Town of Snow Hill, MD Sewage System

Eliminate privies, septic tanks, cesspools, open sewer outlets, connection of stormwater outlets to sanitary sewers and hazardous or objectionable methods of liquid waste disposal wherever the public sewerage system is available for service.

Require the use of collection and treatment facilities in a manner reasonable consistent with the purpose and capacities for which they were designed.

Forbid any misuse of the municipal sewerage works that may result in physical damage to the structures, interference with operation or unreasonable maintenance attention and/or expense.

Equitably recover original construction and operating costs in proportion to rate of flow and strength of the various liquid wastes.

§ 193-31 Effect on other provisions.

In the event of any conflict with the provisions of the Snow Hill Code, the provisions of this Article shall govern. Definitions herein shall apply only to this Article.

§ 193-32 Definitions and word usage.

As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

BOD (DENOTING "BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND")

The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter as determined in accordance with the latest issue of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

BUILDING DRAIN

That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning 10 feet outside the inner face of the building wall.

BUILDING SEWER

The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

CESSPOOL

A lined or partially lined pit into which raw household wastewater is discharged and from which the liquid seeps into the surrounding soil.

CHLORINE DEMAND

The amount of chlorine which must be added to liquid waste to produce a residual chlorine content in the liquid waste.

COLOR

The true color due to substance in solution expressed in color units on a platinum-cobalt scale.

COMBINED SEWER

A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

COMPOSITE SAMPLE

A sample of wastewater, consisting of a number of individual samples collected at uniform intervals over a given time span, collected and preserved in accordance with the latest issue of the APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

DOMESTIC SEWAGE OR SANITARY SEWAGE

The liquid waste derived principally from residential, institutional, commercial and other nonindustrial sources.

ENGINEER

The Director of Public Works of the Town of Snow Hill or his duly authorized representative.

FLOATABLE GREASE

Grease, fat, wax or oil in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of "floatable grease" if it is pretreated for floatable grease removal in a facility which is designed, constructed and operated as approved by the Town.

GARBAGE

Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

GREASE, FATS, WAX OR OILS

Those substances, whether emulsified or not, which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° F. and 150° F. (0° and 65° C.).

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Either the local or State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Office having jurisdiction over local health and sewage disposal.

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.

INDUSTRY

Any person, establishment, firm, company, association or group, whether public or private, engaged in a manufacturing or service enterprise which produces liquid wastes which are excessive in biological strength, toxic, hazardous, nonbiodegradable or otherwise harmful to the sewage works or which would interfere with operation of the sewage works to require unreasonable operating attention or expense.

NATURAL OUTLET

Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.

PARTS PER MILLION (PPM) OR MILLIGRAMS PER LITER (MG/L)

The relative concentration of substance in a sample of waste, by weight, in terms of the weight of such substance per unit volume of the waste.

PERSON, ESTABLISHMENT OR OWNER

Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group, public or private.

The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

PRIVY

A building, either portable or fixed directly to a pit or vault, equipped with seating and used for excretion of bodily wastes.

PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE

The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers.

PUBLIC SEWER

A sewer which is owned or controlled by the Town of Snow Hill or its duly authorized representatives and in which all owners of abutting property have equal rights. It shall include that portion of the building sewer within the street right-of-way or public easement, up to but not including the cleanout (if any), adjacent to the curb, sidewalk or edge of paving.

SANITARY SEWER

A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm-, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.

SCREENING

The removal of solid from liquid wastes by straining through twenty-mesh screens or finer.

SEPTIC TANK

A settling tank in which settled sludge is in immediate contact with the wastewater flowing through the tank and the organic solids are decomposed by anaerobic bacterial action.

SEWAGE OR WASTEWATER

A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground-, surface and storm waters as may be present.

SEWAGE WORKS

All facilities for collecting, transporting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage and sludge.

SEWER

A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

SLUDGE

Solids separated from wastewater resulting from treatment of wastewater.

STORM DRAIN (SOMETIMES TERMED "STORM SEWER")

A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.

SUPERINTENDENT

The Wastewater Treatment Superintendent of the Town of Snow Hill or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.

SUSPENDED SOLIDS

Solids that either float on the surface or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering, as determined in accordance with the latest issue of the APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

TOWN

The governing body of the Town of Snow Hill or its duly appointed officers or representatives.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating domestic and/or industrial liquid wastes.

WATERCOURSE

A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

"Shall" is mandatory, and "may" is permissive.

§ 193-33 Use of public sewers required; regulations.

Connections to the public sewers shall be made only by the Town.

It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property within the Town of Snow Hill any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable waste.

It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the Town of Snow Hill any sewage or other pollutants, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this Article.

Except as provided in the State Plumbing Code, it shall be unlawful to erect or maintain any privy, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used for disposal of sewage.

The owners of all houses, buildings or properties used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purposes situated within the Town and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public sanitary or combined sewer of the Town are hereby required at their expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein and to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of the requirements of the State Plumbing Code.

Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged on approval by the responsible regulatory agency to a storm sewer or natural outlet.

§ 193-34 Building sewer connections.

No person other than authorized Town employees shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof.

Permits for connections to the public sewers shall be obtained from the Clerk-Treasurer of Snow Hill and shall be made on forms provided by the Clerk-Treasurer of Snow Hill. In all applications involving industrial wastes, as defined by this Article, additional information, plans, specifications or other pertinent information will be required for review and approval by the Director of Public Works. Such data shall be in a form acceptable to the Director of Public Works.

All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the Town from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.

Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by proper Town authority, to meet all requirements of the Maryland State Plumbing Code.

