5 Colo. Code Regs. § 1002-43.6

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024

Section 5 CCR 1002-43.6 - Wastewater Flow and Strength

A. Wastewater Flows

1. A local public health agency may require the installation of a meter to measure flow into the facility or the OWTS.

2. Single-Family Residential Homes:

a. Design flow per person must be 75 gallons per day (gpd).

b. A local public health agency may only increase the wastewater design flow per person to 100 gpd on a case by case basis, where justified.

c. The minimum design flow for a new home must be for a two-bedroom house unless otherwise noted in this regulation. The minimum design flow for the repair or replacement of an OWTS of an existing one-bedroom home must be for one-bedroom unless bedrooms are added.

d. For homes up to and including three bedrooms, the assumed number of persons per bedroom is two for design purposes.

e. For homes with more than three bedrooms, the assumed number of persons is six persons (first three bedrooms x two persons per bedroom) plus one additional person for each bedroom more than three bedrooms.

f. A local public health agency may increase the number of persons per bedroom to two for all bedrooms for design purposes.

g. Table 6-1 summarizes the design flows for single-family residential homes up to six bedrooms. A local public health agency has authority to adjust these values as described in sections 43.6.A.2.b. and 43.6.A.2.f.

h. If a new home has unfinished areas, a local public health agency may increase the number of bedrooms used for the design of the OWTS by one or two bedrooms based on an assumption that 150 square feet of unfinished space can be converted into a bedroom, if the space can meet building code requirements for a bedroom.

Table 6-1 Single-Family Residential Design Flows

# Bedrooms	Occupancy (# of Persons)	Wastewater Flow Per Person (gallons/day)	Design Flow (gallons/day)
2	4	75	300
3	6	75	450
4	7	75	525
5	8	75	600
6	9	75	675

3. Auxiliary Buildings

a. If a single-family home has an auxiliary building, such as a non-commercial shop with plumbing fixtures, the flow may be conveyed to the OWTS of the home, or to a separate OWTS constructed to handle the flow from the auxiliary facility.

b. If the flow from the auxiliary building is only generated by residents of the home, it will be assumed that the OWTS for the home will be adequately sized to include the auxiliary building if the flows are combined.

c. If the auxiliary building will have users in addition to residents and the flow from the auxiliary building will flow to the OWTS of the home, the design flow of the home must include the increased use.

d. If the auxiliary building has a separate OWTS, the facility must be sized on the basis of Table 6-2 and a septic tank detention time of 48 hours.

4. Multi-Family and Commercial On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems

a. Design flow values and strengths for multi-family and commercial systems must be determined from:

(1) Table 6-2; or

(2) An analysis of flows and strengths from at least three comparable facilities or from the facility, if it is an existing facility, must be submitted to the local public health agency for approval. The analysis must include:

(i) Metered water flows for inside use only for at least a year, or if use is seasonal, for a full season. If metered flows are less than full capacity, they must be paired with actual use in units of persons present or meals served or other units as appropriate so that an actual daily rate per unit can be determined. The daily rate per unit times the number of units at full occupancy will be the design flow.

(ii) Total Suspended Solids and BOD₅ or CBOD₅ tests at times of full use. At least three samples taken at least one week apart are required. Sampling that provides equivalent and representative data through "composite sampling" may be allowed

(iii) Explanation and justification for the comparability of the tested facilities with the proposed facility.

5. Flow Equalization

a. Flow equalization may be used if a facility has flows that vary from day to day by more than four times the average flow.

b. The highest peak assumed must be at least equal to the full capacity of the facility.

c. The stored flow must be distributed to the soil treatment area before the next greater-than-average peak.

d. Flow equalization may be used only if:

(1) The facility is non-residential;

(2) The facility is only used for one purpose;

(3) Flows will follow a predictable pattern; and

(4) There is a long-term expectation that size and pattern of the flows will remain the same.

e. Timed dosed pressure distribution or timed dosed NDDS must be used. The soil treatment area reduction for pressure distribution (Table 10-2) must not be used in addition to the flow equalization reduction.

f. Contingency plans must be made for expanding the capacity of the OWTS in the event of changed use at the facility.

TABLE 6-2 For Design Purposes, the Estimated Daily Wastewater Flow and BOD₅ Load Per Person Unless Otherwise Noted

RESIDENTIAL WASTEWATER	GPD	BOD5 IN POUNDS PER DAY
Single-family dwellings	75	.20
Auxiliary buildings, by fixture type
Bath/Shower	14.7	.014
Dishwasher	1.8	.002
Kitchen sink with garbage grinder	5.8	.052
Laundry washer	19.5	.037
Lavatory	8.4	.021
Water closet (toilet)	24.8	.029
Hotels and motels per room	75	.15
Multiple-family dwellings or apartments	75	.20
Boarding and rooming houses (users absent during working hours)	50	.15
Tiny Homes3, per unit	150	.40
Mobile home	75	.20
Mobile home park per space	300	.80

