[Adopted 9-7-1961]
A.
AUTHORITY
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
FLOOR DRAIN
HOUSE DRAIN
HOUSE SEWER
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
OCCUPIED BUILDING
OWNER
PERSON
PRETREATMENT
PRIVATE DWELLING OR LIVING UNIT
PROPERTY ACCESSIBLE TO THE SEWER SYSTEM
REPRESENTATIVE
SANITARY SEWAGE
SERVICE LATERAL
SEWER DISTRICTS
SEWER MANAGER
SEWER SYSTEM
SHOWER DRAIN
SOIL PIPE
TOILET
TOWNSHIP
WATER SUPPLIER
As used in this Chapter 66, Articles I through IV inclusive, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
[Amended 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985; 11-13-1979 by Ord. No.
7-1979; 9-27-1994 by Ord. No. 2-1994]
The West Goshen Sewer Authority, Chester County, Pennsylvania,
as well as the duly qualified and acting members of the Board thereof.
Any structure or any portion thereof intended to be used
wholly or in part for the purposes of carrying on a trade, business
or professional or for social, amusement, religious, educational,
charitable or public uses, and which contains plumbing for kitchen,
toilet or washing facilities.
A pipe having an open orifice set in any floor of a building (the term "building," as used herein, is defined in § 84-8 of the West Goshen Zoning Code) into and through which liquids may be drained whether by gravity or pumping.
That part of the main horizontal drain and its branches inside
the walls of the building, vault or area and for five feet outside
thereof and extending to and connecting with the house sewer.
That part of the main house drain or sewer extending from
a point five feet outside of the outer wall of a building, vault or
area to its connection with the service lateral.
Any structure intended to be used wholly or in part for the
manufacturing, fabricating, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembly
of any product commodity or article.
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes
or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing
of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Each single dwelling unit, household unit, flat or apartment
unit, store, shop, office, business or industrial unit or family unit
contained within any structure erected within 150 feet from the sewer
system and intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary
sewage is or may be discharged.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property served directly or indirectly by the sewer
system.
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation,
group or other entity.
The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination
of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties
in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing
such pollutants into the sewer system. This reduction or alteration
may be obtained by the physical, chemical or biological processes,
process changes or by other means; provided, however, that no person
shall increase the use of process water or in any other way attempt
to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate
treatment to achieve compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement
imposed by this chapter or applicable regulation of any governmental
authority having jurisdiction.
Any room, group of rooms, house trailer, structure, dwelling,
apartment, enclosure or any other one-family living unit intended
to be occupied as separate living quarters by a family, other group
of persons living together or by persons living alone, but excluding
institutional dormitories.
Improved property which adjoins, abuts on or is adjacent to the sewer system or as may be further defined or modified under rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 66-6.
The Secretary of the Board of Township Supervisors, the Township
Engineer, Plumbing Inspector, Sewer Manager, Health Officer or such
other person as shall be appointed by the Township as its representative
for any of the purposes herein.
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from
residences, business buildings, institutions, commercial and industrial
establishments.
That part of the sewer line from the sewer system to the
curbline or to the property line if there is no curbline.
Sewer District No. 1 as designated and created pursuant to
resolution of the Township duly adopted on March 5, 1958, and Sewer
Districts Nos. 2 and 3 as each designated and created pursuant to
ordinance of the Township, duly enacted July 6, 1960.[1]
Any person who may, from time to time, be placed in general
charge of the sewer system.
All temporary and permanent facilities, at any time and from
time to time, owned by or leased to and operated by the Township and
used or usable for or in connection with the collection of sanitary
sewage and acceptable industrial wastes.
A floor drain located within a booth, stall or enclosure
designed and constructed as a shower bath in which water is sprayed
on the bather from an overhead nozzle.
Any pipe receiving the discharge of one or more water closets,
with or without other fixtures.
A disposal apparatus consisting of a hopper, fitted with
a flushing device, used for human urination and defecation; a water
closet.
