ppm as N
Chlorides (mg/l)	500	3	500
Chromium (mg/l) total	.05	.05	.05
Copper (mg/l)	0.4	0.4	0.4
Cyanides (mg/l)	None detectable	None detectable	None detectable
Detergents (mg/l)	0.5	Insufficient to cause foaming	0.5
Fluoride (mg/l)	1.4 as F	10 as F	1.4 as F
Lead (mg/l)	0.95	0.35	0.05
Phenol (mg/l)	0.001	0.005	0.001
Zinc (mg/l)	1.0	1.0	1.0
Sulfides (mg/l)	0.2	1.0	0.2
Coliform organisms (MPN/100 ml)	1,000	1,000	50
Mercury	None detectable	None detectable	None detectable
Iron (mg/l)	0.3	0.3	0.3
Arsenic (mg/l)	0.05	0.05	0.05
Specific conductance	500 micromhos per cm (fresh water). Not more than 100% above background, in waters other than fresh.
Dissolved solids	Not to exceed 500 mg/l for monthly average or 1000 mg/l at any time.
Radioactive substances	Gross beta activity (in known absence of strontium 90 and alpha emitters), not to exceed 1000 micro-microcuries at any time.
Other compounds	Other toxic or undesirable compounds than those listed above may occur in individual waste streams. Limits for these components may be specified by the Director based on the latest scientific knowledge concerning toxicity and adverse effect of the intended water use.
Synergistic action	Whenever scientific evidence indicates that a combination of pollutants exert a greater effect than the individual pollutants, the Director may, on the basis of these findings, lower the herein established limits to the level necessary to prevent damage to the waters of the County.

 

Shall not cause the pH of the receiving waters to vary more than 1.0 unit. When the natural background pH lies outside the limits established, the introduction of a waste shall not displace the pH of the receiving waters more than 0.5 pH units from these standards.

Shall not be visible, defined as iridescence, or cause taste or odors.

Waste shall not increase natural background more than 10 percent.

Maximum MPN/100 ml in a surface water used as a drinking water supply shall be 100.

Maximum MPN/100 ml in a tidal water from which shellfish are harvested for human consumption shall be 70.

(Ord. No. 04-214, §§ 1, 5, 12-2-04; Ord. No. 08-55, § 2, 5-6-08)