COMMERCIAL WASTEWATER	GPD	BOD5 IN POUNDS PER DAY
Facilities with short-term or transient visitors
Examples: Airports or bus stations per passenger; fairgrounds per person attending; ball parks, race tracks, stadiums, theaters or auditoriums per seat	5	.02
Airport per employee	10	.06
Barber and beauty shops per chair	100	.701
Bowling alleys per lane - toilet wastes only	5	.031
Country club per member	30	.02
County club per employee	20	.06
Dentist offices per non-wet chair	50	.141
Doctor offices per doctor	250	.801
Factories and plants exclusive of industrial wastewater per employee per eight-hour shift - no showers	20	.05
Factories and plants exclusive of industrial wastewater per employee per eight-hour shift - showers provided	35	.08
Kennels per dog	30	.20
Laundries, self-service per commercial washer	400	.75
Office buildings per employee per eight-hour shift	15	.06
Service stations per toilet fixture	250	.501
Stores and shopping centers per square foot of retail space	.1	.011
Work or construction camps semi-permanent with flush toilets	50	.17
Work or construction camps semi-permanent without flush toilets	35	.02
FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT	GPD	BOD5 IN POUNDS PER DAY
Restaurant open 1 or 2 meals per seat	50	.06/meal
24-hour restaurant per seat	75	.07/meal served
Restaurant with paper service only per seat	25	.01/meal served
Additional for bars and cocktail lounges per seat	30	.02
Drive-in restaurant per car space	50	.02
INSTITUTIONAL WASTEWATER WITHOUT KITCHENS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED	GPD	BOD5 IN POUNDS PER DAY
Churches per seat; without any food service, or other uses	3.5	.01
Churches, per seat; warming kitchen only, no major food service	5	.01
Churches, per seat; with food service, per meal served4	4	.02
Hospitals per bed space	250	.20
Nursing homes; Group homes for developmentally disabled, per bed space	125	.20
Schools, Boarding per person	100	.17
Schools, Day without cafeteria, gym or showers	15	.04
Schools, Day with cafeterias, no gym or showers	20	.08
Schools, Day with cafeterias, gym and showers	25	.10
Schools, Day additional for school workers	15	.06

RECREATIONAL AND SEASONAL WASTEWATER USE	GPD	BOD5 IN POUNDS PER DAY
Camps, day, no meals served	15	.12
Luxury resort	125	.17
Resort night and day	50	.12
Campground per campsite2	50	.12
Public park flush toilet per fixture per hour when park is open	36	.04 lbs./ fixture
Public park urinal per fixture per hour when park is open	10	.01 lbs./fixture
Public park shower per fixture per hour when park is open	100	.10 lbs./ fixture
Public park faucet per fixture per hour when park is open	15	.04 lbs./ fixture
Swimming pools and bathhouses	10	.06
Travel trailer parks with individual water and sewage hookup per unit 2	100	.24
Travel trailer park without individual water and sewage hookup per unit 2	50	.12

1 BOD levels need further verification depending on the specific use of the facility.

2 Laundry facilities are to be calculated on a per commercial washer basis in accordance with other elements of this table.

3 For the purposes of this Table, a "Tiny home" is a structure (a non-recreational vehicle) that has only one bedroom and has <400 sq.ft. of livable space, including lofts. In this instance, the OWTS may be sized for only one bedroom.

4 For churches with food service, the 4 gal/meal must be added to the 3.5 gal/seat to determine projected design flows.

B. Wastewater Strength

1. Table 6-3 includes levels of treatment that can be achieved by various OWTS components, excluding the soil treatment area. Systems qualifying for these treatment levels except TL1 produced by a septic tank alone must be approved under section 43.13 . of this regulation. If soil treatment area or vertical separation distance reductions are permitted, the local public health agency must have a maintenance oversight program under section 43.14.D. in place.

2. High strength waste must be reduced to at least Treatment Level TL1 quality or lower before applying to a soil treatment area. Waste strength levels defined in Tables 6-3 and 6-4 must be used to determine compliance.

Table 6-3 Treatment Levels

Treatment Level	BOD5 (mg/L)	CBOD51 (mg/L)	TSS (mg/L)	Total Nitrogen (mg/L)
TL12	180	-	80	60-80
TL2	-	25	30	N/A3
TL2N	-	25	30	>50% reduction4
TL3	-	10	10	N/A3
TL3N	-	10	10	20 mg/L

Shading indicates higher treatment levels.

1 Requirements for CBOD₅ are only related to effluent samples from a higher level treatment system.

2 Domestic septic tank effluent prior to soil treatment or higher level treatment has a wide range of concentrations. These values are typical, but values used for design must account for site-specific information.

3 Total Nitrogen does not apply to Treatment Levels TL2 and TL3. Processes intended to reduce total nitrogen are addressed in Treatment Levels TL2N and TL3N. Any total nitrogen reductions that may be observed for TL2 and TL3 are as a result of the treatment process for BOD₅ and TSS reductions.

4 NSF/ANSI Standard 245 - Wastewater Treatment Systems - Nitrogen Reduction requires reduction of 50 percent rather than an absolute value.

Table 6-4 High Strength Wastewater*

BOD5 (mg/L)	TSS (mg/L)	Fats, Oils, Grease (FOG) (mg/L)
Septic Tank Influent	>300	>200	>50
Septic Tank Effluent	>180	>80	>25

* High strength effluent prior to a septic tank has a wide range of concentrations. These values are typical, but values used for design purposes must account for site-specific information.

5 CCR 1002-43.6

40 CR 11, June 10, 2017, effective 6/30/2017

41 CR 07, April 10, 2018, effective 4/30/2018