West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the
group of elected officials acting as the Board of Supervisors of the
Township.
The public agency or private company furnishing water service
to the particular property connected to the sewer system.
B.
Terminology. Technical terminology contained in these
rules and regulations or in the ordinances above referred to shall
be interpreted by and through and shall have the meanings set forth
in the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water, Sewerage, and
Industrial Wastes and Glossary, Water and Sewerage Control Engineering,
both prepared by the American Public Health Association.
Whenever the sewer system is completed and ready
for public use, it shall be the duty of the Township to cause notice
of the fact to be given by advertisement published once in one newspaper
of general circulation in the Township, and such advertisement shall
state that the sewer system may be used by all persons owning occupied
buildings on property accessible to the sewer system, subject to the
payment of any connection charges and of annual sewer rentals in amounts
as may from time to time be fixed by the Township.[1]
A.
Any person owning any occupied building now erected upon property accessible to the sewer system shall, at his own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 90 days after the date of publication specified in § 66-2.
B.
Any person owning any property accessible to the sewer
system upon which an occupied building is hereafter erected shall,
at the time of the erection of such building and at his own expense,
connect the same with the sewer system.
C.
Any person owning any occupied building upon property
which hereafter becomes accessible to the sewer system shall, at his
own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 90
days after notice to do so from the Township.
D.
Where more than one occupied building, as hereinbefore
defined, is contained in a separate structure, a single common connection
to the lateral of the sewer system shall be permitted for accommodating
all units contained in such structure, except that separate connections
shall be required for each semidetached or row-type house or structure.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any property accessible to the sewer system to erect, construct or use or maintain or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained any privy, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or other receptacle on such premises or otherwise for receiving sanitary sewage after the expiration of the particular period specified in § 66-3 hereof, or otherwise at any time to erect, construct, use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage into the gutters of the Township, the storm sewers of the Township or upon public or private property or otherwise, except into the sewer system.
Any person who erects, constructs, uses or maintains
a privy, cesspool, sinkhole or septic tank on any property accessible
to the sewer system, or otherwise erects, constructs, uses or maintains
any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary
sewage in violation of this article shall be deemed and shall be declared
to be erecting, constructing and maintaining a nuisance, which nuisance
the Township is hereby authorized and directed to abate in the manner
provided by law.
No connection shall be made to the sewer system,
except in compliance with the ordinances and resolutions, as well
as such rules and regulations as may from time to time be enacted,
adopted, approved or promulgated by the Township or the Authority.
After the expiration of the particular periods specified in § 66-3 of this article, if any person owning an occupied building on property accessible to the sewer system shall have failed to connect such property with the sewer system as required by said § 66-3, the Township shall cause to be served on such person owning such property so failing to connect to said system and also upon the occupants of the building in question a copy of this article and a written or printed notice requiring such connection to be made, and such notice shall further state that its requirements shall be complied with within 30 days from the date thereof.
Persons, firms and corporations desiring to
do plumbing intended to be connected to the sewer system shall obtain
from the Secretary of the Township, in the form to be provided, a
permit entitling the applicant to engage in regular or particular
work during the calendar year in which the permit is granted, for
which permit a fee of $5 shall be charged. The permit thus granted
is revocable at the will of the Township, and the permit is renewable
from year to year by endorsement or by exchange for a new permit at
the discretion of the Secretary of the Township. No plumbing or connections
shall be made without this permit.[1]
A.
Any person, firm or corporation which, for a period
of at least one year previous to the passage of this article, has
been regularly engaged in the plumbing business in the Township shall
be deemed competent to initially obtain a permit; and all other persons,
firms or corporations desiring to do plumbing business in the Township
or to do a particular piece of work to be connected with the sewer
system shall exhibit such evidence of competency as said Township
from time to time may require.
B.
