[Adopted 11-6-2019 by Ord. No. 233[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Art. IV,
Sewage Grinder Pumps, adopted 10-2-2007 by Ord. No. 201, as amended.
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
installation, use and maintenance of sewage grinder pumps and any
associated force mains or low pressure laterals. It is hereby declared
that the enactment of this article is necessary for the protection,
benefit and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of the
inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
A municipality's official plan as defined in the Pennsylvania
Sewage Facilities Act, Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. 1535 (1965),
No. 537, as amended, 35 P.S. § 750.1-750.20a ("Sewage Facilities
Act" or "Act 537").
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A low-pressure sewer system designed to grind or macerate
the materials in the domestic sewage discharged from a residential
or commercial/industrial customer and pump it to the existing gravity
sanitary sewer system. The system includes all tanks, pumps, valves,
control systems, and the low-pressure force main pipe conveying the
sewage to the gravity sewer.
Any contractor, development company or individual constructing
a new structure requiring a grinder pump for sanitary sewer service.
Any property within the municipality upon which there is
erected a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation,
occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure
sewage shall or may be discharged.
The Perkiomen Township Municipal Authority.
The Township of Perkiomen, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
A change in the municipality's Act 537 Plan to provide
for additional or newly identified future or existing sewage facilities
needs, as defined fully in Section 1 of the Sewage Facilities Act,
35 P.S. § 750.1.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the municipality.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals,
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation, or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Stream Law, 35 PS §§ 691.1
to 691.1001, as amended.
The connection of an improved property or a proposed improved
property to either an existing or proposed sewerage collection line
through the use of a sewage grinder pump, its associated force main
or low pressure lateral, shall occur only after an official plan revision
to the municipality's Act 537 Plan, approved by both the municipality
and Department, and which designates that the proposed property be
served by such a connection.
A.
The municipality or the municipal authority are hereby
authorized and empowered to adopt such rules and regulations concerning
the installation and operation of grinder pumps which they may deem
necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein.
B.
The municipality or the municipal authority are hereby
authorized and empowered to take such other actions as are necessary,
including, but not limited to, entering into agreements with property
owners that assure proper operation and maintenance of sewage facilities
within the municipality's borders, including, but not limited
to, sewage grinder pumps and any associated force mains or low pressure
laterals.
A.
The municipality shall exercise its powers and legal
authority set forth herein, and under all applicable statutes, ordinances
and other laws to effect the purposes of this article.
B.
All grinder pumps and low-pressure sewer systems (and
the installation, use, operation, maintenance, service, repair and
replacement thereof) shall comply with the rules and regulations of
the municipality and the municipal authority in effect from time to
time.
C.
A grinder pump and low pressure sewer system shall
be connected to the sewage collection and conveyance system in full
compliance with the rules and regulations of the municipality or the
municipal authority in effect from time to time.
D.
The municipality and/or the authority shall bear no
responsibility for the purchase, installation, use, operation, maintenance,
service, repair or replacement of a grinder pump and/or its low-pressure
force main or lateral, except as otherwise set forth herein.
A.
Prior to the installation of a grinder pump serving
an improved property, the owner or the home builder shall obtain a
grinder pump permit from the municipal authority.
B.
Each owner of an improved property served by a grinder
pump shall bear full responsibility for providing, installing, using,
operating, maintaining, servicing, repairing and replacing his/her
grinder pump and/or its low-pressure force main or lateral, unless
otherwise set forth herein.
C.
Each owner of an improved property served by a grinder
pump shall have full responsibility for using the pump consistent
with the manufacturer's instructions, and shall avoid introducing
into the sewerage system materials that may damage the impellers on
the pump, including, but not limited to, items designated as biodegradable
in septic tanks.
D.
Each owner of an improved property served by a grinder
pump shall close the sewage system and cease operations during any
period when the grinder pump and/or low-pressure system serving a
property is inoperable.
E.
Where the low-pressure force main or lateral is shared
between owners, they shall submit to the municipal authority a declaration
of easements, covenants and restrictions in recordable form setting
forth the agreement of each benefited owner with respect to the installation,
use, operation, maintenance, service, repair and replacement of the
low pressure sewer system, which agreement shall bind all future owners.
Following the approval of the low pressure system by all applicable
agencies, the municipal authority will not issue a permit for its
installation until evidence is presented that the agreement has been
recorded in the Office for the Recording of Deeds, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania.
F.
Prior to the issuance of an occupancy permit for any
improved property serviced by a sewage grinder pump or low pressure
sewage system, the owner shall have the grinder pump inspected, and
submit a certification signed by a registered plumber stating that
the grinder pump is functioning properly.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violations of §§ 235-23 and 235-24 above shall constitute a nuisance, and shall be abated by the municipality or the municipal authority by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a Court of competent jurisdiction.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the municipality or
the municipal authority to effectuate this article shall be in conformity
with the provisions herein, all other ordinances of the municipality
and regulations of the municipal authority, and all applicable laws,
and applicable rules and regulations of administrative agencies of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
