Washoe County Grease Interceptor Rules: Ordinance 1615, Explained

Where this applies

Unincorporated Washoe County kitchens whose sewer bill comes from the County. The ordinance lists its service areas: the South Truckee Meadows area (Huffaker Hills, Southeast Truckee Meadows, Steamboat Valley, Pleasant Valley, Sierra Reflections, Steamboat Hills, Galena Fan, Thomas-Whites Fan, Arrow Creek, Montreux, Mt. Rose), plus Lemmon Valley, South Sun Valley, Southern Comfort, Juniper Trails, North Virginia Street/Stead, Frontier Estates, Cold Springs, Spanish Springs and Hidden Valley (§15.2(D)). Washoe County Code Chapter 40 contains no grease or pretreatment rules; the operative text is Ordinance No. 1615, the “Washoe County Schedule of Rates and Charges, Pretreatment Program, and PCE Monitoring Program for Sanitary Sewer Service” (§1.1), reproduced in full and unchanged in Ordinance No. 1713 dated 2024-03-19.

Who administers it

The ordinance names the “Department of Water Resources” as enforcement authority (§13.1). Today that is the Washoe County Community Services Department, Utility: Utility Customer Service (775) 954-4601, utility@washoecounty.gov, 1001 E. 9th Street, Reno, NV 89512, or 311 / 775-328-2003. Plan review runs through Sewer and Reclaimed Water Services (Utility Engineering), Monday–Friday 8:00–4:00, (775) 328-2040, engineering@washoecounty.gov; the Sewer Utility Tenant Improvement Application goes to CSD-UTAP@washoecounty.gov and carries a “$250 plan review fee” due at application.

One thing most County operators do not know: the inspector who lifts your lid is usually a city employee. Certificate fees are “the actual cost of the wastewater inspection and certificate, as billed to Washoe County by the City of Reno or Sparks Industrial Waste Inspection Division, plus a billing and processing fee of $15.00,” with a “minimum charge” of $50.00 (§6.3). Expect the visit to look like a Reno or Sparks inspection.

What the ordinance requires

§11.7(B): “All waste discharged from establishments which may generate grease shall install and maintain a grease interceptor. Sizing specifications for grease traps and interceptors are outlined in Chapter 7 and Appendix H of the Uniform Plumbing Codes. The Department of Water Resources may waive the required minimum size grease interceptor. The design, operation and sizing of all grease traps and interceptors must be approved by the Department of Water Resources.” Pretreatment devices “shall not be put into operation without a written permit of approval” and “shall be open to the inspection of the Department of Water Resources at any time” (§12.7). Dish-table waste may not go through a garbage grinder “unless the discharge is through an approved grease interceptor” (§11.7(A)).

The ordinance sets no minimum gallonage for a grease interceptor; the 1,000-gallon floor in §11.7(B) is for sand/oil separators. Size comes from UPC Appendix H and from the department’s approval of your design. The Appendix H method, worked →

The annual certificate

“Industrial/commercial dischargers connected to the POTW shall obtain a wastewater inspection certificate from the Department of Water Resources. ... It is unlawful for any industrial/commercial discharger to discharge without such certificate” (§12.1). Restaurants are the named example of Hazard Class II, and “Class II establishments receive an inspection every twelve (12) months with the issuance of a wastewater inspection certificate annually.”

How often you must pump: the ordinance does not say

There is no fixed interval and no 25% rule in the County text. The whole maintenance standard is one sentence: “Grease traps and interceptors shall be maintained to ensure proper operation” (§11.7(B)). What makes that enforceable is the discharge limit beside it, “animal or vegetable grease or oil ... in excess of three hundred milligrams per liter (300 mg/L)” (§11.1(M)), and the ban on anything that fakes a clean tank: “the introduction of emulsifiers, bacteria, enzymes or any other product into the grease trap or interceptor which would cause oil and grease to pass through the trap or interceptor is prohibited” (§11.7(B)).

Records

No manifest or hauler wording appears in the ordinance; its three-year record rule (§12.8) is written for monitoring records. The inspector may well be Reno Environmental Control staff, who work to a three-year trip-ticket rule in their own city, so keep one.

Enforcement

On a hazard, “the Wastewater Control Inspector shall issue a notice to the discharger to remedy the hazard,” and you have “ten (10) days” to submit “a detailed plan and time schedule of specific action” (§13.2). A discharge that causes “an obstruction, damage, or any other impairment to County wastewater facilities” is cleaned or repaired at your cost and added to your sewer service charge (§13.6). Violation is a misdemeanor, “a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and/or imprisonment of not more than six (6) months,” each day a separate offense (§13.10), and the department “may terminate or cause to be terminated sewer service” where a discharge threatens contamination, pollution or nuisance (§13.8(A)).

How we service County kitchens

Same truck as Reno and Sparks. Full pump-out of every compartment, baffles and tees checked, and a trip ticket with gallons removed and the depth reading before service. The County gives you no interval, so we use the reading: when grease plus settled solids pass a quarter of the tank’s depth it is overdue, and the second visit is scheduled from how fast your tank got there. The ticket is what you hand the Reno or Sparks inspector who comes out for the certificate. How the County compares with the two cities →