Industrial Pretreatement Surcharge Program

The City of Fargo has established limits on the amount of pollutants that may be contained in the wastewater it accepts for treatment. If a business exceed these limits, surcharges may apply.

The city's surcharge program focuses on biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). The cutoff between domestic and high-strength industrial wastewater in Fargo is 275 mg/L BOD and 275 mg/L TSS. Much of the wastewater from industry is not normal domestic- strength waste, and the surcharge is based on additional treatment needs above those for domestic-strength.

When the surcharge program began in 2005, the City of Fargo conducted numerous educational sessions to inform industry representatives of the impacts to their specific industry and explain the need for the surcharge. For further information, please call 701.241.1454.