The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Town.

Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewers, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer at the owner's entire cost.

The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Town.

§ 193-35 Prohibited discharges; pretreatment; sampling.

Stormwater, surface water, groundwater, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted process water shall not be permitted to be discharged into sanitary sewers. In residential construction, floor drains may not be connected to the building sewers.

In general, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any liquid or solid wastes into the sanitary sewerage system that may result in physical damage to the sewage works, interference with operation or unreasonable maintenance attention or expense. Prohibited discharges shall generally include those containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by existing municipal wastewater treatment processes or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the current requirements of appropriate regulatory agencies of the United States government or the State of Maryland are met.

Specifically, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:

(1)

Any petroleum derivative paint products or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

(2)

Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F. (65° C.).

(3)

Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by an interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, to create a public nuisance or to create any hazard in the receiving waters of the wastewater treatment plant. The following substances are not permitted in concentrations above those listed. By amendment to this Article, restrictions may also be placed on other substances or the present concentration limits revised when it is shown that the presence of these substances or concentrations at a treatment plant is sufficient to adversely affect any portion of the treatment process:

	Substance	Maximum Allowable Concentration (mg/l)
	Arsenic as As	0.5
	Cadmium as Cd	0.4
	Chromium (Hexavalent) as Cr	0.2
	Copper as Cu	1.0
	Cyanides or cyanogen compounds as Cn	0.5
	Lead as Pb	0.5
	Mercury or mercury compounds as Hg	0.5
	Nickel as Ni	2.0
	Zinc as Zn	5.0

(4)

Any liquid having pH values upon point of discharge into the public sewer lower than 5.5 or higher than 10.5, except that it shall in no way cause damage to the sewer structures, equipment or wastewater treatment process.

(5)

Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstructions to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operations of the sewage works, such as but not limited to improperly shredded garbage, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, rubber, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, paint, residues, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, paper dishes or containers.

(6)

Any water or wastes which contain floatable grease, fats, wax or oils.

(7)

Any water or wastes containing emulsified oil, fats or grease exceeding 150 mg/l, as determined from a twenty-four-hour composite sample. In addition, the concentration, as determined from any individual sample, shall not exceed 200 mg/l. For the purpose of interpreting this requirement, at least 80% of all individual samples (taken over any thirty-day period) shall contain less than 200 mg/l.

(8)

Any waters or wastes containing discharge of strong acid, iron pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(9)

Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding the limits which may be established by higher regulatory agencies for discharge to the receiving waters.

(10)

Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by applicable state or federal regulations.

(11)

Any waters or wastes containing iron, manganese and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the wastewater treatment works exceeds the limits established by the Town for such materials.

(12)

Any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which, singly or by interaction with other wastes, is capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or of preventing entry into sewers for their maintenance and repair.

(13)

Materials which exert or cause unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as but not limited to fullers earth, lime slurries and lime residues, or dissolved solids such as but not limited to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.

(14)

Materials which exert or cause excessive discoloration, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.

(15)

Any wastewater that has a BOD greater than 350 mg/l or contains more than 350 mg/l of suspended solids as determined from analysis of a twenty-four-hour composite sample. The Town may permit the discharge of sewage from a given installation containing a higher concentration of BOD and suspended solids, subject to the levying of a surcharge over and above the normal rates for sewer services, such surcharge to be fixed by the Town to achieve equitable recovery of capital and operating costs in proportion to the rate of flow and strength of the particular waste.

(16)

Any industrial wastes that will not pass a twenty-mesh screen or equivalent.

(17)

Any unusual volume of flow that would materially affect the sewage works adversely.

(18)

Any substances, materials, water or wastes that, after treatment of the composite sewage, cause violation of the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies having jurisdiction over the quality of wastewater treatment plant discharge to the receiving waters.

Pretreatment.

(1)

If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain any of the substances or possess any of the characteristics enumerated in Subsections A, B and C of this section, the Town may:

(a)

Deny service;

(b)

Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;

(c)

Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or

(d)

Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating high-strength wastes in accordance with the provisions of Subsection C(15).

(2)

If the Town required or permits the pretreatment or flow equalization of wastes flows from any industry, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Director of Public Works and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, laws and regulations of the local, state and federal regulatory agencies.

Where pretreatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense, in such manner that a public nuisance or health hazard does not occur.

When required by the Engineer, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Engineer. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him as to be safe and accessible to the Town at all times.

All measurements, tests and analysis of the characteristic of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this Article shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property.

§ 193-36 Right of entry.

The Engineer, Superintendent and other duly authorized employees of the Town bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted access to pretreatment or flow-equalization facilities, flow-measuring devices and/or control manholes. While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to above, authorized employees of the Town shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company and the company shall be held harmless for injury or death to the Town employees, and the Town shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the flow measuring and sampling operation except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in § 193-35.

§ 193-37 Tampering with equipment prohibited.

No unauthorized persons shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the sewage works. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct.

§ 193-38 Violations and penalties; corrective actions.

Any person found to be violating any provision of this Article, except § 193-37, shall be served by the Town with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations. In the event that the violation has caused or can potentially cause physical damage to the sewage works and/or degradation of the treatment plant effluent to the degree that it does not meet the current requirements of appropriate state or federal regulatory agencies, the Town shall require immediate correction of the violation or denial of service until satisfactory corrections are made.

Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in Subsection A shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine in an amount not exceeding $500 for each violation or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 20 days, or by both such fine or imprisonment. Each day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this Article shall become liable to the Town for any expense, loss or damage occasioned the Town by reason of such violation.