Any plumber or other person who shall neglect or refuse
to take out a permit or comply with the provisions of this article
shall not be deemed competent to perform any work intended to be connected
with the sewers, and no work performed by such plumbers or other persons
shall be connected with any sewers.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985[1]]
A.
Any person owning an occupied building upon property
accessible to the sewer system required to install a house sewer from
the service lateral to such building shall first make written application
on the form furnished by the Township. The application must be signed
by such person or his duly authorized agent and must be completely
filled out in all its parts.
B.
No person owning any premises connected with the sewer
system or tenant of such premises shall permit another person or premises
to use or connect with his service lateral or house sewer, except
upon written permit from the Township.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
A.
Before making any connection from the house sewer
to the service lateral, a permit shall be obtained from the Township.
A permit authorizing such connection may be granted after proper application
therefor has been made to the Township and upon payment of the connection
charge. No sewer connection or disconnection shall be made except
under the supervision, control and approval of the Township's authorized
representative.
B.
Upon completion of each connection, the permit shall
be returned to the Township for approval, and the approved permit
shall be then returned to the person to whom it was issued. The person
making the application shall be responsible, together with the owner
if the application is made by a tenant, for all sewage bills and the
proper observance of the rules and regulations.
C.
When the premises is vacated, the user shall give
notice to the representative of the Township. A new application for
service shall be made upon change of user of a property, and the Township
may discontinue service until such new application has been made and
approved by the Township or its representative.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
In cases where an individual, builder or developer
desires to install sewer lines, service laterals and house sewers
to a house or to every housing unit within a housing development prior
to individual use or sale, he may do so upon meeting all conditions
as set forth in this section and in other sections of this chapter.
A.
Plot plans for a development must be submitted to
the Township for approval prior to any house construction.
B.
Sewer plans conforming to all original specifications established by the Authority or Township shall be designed in compliance with either the method in Subsection B(1) or the method in Subsection B(2), stipulated below:
(1)
The individual, builder or developer may request
the Authority to provide plans and detailed design of the sewer system
for the extensions, including approvals from the necessary state agencies.
The engineering fees for the design will be in accordance with the
current schedule of suggested minimum fees of the Pennsylvania Society
of Professional Engineers, together with necessary legal and other
costs, and shall be paid by the individual, builder or developer.
The total of the estimated engineering fee and the other estimated
costs must be deposited with the Authority before design commences.
(2)
The individual, builder or developer may procure
design of these extensions directly from any professional engineer
qualified and competent in the field of sanitary engineering design.
In such case, the plans and detail design must conform to the standard
of design of the presently constructed sewer system. The completed
plans shall be submitted to the Authority for approval. Any revisions
in design considered necessary in the opinion of the Authority shall
be made by the Authority at cost of time and materials, legal and
other expenses and paid for by the developer. The Authority shall
approve any planned connection to the sewer system upon the recommendation
of the consulting engineer of the Authority and undertake to secure
approvals from the necessary state agencies. An amount equal to the
estimated cost of approval, necessary revisions and all other costs
shall be deposited with the Authority before such revisions and approval
are made.
C.
Such approved extensions may then be constructed by
and at the expense of the individual, builder or developer but only
under the inspection of an inspector for the Authority, designated
by the Township or the Authority. The cost of such inspection shall
be borne by the individual, builder or developer making the extension.
The estimated cost of the inspection of construction shall be deposited
with the Authority before construction commences.
D.
