Committee backs code change to charge industrial users for high-strength wastewater

The Troy Law and Ordinance Committee voted unanimously March 31 to recommend that city council amend Chapter 915 of the codified ordinances to authorize surcharges for excessive-strength wastewater from industrial users.

The city engineer, speaking to the committee, said the city has seen increased "high-strength" wastewater — characterized by elevated chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and ammonia (NH3) — largely from certain food-related businesses. The proposed code change would allow the city to calculate and bill a surcharge monthly to registered industrial users whose discharges exceed the ordinance thresholds and to encourage or require pretreatment to reduce the facility’s load on the wastewater treatment plant.

The engineer and Ken Parks, the wastewater superintendent, said the new code would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026, and that the city has been communicating with affected industrial customers. The city monitors permitted industrial discharges at the facility, typically through monthly testing, and the staff estimate there are eight permitted industries; two of those are food producers and would be most affected by surcharges. Staff also said the code could allow suspension of surcharges while a company is actively installing pretreatment and showing progress.

Committee members asked how the city monitors discharges and whether an eight-month notice period is adequate; Parks said monitoring is done on-site for industrial users and that staff have discussed the change with the affected firms. The committee’s action was to forward the proposed amendment to council for ordinance drafting and formal consideration.

No final ordinance vote occurred at the committee meeting.