A permit from Austin Water’s Pretreatment Program is required to discharge any industrial wastewater into the City's wastewater collection system. Different permits are issued based on the nature of the business and the volume and characteristics of the wastewater to be discharged.

Discharging industrial wastewater without a valid permit is a violation of Chapter 15-10 of the Austin City Code. Refer to the List of Active Wastewater Discharge Permits to verify that your business is properly permitted.

If you do not have a required permit, please fill out an application and contact the Pretreatment Program office as soon as possible. Each separately permitted source is considered to be an industrial user. The process for obtaining a discharge permit and the type of permit application required vary for different industrial users:

Permit fees are assessed based on the class of industrial user and applicable analytical requirements. Fee collection is now being conducted via the standard billing system for all City utility services.

All General Industrial User (GIU) Wastewater Discharge Permits are renewed automatically annually in December for the next calendar year (January-December) when the customer is still active at the end of the year.

The annual Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit is billed monthly through the City of Austin’s utility bill. This fee is located on the line item “Monthly Discharge Permit Fee” under the section titled “Wastewater Service” of the utility bill.

To print your new Wastewater Discharge Permit, after the beginning of the new year, simply:

  1. Click this General Industrial User Wastewater Discharge Permit link.
     
  2. Where prompted (indicated by the red box in the example below), enter the permit number for your business. This can be found from any of the below resources:

Example:

image of discharge permit report

  1. Click the green “Submit” box to and the Wastewater Discharge Permit will appear underneath with the option to “Print this Permit”.

You may only print one Wastewater Discharge Permit at a time. If your business has multiple permits, repeat the steps above for each permit.

If you are unable to access or print your permit, the Pretreatment staff will be happy to assist you with the process or provide 
you with a printed copy through fax or regular mail.

 

If you have already obtained a General Industrial User permit, follow this link to print your current permit.

For more information, contact the Pretreatment staff by email at IndustrialWaste@austintexas.gov or by phone at 512-972-1060.

General Industrial Users

Commercial, manufacturing, or trade establishments (including nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses) must obtain a permit to discharge industrial waste into the City’s sanitary sewer system. Most industrial waste producers will fall in the general industrial user category. If you have already obtained one, you may follow this link to print your current General Industrial User permit.

A general industrial user permit cannot be issued to if any discharge by a customer is subject to any federal categorical pretreatment standard. To qualify as a general industrial user, the combined discharge of all process waters must be less than 25,000 gallons per day (gpd), and those discharges must be less than 5% of the average hydraulic or organic loading capacity of the city's wastewater treatment plant that accepts them. Furthermore; a general industrial user may not have a reasonable potential to adversely affect the city's treatment plants or collection system operations. These users must submit a permit application, operate and maintain pretreatment devices, keep waste manifest documents and comply with all City effluent limitations and notification requirements (see Chapter 15-10 of the Austin City Code). General Industrial Users include, but are not limited to:

Automotive repair shops Laundry facilities
Analytical laboratories Food service establishments
Bakeries Schools
Carwashes Photo processors
Daycare facilities Print shops
Doctor & dentist offices Silk screen operations
Grocery stores  

Complete and submit the application form below if your operation qualifies as a General Industrial User.

  • Wastewater Discharge Permit Application for General Industrial Users (Adobe PDF, MS Word)

Our office may require you to complete and submit the long form Wastewater Discharge Application (Adobe PDF, MS Word) if we determine that the level of complexity of your operations, the types of pollutants present, the potential for slug discharges, or any other conditions at your site warrant it.

General Industrial User discharge permit holders have no self-monitoring requirements, though the Pretreatment Program does periodically inspect and monitor. Please contact a Pretreatment Program staff member if you have any questions.

Significant Industrial Users

Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) are industrial waste producers that, by federal definition, require a specific level of regulatory attention. SIUs must meet self-monitoring and reporting requirements for effluent limitations, sample collection, reporting schedules, record keeping, and hazardous materials management.

Each SIU must submit an application to discharge industrial wastewater to the City’s sanitary sewer system. SIUs meet any one of the following criteria:

Categorical SIUs are subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 CFR 403.6  and 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N. Any industrial user in business areas subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards is considered to be a Categorical SIU.

Non-Categorical SIUs are subject to federal reporting requirements, but are not subject to categorical pretreatment standards. They also:

  • Discharge an average of more than 25,000 gallons per day of industrial waste
  • Contribute a process waste stream that makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the city's wastewater treatment plant.
  • Have a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the city's treatment plants or collections system operations, or for violating pretreatment standards or requirements.
Remediation Sites

Groundwater remediation projects remove pollution from groundwater, a major source of drinking water. Potential dischargers of wastewater from groundwater remediation projects must first apply to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or the City of Austin's Watershed Protection Department (WPD) for a permit to discharge to surface water or the storm sewer system.

In such cases, the Wastewater Discharge Permit would only be issued on a temporary basis for up to two years as the applicant pursues the stormwater discharge permit. In cases where an applicant has unsuccessfully exhausted all efforts to obtain a stormwater permit, consideration may be granted for a Wastewater Discharge Permit that extends beyond the subscribed two-year temporary period.

The Pretreatment Program may issue a Wastewater Discharge Permit for discharges from remediation activities to the sanitary sewer system if:

  • A Wastewater Discharge Permit Application for Remediation Projects (see Pretreatments Forms, Applications, & Reports) is filed with the Pretreatment Program well in advance of the anticipated date of discharge.
  • Permission for direct discharge to surface water or storm sewer is being pursued (a letter from the applicant stating the status of their TCEQ surface water discharge permit application or WPDRD stormwater discharge permit application should be included with the permit application).
  • Alternative disposal methods are not feasible.
  • Engineering plans for wastewater metering is submitted and approved.
  • A wastewater only billing account is approved and established.

Permitted remediation sites shall be subject to periodic sampling and inspections by the pretreatment program. Such permits shall stipulate self-monitoring and reporting requirements as they apply to effluent limitations, sample collection, reporting schedules, record keeping, waste manifesting and more. Those wanting more information about these types of permits should contact the Pretreatment Program staff.

Other Political Subdivisions

By definition, a political subdivision can set its own rules within its jurisdiction. Given the importance of the Austin City Code as the enforcement authority behind our Pretreatment Program, a political subdivision in the Austin Water Utility service area discharging wastewater to the City presents a special concern. These concerns are compounded if the political subdivision receives any industrial sources of wastewater within its jurisdiction.

Typically, a political subdivision with no sources of industrial wastewater would not be required to have a Wastewater Discharge Permit. Special circumstances unique to a political subdivision, however, may trigger the need for such a permit. One notable example would be a requirement to perform sulfide monitoring. The combined discharge from a political subdivision to the City is subject to pretreatment standards, and compliance with all discharge limitations is required whether the political subdivision is required to have a permit or not.

Conversely, every political subdivision with any internal source of industrial waste must obtain a Wastewater Discharge Permit prior to any discharge into the City of Austin. The control of internal sources of industrial waste within a political subdivision is not possible unless it adopts rules of its own. Therefore, as a prerequisite for the permit, the political subdivision would be required create its own pretreatment authority to enforce standards at least as stringent as Chapter 15-10 of the Austin City Code. To meet these requirements, each political subdivision must either:

  1. Enter into an inter-local agreement with the City of Austin for pretreatment program services.
  2. Enforce its own industrial waste rules.
  3. Hire a third party contractor to enforce its rules.