Upon the completion of the extension to the sewer
system of the West Goshen Sewer Authority, the individual, builder
or developer shall deed the extension, free of all encumbrances, to
the Authority. The extension to the sewer system shall be accepted
by the Authority only after a certificate is issued by the consulting
engineer of the Authority. No connections shall be made to the extension
until the engineer's certificate has been issued and accepted by the
Authority. When the extension has been accepted by the Authority,
all connections shall be made in accordance with this chapter, including
all the necessary inspections of house sewers, securing of permits
and other pertinent requirements.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
Unless written permission is obtained from the
Township, a separate house sewer will be required for each individual
building or house whether constructed as a detached unit or as one
of a pair or row, but a single house sewer will be permitted to serve
a school, factory, an apartment house or other permanent multiple
unit structure whose individual apartments or units may not be subject
to separate ownership.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
A single house sewer will be permitted to serve
a double house in which the house drain is common to both houses or
is not readily separable. In such a case, it will be necessary for
each owner to make separate application and pay separate connection
charges for the installation and pay the prescribed sewer rentals
for each property. In addition, it will be necessary for both property
owners to sign an agreement relieving the Township of any responsibility
or obligation caused by or resulting from installation of a single
house sewer. The agreement shall provide that any disagreement between
the two parties concerning future maintenance of the common house
drain and house sewer will be sufficient cause for the Township to
require the installation of additional connections to the sewer main
to provide individual house sewers and service laterals to both houses.
The installation of such separate service lateral from the sewer main
to the curb, as well as the new house sewers from the curb to the
property, shall be made at the joint expense of the property owners
signing the agreement.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
House sewers shall be subject at all times to
the inspection and approval of the Township or its representative
who shall have supervision and control over the same. Any house sewer
not so approved shall be relaid at the expense of the property owner
if ordered by the Township or its representative. During construction
of the sanitary sewers, the service lateral will be installed by the
Authority to the curbline, and the house sewer connection shall be
made, by and at the sole expense of the property owners, to the service
lateral heretofore constructed. After completion of construction of
the sewer system any additional service lateral and house sewer shall
be constructed from the street sewer main to the building by and at
the expense of the property owner who has obtained a permit. All service
laterals and house sewers heretofore or hereafter installed shall
be maintained by and at the sole expense of the property owner.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
A.
All building sewers shall be constructed of one of
the following types of pipe:
B.
C.
The pipe shall be installed with a minimum grade of
1.00%, have the best possible alignment and have adequate cover to
protect the line from crushing or frost action. All service laterals
and house sewers shall be constructed in accordance with the Specifications
for the Construction of the Sanitary Sewerage System of West Goshen
Sewer Authority on file in the Township office.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
A.
Cleanouts shall be provided in each house sewer and
at intervals to permit complete rodding with a one-hundred-foot-long
auger or tape. Cleanouts shall be constructed by using a Y-fitting
in the run of pipe with a forty-five-degree bend and riser to the
ground surface. The riser pipe must be provided with a standard four-inch
screw-type ferrule.
B.
All connections to the sewer system must be provided
with a house trap between the main house drain and the house sewer.
Traps shall be of the running type with approved cleanouts and fresh
air inlet on the upstream side.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
Wherever in the opinion of the Township or its
representative the trenching conditions require either a specific
type of pipe, jointing material or encasement in concrete, such materials
as it may direct shall be installed to protect the property owner
and/or the Township for special conditions as follows:
A.
Where the trench is less than four feet deep in a
trafficked roadway, special bedding, consisting of crushed stone or
concrete cradle, as directed by the Engineer or representative of
the Township must be used.
B.
Service laterals and house sewers for all service
stations, garages or other establishments storing, using or dispensing
gasoline, kerosene, benzene or similar solvents shall be constructed
of cast-iron pipe with leaded joints.
C.
Where lines are laid in fill, extra-heavy cast-iron
pipe with lead joints shall be used.
D.
Where foundation conditions are poor due to groundwater
or subsurface materials, a base of Pennsylvania Department of Highways
No. 2B crushed stone at least six inches in depth shall be applied.
E.
Where rock is encountered, it shall be excavated to
a depth of four inches below the bottom of the pipe and the trench
refilled to the grade line with clean earth or crushed stone.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
A.
Connections to service laterals, if of the same pipe
size, shall be made by proper joining to the bell end of the service
lateral provided. If cast-iron pipe four inches in diameter is used,
the connection shall be made with a standard reducing fitting of PVC
or cast iron. This applies also to the connection of the house drain
to the house sewer pipe. Projecting the smaller pipe into the larger
and sealing will not be permitted. Where a house sewer is made with
pipe larger in diameter than the six-inch service lateral provided,
the house sewer shall be extended to the sewer main and properly connected
as specified herein.
