The new ordinance went into effect June 1 after City Council members approved the change May 27.
How it works
The ordinance change will help the Georgetown Water Utility recover costs associated with treating abnormally strong wastewater.
Wastewater from food service establishments, breweries and wineries often contains higher concentrations of solids and organic matter compared to residential wastewater, per city documents.
Businesses exceeding normal contaminant levels for five pollutants will be charged per pound for each pollutant, according to city documents.
Monthly surcharges are based on the amount of wastewater a business produces and how concentrated it is with pollutants. Surcharges will differ depending on if chemical oxygen demand—or a measure of oxygen demand during chemical reactions—is higher or lower than 450 milligrams per liter, according to city documents.
The impact
City documents state 152 sewer agreements will be sampled, amounting to 205 businesses in Georgetown. A letter detailing the surcharge formula and best practices will be sent to affected customers prior to the surcharge being added to their bill, according to city documents.
City officials said the previous wastewater surcharge ordinance was outdated and had several issues, including outdated sampling costs.
What are the options?
To help cut surcharge costs, city officials suggest business owners:
- Scrape dishes thoroughly before washing to reduce fats, oils and greases.
- Use environmentally friendly cleaning products.
- Install or upgrade pretreatment equipment and maintain equipment regularly.
- Eliminate sauces, salsa, blood and meat marinades from wastewater flow.
- Avoid dishwasher compounds containing lye.
- Never run enzymes, solvents or degreasers through grease traps.
