Home
Departments
Public Works
Utility Operations
Industrial Pretreatment

Industrial Pretreatment Program

The City of Bismarck Department of Public Works implemented an Industrial Pretreatment Program in 1986, which was approved by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The City’s Industrial Pretreatment Program regulates commercial users of the City’s wastewater treatment plant by administering and enforcing the city’s Industrial Pretreatment Ordinance (Title 11.2) which was updated in 2025.

The ordinance allows us to deny or condition businesses from discharging pollutants into the sanitary sewer that may:

Create safety hazards.
Cause structural damage.
Inhibit biological activity.
Interfere with the plant’s operations or processes.
Be passed through into biosolids or with the effluent into the Missouri River.
Cause worker health and safety concerns.

Business owners should understand the regulations that apply to their wastewater discharge and comply with applicable regulations and standards. Information can be found in the Industrial Pretreatment Program's Enforcement Response Plan.

New & Non-Permitted Users

Industrial Users

General Pretreatment Regulations require a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to identify and locate all possible Industrial Users (IU) which might be subject to the Industrial Pretreatment Program, to identify the character and volume of pollutants contributed to the WWTP, and to notify IU of applicable Pretreatment Standards and other applicable regulatory requirements. The industrial waste survey is designed to identify businesses that discharge wastewater containing nondomestic pollutants that must abide by general and specific prohibitions and follow industry-specific Best Management Practices (BMPs). BMPs can prevent the release of pollutants that can damage the sewers or the treatment plant, cause the plant to release pollutants that violate its Permit, or endanger wastewater personnel. For example, restaurants that do not properly maintain their grease interceptors can cause grease clogs in the sewer resulting in sewer backups into streets or basements; auto repair shops that do not properly dispose of used solvents can cause an explosion hazard in the sewer or at the plant headworks; and car wash operations that use acidic cleaners and do not properly neutralize their wastewater prior to discharge can cause acid damage to the sewers.

Significant Industrial Users

Industrial users may be subject to regulation for a number of reasons. They may meet the definition of a Significant Industrial User (SIU) for any of the following:

A user subject to national categorical pretreatment standards as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These processes by their nature generate pollutants that, if unregulated, can disrupt treatment processes, pass through the plant unchanged and pollute the river, or create hazardous conditions in the sewer or treatment plant.
A user that:
1. Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the sewer; or
2. Contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5 percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of our treatment plant. “Organic capacity” means the capacity of the treatment plant to treat wastewater as opposed to the “hydraulic capacity” or capability to accept and handle fluids; or
3. Designated by the City, State or EPA as having a reasonable potential to adversely affect the City’s wastewater collection or treatment system or to violate any pretreatment standard or requirement.

The City of Bismarck requires all SIU to obtain a Wastewater Discharge Permit. Pretreatment program staff inspect such permitted businesses, sample their wastewater discharges, and work with them to protect the environment, the wastewater treatment plant, and personnel.

Resources

Enforcement Response Plan.pdf

Auto Best Management Practices.pdf

Fats, Oils, & Grease (FOG)

Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) can be a major problem for our City’s sewers. When poured down the drain, FOG hardens inside sewer pipes, constricting wastewater flow and clogging the pipes. This can lead to sewer overflows onto City streets, which is a very expensive problem.

City of Bismarck residents are encourage to recycle household cooking oil free of charge. It can be brought to the Public Works Department located at 601 S. 26th Street in Bismarck from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Restaurants and other food service establishments are a significant source of FOG, and our FOG Control Ordinance aims to prevent these pollutants from entering the sewer system. We require food service establishments that cook food, and therefore have grease in their wastewater discharges, to install grease capturing equipment (i.e., traps or interceptors).

The FOG Control Ordinance provides clear guidelines on exactly what type of grease capturing equipment restaurants must be installed, and it includes standards to ensure that the equipment is well maintained and serviced.

Forms

Food Establishment Grease Control Questionnaire

Grease Removal Device Maintenance Log.pdf

Resources

Kitchen Best Management Practices.pdf

EPA - Controlling Fats, Oils, and Grease Discharges from Food Service Establishments (40 CFR 403).pdf

Restaurant Oil and Grease Best Practices Video

Bismarck Grease Menace Video

Dental Wastewater Discharge

Dental practices that discharge waste material into the sanitary sewer system must be in compliance with the City's discharge limits and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. In 2017, the EPA promulgated new regulations for dental offices in the Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 441. All dental facilities must:

Operate and maintain one or more compliant separators.
Implement Best Management Practices.pdf.
Submit a One Time Compliance Report to the City’s Industrial Pretreatment Program.
Review the ADA - Amalgam Separators and Waste Best Management website for helpful information.