B.
Connections to street sewer mains where no branch
fitting has been previously provided shall be made with an approved
saddle-type fitting properly installed and encased in a six-inch envelope
of concrete extending completely around the barrel of the sewer main
pipe.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
Whenever the surface of any street, sidewalk or cartway is disturbed by construction of any service lateral or other required connection, it shall be the responsibility of the permit holder to restore the surfacing material in kind. Any and all such construction shall be in compliance with all applicable Township ordinances and regulations, including Chapter 70 hereof, and all necessary permits shall be obtained from the Township before construction is commenced, including the permit required for opening or disturbing the surface of the street, sidewalk or cartway.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
The construction of service laterals and house
sewers shall, at all times, be subject to supervision and inspection
by the Township or its representative and shall conform to the Authority
and Township specifications. The service laterals and house sewers
shall not be covered until permitted by the Engineer or Township representative,
and all backfilling of trenches shall be under their supervision and
shall be thoroughly compacted by tamping in six-inch layers to a minimum
height of 12 inches above the pipe.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
Connections with sewers where same are run through
private property shall in all respects be governed by this chapter.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
The Township shall have the right to close or disconnect from the sewer system any service lateral or house sewer used for carrying any discharge prohibited by this chapter or regulations adopted and promulgated hereunder, subject to the procedure established in § 66-40.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
It shall be the sole responsibility of the owner
of any house, occupied building or any structure whatsoever connected
to the sewer system to maintain the service lateral. More specifically,
the owner shall at his sole expense promptly and properly repair all
leaks, stoppages and defective plumbing and service laterals. In particular,
the owner shall take whatever action is necessary and appropriate
to eliminate the infiltration/inflow into the service lateral of rainwater,
surface water, groundwater or other objectionable material.
[Added 5-28-1985 by Ord. No. 7-1985]
The Township shall not be liable for a deficiency
or failure of service when occasioned by an emergency, required repairs
or failure from any cause beyond its control. The Township reserves
right to restrict the use of sewer service whenever the public welfare
so requires. In consideration of the right to connect to the sewer
system, the Township shall not be liable for any damage or expense
resulting from leaks, stoppages or defective plumbing or from any
other cause occurring to any premises or within any building; and
it is hereby expressly agreed by all persons making connection with
the sewer system that no claims shall be made against the Township
on account of the breaking or stoppage of, or any damage or expense
to, any house sewer where the cause thereof is found to be in such
house sewer.
[Amended 3-4-1964; 11-13-1979 by Ord. No. 7-1979]
A.
Any person who violates or permits the violation of
any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof in a
summary proceeding brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall
be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $100 and not
more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution. In default of payment
thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county
prison for a term of not more than 30 days. Each section or provision
of this article that is violated shall constitute a separate offense,
and each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this article
is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which
violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the District
Justice of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs
of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of
not more than 30 days. All fines and penalties collected for the violation
of this article shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.
[Amended 6-23-1992 by Ord. No. 9-1992; 7-24-1996 by Ord. No.
7-1996; 3-12-1997 by Ord. No. 2-1997]
B.
Fines and costs imposed under provisions of this article
shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner and at the time
provided by applicable law.
C.
Each occupied building, as hereinbefore defined, whether
or not the owners thereof shall be permitted to connect two or more
occupied buildings or units by a single common connection to a lateral
of the sewer system or shall be required to make separate connections
for each occupied building or unit, shall constitute a separate and
distinct unit under the provisions of this article, and the persons
owning occupied buildings, consisting of multiple units contained
in the same structure, who violate any of the provisions of this article,
shall be subject to the aforesaid fine for each and every one of such
occupied buildings or units which are in violation of the provisions
of this article.
