Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meanings of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
BOD (denoting "biochemical oxygen demand")
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter in five days at 20º C., expressed in milligrams
per liter, as determined in accordance with the latest issue of Standard
Methods or by a method acceptable to and approved by the State Department
of Health and other agencies having jurisdiction.
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 five feet (1.5 meters) 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; also called "house connection."
COMBINED SEWER
A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm- or
surface water.
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Planning and Public Works of the City of
Westminster.
DIRECTOR
The Director of the Public Works or the Director's designee.
[Amended 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 773]
FLOATABLE OIL
Oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will
separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment
facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if
it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with
the collection system.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes and residue from the preparation, cooking and
dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of food
products and produce.
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Any waste or combination of waste that poses substantial
danger to human beings, plants and animals. Specifically, a waste
shall be considered hazardous if it poses one or more of the following
characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity and
radioactivity.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Waterborne solids, liquids or gaseous wastes resulting from,
discharged, permitted to flow or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing
or food processing operation or processes or from the development
of any natural resource, or any mixture of these with water or domestic
sewage as distinct from normal domestic sewage.
INTERFERENCE
(1)
An inhibition or disruption of the wastewater
treatment works or wastewater treatment plant operations or its processes
or sludge processes use or disposal which causes either a violation
of any requirement of the wastewater treatment works discharge permit
or prevents sewage sludge use or disposal by the wastewater treatment
works in accordance with any and all applicable statutory provisions
and regulations or permits issued under them including:
(a)
Section 405 of the Clean Water Act.
(b)
The Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (including
Title II, commonly referred to as the "Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA)" and any state regulation contained in any state sludge
management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA.)
(d)
The Toxic Substances Control Act.
(2)
Damage to sewer systems and threats to wastewater
treatment works' workers and public health, safety and comfort.
LEACHATE
Wastewater produced by the percolation of water through a
municipal solid waste landfill.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet, including storm sewers, into a watercourse, pond,
ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
PARTS PER MILLION
A weight-to-weight ratio; in wastewater, parts per million
value multiplied by the factor of 8.345 shall be equivalent to pounds
per million gallons of water; or a weight-to-volume ratio; as one
milligram per liter is equal to one part per million in wastewater.
PASS-THROUGH
Discharge of pollutants through the wastewater treatment
works into waters of the state in quantities or concentrations which
cause a violation of any requirement of the wastewater treatment works
discharge permit and/or violation of any other state or federal regulation.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, company, association,
society, corporation, group or entity.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration
expressed in moles per liter. It shall be determined by one of the
procedures outlined in Standard Methods.
PRETREATMENT
Treatment of wastewaters from sources before introduction
into the wastewater treatment works.
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, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters)
in any dimension.
POTW
Publicly owned treatment plant.
PUBLIC SEWER
A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public
utility.
QUALIFIED ANALYST
(1)
Any person holding an undergraduate degree in
chemistry or in a closely allied field (e.g., biology, sanitary engineering);
or
(2)
Any other person who has demonstrated competency
in wastewater analysis by having analyzed satisfactorily a minimum
of three reference wastewater samples as supplied upon request by
the approving authority.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions,
together with minor quantities of ground, storm and surface waters
that are not admitted intentionally.
SEPTAGE
The liquid and solid material produced in individual on-site
wastewater disposal systems, principally septic tanks and cesspools.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit which carries wastewater or drainage water.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER
(1)
Any industrial user who:
(a)
Is subject to national categorical standards;
or
(b)
Discharges total flows equal to greater than
25,000 gallons per day (gpd); or
(c)
Contributes a process waste stream that makes
up 5% or more of the hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW; or
(d)
Is found by the City, state or EPA to have significant
impact, either slightly or in combination with other contributing
industries, to the POTW, the quality of the sludge, the POTW's effluent
quality or air emissions generated by the system.
(2)
Upon finding an industrial user meeting the
above criteria of this definition has no reasonable potential for
adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment
standard or requirement, the City may at any time, on its own initiative
or in response to a petition received from an industrial user, and
in accordance with 40 CFR 403, determine that such industrial user
is not a significant industrial user.
SLUDGE
Solid or semisolid materials removed from the liquid wastewater
stream or wastewater or water treatment plant.
SLUG
Any discharge of water or wastewater which in concentration
of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period
of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average
twenty-four-hour concentration or flow during normal operation or
which shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance
of the wastewater treatment works.
STANDARD METHODS
The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the
latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and
Wastewater, as prepared, approved and published jointly by the American
Public Health Association and the American Water Works Association.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS)
Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface
of or is in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which
is removable by laboratory filtering under standard laboratory procedure
as described in Standard Methods.
WASTEWATER
The spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source,
it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions,
together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may
be present.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES
The structures, equipment and processes required to collect,
carry away and treat domestic and industrial wastes and discharge
the effluent and treat, utilize or dispose of sludges resulting from
collection and treatment of these wastes.
WATERCOURSE
A natural or artificial channel in which flow of water occurs,
either continuously or intermittently.