The following information pertains to wastewater discharges reportable under the AWR Program. Examples are provided to illustrate a specific process or situation. These examples do not represent the entire range of possible discharge types, or process related wastewater. For specific determination of applicability of wastewater discharges to wastewater reporting under the AWR, please contact the Environmental Science and Services Division at 1-800-662-9278. 

Section 4.1 Total Number of Gallons Discharged to the Waters of the State or any Sewer System for the Report Year

Section 4.2 Wastewater Discharge Information By Type

Stormwater Discharge Guidance

"Wastewater" is defined under the AWR as;

Liquid waste discharges resulting from industrial or commercial processes, including contact cooling water and condensing waters, but excludes non-contact cooling water, sanitary sewage and storm water runoff that does not come in contact with process materials, products or by-products. Examples of reportable wastewater discharges can include:

• Acid Leaching Solutions
• Spent Plating or Cleaning Baths
• Spent Scrubber Liquid
• Untreated Process Wastewater
• Steam Stripper Wastes
• Chemical Reagents
• Boiler water blow-down
• Photo-processing solutions

If your facility discharges any of the applicable liquid wastes described above, you will be required to submit a Wastewater Report. However, if you do not use critical materials in excess of the annual usage threshold, and; If you do not discharge critical materials other than discharges exempted under R299.9006 (3) or (4), you may file an Abbreviated Wastewater Report.

How are wastewater discharges reported under the AWR Program?

Section 4 – Wastewater Discharge Information

4.1 Total Number of Gallons Discharged For The Report Year

Data collected on wastewater discharges under the AWR is reported based on the total number of gallons per year (g/yr.) discharged. The aggregate total number of gallons per year should be based on the most accurate data available. Below are some helpful tips and examples for calculating wastewater discharge volumes and quantities of chemicals contained in a given wastewater source.

1. Direct Discharge to Surface Waters – If your facility discharges wastewater directly to surface water, you most likely will have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. These permits usually require monitoring of the wastewater discharge flow and concentrations of various constituents within the wastewater stream. Monitoring is usually not required for most individual chemicals or compounds, however, when such monitoring is required, wastewater flow rate and concentration data collected for the NPDES permit can be used to calculate wastewater releases.
2. Discharge to Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) – If your facility discharges wastewater to a sewer system with subsequent treatment/discharge at a POTW, you may be able use existing data collected for reporting to the POTW for your wastewater discharge flow. In some cases, POTW’s require pretreatment of wastewater and/or monitoring of chemicals or compounds subject to AWR reporting. In these cases, you may be able to multiply the wastewater flow rate by the reported concentration of the chemical or compound to arrive at the discharge volume of reportable chemicals.
3. Underground (deep well) Injection - In some instances, wastewater containing hazardous or toxic wastes may be injected beneath the earth’s surface in locations where it is unlikely to contaminate ground water or aquifers. Such injection operations are usually controlled by RCRA permitting procedures that require maintaining records of volumes of wastewater and quantities of chemicals and/or compounds disposed of in this manner. Data collected for these procedures may be used to report on releases under the AWR program.
4. Surface Impoundments – Surface impoundments or various types may be used to hold and/or treat liquid wastes. Examples of surface impoundments include holding ponds, storage lagoons, settling ponds, elevation pits, aerated lagoons, etc. Certain surface impoundments do not involve direct discharge of wastewater. Operation of surface impoundments usually is controlled by RCRA permits, which require maintaining records of the volume and concentration of wastes, disposed of in surface impoundments. This data can be used for direct calculation of the quantity of chemicals or compounds reported under the AWR program.
5. Land Treatment – Land treatment is any disposal method that involves wastewater being applied on, or incorporated into, the soil. These types of wastewater discharges are usually controlled by RCRA permit, and sometimes require groundwater-monitoring programs as well. Wastewater volumes, concentration of hazardous materials being disposed and frequency of land application are some of the conditions applied to this form of wastewater discharge. The data required under this type of operation can be used to provide information required under the AWR program.

4.2 - Wastewater Discharge Information By Type (w/examples)

The information under this section of the wastewater report is divided into three (3) columns. Item A pertains to the total days discharged of wastewater. If periodic discharges apply, indicate the actual number of days wastewater was discharged from you facility. If a continuous wastewater discharge exists at your facility, then total days discharged would equal 365. Item B pertains to the total discharge volume of the given wastewater discharge type. This data should be provided in gallons per year. Item C corresponds to the name of the receiving water body or publicly owned treatment works (POTW). This would only apply to surface waters (river, stream, creek, drain, storm sewer, lake, swamp, wetland, etc.) or municipal sanitary sewer systems. Combined sewer systems would be considered "municipal sanitary" in nature. List the common name of a given surface water. Example: Johnson Drain, not drainage ditch. Or South Ore Creek, not Huron River tributary.

If multiple wastewater discharges exist, list each discharge separately and report the total days and discharge volume for each discharge.

Example: Two separate wastewater sources attribute to the total wastewater discharge from Albacore Manufacturing, Inc. One source is a periodic discharge (30 total days per year) from a contact cooling water tower. The other source is a continuous discharge (365 days per year) of process slurry wastewater. The total annual volume of flow from these two discharges equal 510, 000 gallons. (500,000 gallons from the process slurry discharge and 10,000 gallons from the contact cooling water discharge). Both of the discharges go directly into a municipal sanitary sewer system. The total combined discharge volume would be recorded in Section 4.1 (510,000 gallons/year) however; each discharge would be recorded separately on Section 4.2 under the appropriate discharge type of "municipal sanitary sewer system".

For "Storm water" discharges under the AWR, the following criteria will apply;

Storm water Discharges – For facilities^* required to obtain a Federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase I Storm Water Multi-Sector General Permit, the following requirements will apply:

• For facilities that file a "No Exposure Certification" for exclusion from the NPDES Storm Water Permitting, no wastewater report will be required (unless other types of wastewater discharges exist which require reporting under the AWR program).
• For facilities with a NPDES general storm water discharge permit and knowledge of storm water runoff exposure to process materials or by-products containing critical materials listed in Table 1 of R299.9003, a wastewater report will need to be filed. Note: This guidance modifies the definition of wastewater to exclude storm water runoff exposure to products.
• For facilities with a NPDES general storm water permit and no known exposure of storm water runoff to process materials or by-products containing critical materials, an "abbreviated" wastewater report will need to be filed.
• For facilities that discharge storm water to a municipal combined sewer system, no wastewater report will be required.

NOTE: Any facility required to have a NPDES general storm water discharge permit and where open containers (dumpsters, roll-off boxes, etc.) that contain critical materials are stored outside with exposure to precipitation, best management practices should be implemented to prevent pollutants from contaminating storm water discharges.