Information for wastewater haulers

Acceptable waste can be taken to the appropriate City of Calgary receiving facility. All other waste must be taken to a third-party facility that is able to process the material being disposed of.

It’s important to take your wastewater to the correct place for disposal. When prohibited materials enter our wastewater treatment plant they can disrupt the treatment process, damaging infrastructure and potentially causing untreated water to be released back into our rivers.  

To ensure compliance, all samples will be screened using online instrumentation, and random samples will be sent to the lab for analytical testing. Disposing of non-compliant wastewater at City facilities may result in enforcement action, up to and including suspension of the hauled wastewater permit.

Share this information sheet about acceptable waste with your customers (Generators)

Any process waste from these types of facilities/activities:

• Wastewater with a pH less than 5.5 or greater than 10.0; 
• Solid or viscous substances including but not limited to: ashes, bones, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, animals or animal parts, animal feces and blood; 
• Herbicides and pesticides;
• Compounds that pass through the plant untreated;
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);
• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs);
• Bisphenols and Phthalates;
• Hydrocarbons;
• Unused or waste chemicals;
• Leachate;
• Undeclared waste;
• Hazardous waste including:
  • Harmful or foul-smelling materials or substances which, either by themselves or by reacting with other wastes, are capable of causing damage to the public sewage works; creating a public nuisance or hazard, or preventing any person entering the sewers for purposes of maintenance or repair;
  • Materials or substances which either by themselves or by reacting with other material becomes highly coloured; 
  • Reactive substances that are normally unstable and readily undergo violent changes without detonating; react violently with water; form potentially explosive mixtures with water; generates toxic gases when mixed with water; 
  • Vapours or fumes in a quantity sufficient to present danger to human health or the environment; 
  • Cyanide or Sulphide bearing waste which, when exposed to pH conditions between 2 and 12.5, can generate toxic gases, vapours or fumes in a quantity sufficient to present danger to human health or the environment; 
  • A substance that is capable of detonating or exploding when subjected to a strong initiating source or heated under confinement;
  • Substances that are readily capable of detonation or explosive decomposition or reaction at standard temperature and pressure; 
  • A substance that is an explosive (Class 1) as defined in the regulations under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, S.C. 1992, as amended; 
  • Corrosive substances;
  • Substances classified as “Hazardous Waste” by any regulating body.

If you are transporting loads of wastewater, septage or FOG (fats, oils, grease) to a designated City site for disposal to the wastewater system, you will require a Hauled Wastewater Permit. Apply for a Commercial Hauled Wastewater Permit.

All hauled wastewater must comply with the wastewater bylaw, specifically the substances listed in Schedules A, B, and C.  (Portable toilet and septic waste are exempt from the BOD and TSS limit)

A fully completed and legible manifest must accompany each load of hauled wastewater. 

Download fillable PDFs of the Hauled Wastewater Manifest Disposal forms

E1999-Hauled Wastewater Disposal Manifest – Septage

E1998-Hauled Wastewater Disposal Manifest – FOG

Please contact 311 with any questions or concerns.