Georgetown council adopts industrial pretreatment program and updates wastewater surcharge ordinance

At its May 5, 2025 meeting, the Georgetown City Council approved two ordinances establishing an industrial pretreatment program required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and updating the city's wastewater surcharge to recover costs for treating higher-strength wastewater.

The ordinances, presented by Tiffany Misdiaz of city staff and Coby G, project manager for Freese and Nichols, will allow the city to set technically based local limits for certain pollutants from industrial users, permit significant industrial users (SIUs), and charge surcharges for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS) and other pollutants above typical domestic wastewater levels.

The industrial pretreatment program is designed to prevent toxic or corrosive discharges from impairing treatment processes or harming the San Gabriel River downstream. "The goal of the industrial pretreatment program is to give the city the ability to regulate those toxic pollutants and to keep them out of their wastewater plants, thereby protecting both your infrastructure as well as the environment downstream," said Coby G, project manager for Freese and Nichols.

City consultants and staff performed a broad industrial user survey and sampling program. The study began with a database of roughly 1,100 potential businesses, narrowed to 84 facilities that received questionnaires, and then to about seven or eight facilities that meet the SIU definition under the program. The draft program used 24-hour sampling for more than 200 pollutants; pollutants that tested positive underwent additional seven-day sampling to inform locally tailored numeric limits.

TCEQ reviewed the draft documents and provided administrative and technical approval in March 2025, staff said. Tiffany Misdiaz said the work on the program dates back several years; current staff resumed the effort in late 2022 and contracted Freese and Nichols to update the ordinance and technical documents.

Separately, the council approved an updated surcharge ordinance that adds pollutants previously not covered and recalculates recovery rates for the cost of treatment. Under the ordinance, a typical domestic BOD benchmark of 250 milligrams per liter was used to determine surchargeable volume. The proposed surcharge unit rates presented by staff included $0.46 per pound of BOD, $0.32 per pound of TSS and $1.26 per pound of total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) for any discharge above the stated thresholds. Staff said the city will apply the surcharge to measured pounds of pollutant above the baseline and bill based on measured flow (derived from the customer's water meter where applicable).

City staff reported that 152 sewer agreements covering about 205 businesses will be sampled under the program. Typical sampling frequency will be once every 12 months with an option for one additional sample each year (maximum two samples per year). A sampling technician hired in the last budget cycle will perform the baseline sampling and program sampling, staff said.

Councilmember questions focused on staffing and how flows are determined. "We hired a sampling tech last budget cycle; they'll transfer to this program as intended," a utility staff member said. Staff explained wastewater flow determinations use the customer's water meter with adjustments for separately metered irrigation.

The council approved the industrial pretreatment ordinance (item 6A) and the wastewater surcharge ordinance (item 6B) on first reading; motions carried with unanimous consent.

Implementation steps include staff training with Freese and Nichols, establishing permitting and reporting procedures, beginning baseline sampling of identified users, and submitting final documents to TCEQ upon formal adoption. Staff said the ordinances adopt an EPA model ordinance structure and are intended to be adaptable for future regulated contaminants.

The measures set new compliance and billing expectations for local businesses that discharge higher-strength wastewater and give the city enforcement tools to protect treatment processes, sludge handling options, and downstream water quality.