To ensure continued compliance with permit conditions and prevent problems from occurring at the wastewater treatment plant, the University has developed a comprehensive sewer disposal policy with specific sewer discharge limits for over 100 constituents of concern.
Please email any questions or concerns regarding discharges to the campus sewer system to local_limits@ucdavis.edu.
The sewer disposal policy and discharge limits are known in wastewater engineering as "Local Limits".
Numerical Local Limits
Numerical Local Limits refers to the microgram/liter sewer discharge limitation established for UC Davis. These limitations apply at the point of discharge to the sanitary sewer system (e.g., laboratory drains). Wastewater exceeding any of these limitations cannot be discharged without specific approval from UC Davis Facilities Management.
For example:
| CONSTITUENT | Local Limit |
| Aluminum | 87 ug/l |
| Ammonia-Nitrogen | 240,000 ug/l |
| Barium | 700 ug/l |
| Cyanide | 20 ug/l |
| Electrical Conductivity | 900 umhos/cm |
Qualitative Local Limits
Qualitative Local Limits refers to sewer limitation based on the physical properties of the substance.
Such as:
| Colorful waste |
| Excess quantities of oils or fats that may plug up sewer pipes |
| Solid or viscous waste |
View the Sewer Disposal Policy
View the Numerical Local Limits
Need Definitions and Abbreviations? See our documentation here.