[Adopted 4-6-1982 as Ch. 174, Art. II, of the 1981 Code]
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows:
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Liquid waste resulting from any commercial, manufacturing or industrial operations or processes.
SANITARY SEWAGE
Waste from water closets, urinals, lavatories, sinks, bathtubs, shower baths, household laundries, cellar floor drains, private garage floor drains, bars, soda and refreshment counters, cuspidors, refrigerator drips, drinking fountains and stable floor drains.
All owners of property served by the sanitary sewer system or sewage disposal facilities of the borough, either directly or indirectly, shall pay an annual sewer rental fee for such service.
Amended 5-4-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
Any person desiring to utilize the sanitary sewer system and sewage disposal facilities of the borough, either directly or indirectly, for the disposition and treatment of industrial wastes shall, before making or permitting to be made any connection with such sanitary sewerage system, apply to and procure from the Borough an industrial waste disposal permit. Such application shall be accompanied by a complete written report of an analysis of such industrial wastes by a recognized authority acceptable tot he Borough and the contemplated quantity thereof and shall contain such other information as the Borough from time to time requires.
[Amended 12-21-1982 by Ord. No. 82-26; 12-5-1989 by Ord. No. 89-25[1]; 3-3-1992 by Ord. No. 92-5]
A. 
Where the sole source of water supply to the property is through the facilities of the Pennsylvania American Water Company, Norristown District, the annual sewer rental rates for the year 1992 shall be computed by the Borough of Norristown upon the basis of a percentage of the annual bill of said company for water supplied to said property; such annual bill to be determined by adding the water readings for the first twelve (12) months immediately prior to December 31, 1991. The bills shall be mailed prior to March 15 with a two-percent discount period ending May 31, a no-discount period ending July 31, and a ten-percent penalty shall be added to all bills paid after July 31. Single residential dwellings that are connected to the Norristown Sewer System to dispose of their wastewater but have a water supply other than public water, such as a well, shall be charged a flat rate of one hundred dollars ($100.) per year for 1992. Each subsequent year thereafter, they shall be charged the average rate charged to all single residential property owners.
(1) 
For each single dwelling and double dwelling where sanitary sewage only is discharged into the sanitary sewer system and/or sanitary disposal facilities of the Borough: 52% of said water bill.
(2) 
For each plant, business, industry or enterprise engaged in processing, fabricating, manufacturing or treating metals and/or metal products where industrial wastes are discharged into the sanitary sewage system and/or sewage disposal facilities of the Borough of Norristown and for each automobile laundry which discharges wastes other than sanitary sewages into the sanitary sewage system and/or sewage disposal facilities of the borough and for each commercial laundry, dry-cleaning and/or dyeing establishment or rug- or carpet-cleaning establishment: eighty percent (80%) of said water bill.
(3) 
For all other commercial, business or industrial establishments, buildings, plants or enterprises where industrial wastes are discharged into the sanitary sewage system and/or sewage disposal facilities of the borough: one hundred percent (100%) of said water bill.
(4) 
For each multiple dwelling or dwelling units where sanitary sewage only is discharged into the sanitary sewer system and/or sanitary disposal facilities of the borough: one hundred percent (100%) of said water bill.
[Added 3-3-1992 by Ord. No. 92-5]
B. 
Nonlocal district.
(1) 
Where the sole source of water supply to a property is not the Keystone Water Company, Norristown District, the sewer rental rates shall be established by estimating the amount of water not supplied by the company and adding thereto the amount supplied by the company, establishing what the water rental rate would be if the water company were the sole source of supply and then fixing the percentage for sewer rental rates as heretofore established.
(2) 
The duty of estimating the amount of water supplied by sources other than the water company is hereby placed upon the Borough, which, to that end, may require such properties to be equipped with water meters or other measuring devices and may require the owners or occupants of such properties to disclose all sources of water supply.
[Amended 5-4-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that the sewer rates set in this ordinance shall continue from year to year unless changed by a subsequent ordinance and shall be based upon the prior year's water usage.
[Amended 5-4-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
In exceptional circumstances where water consumption provides no criterion for sewer use by properties served by the sanitary sewer system or sewage disposal facilities of the Borough, the owner of a property so served may be required to install sewage meters or other devices for the purpose of measuring the quantity of industrial waste discharged into the sewage system of the borough, or the quantity of such industrial waste may be otherwise determined by the Borough. In either event, the Borough Council shall establish the annual sewer rental rate to be charged, which rental rate shall be based upon the quantity, nature and character of the industrial waste so discharged and the difficulty and expense involved in disposing of the same.
The annual sewer rental rates provided for in the preceding §§ 258-17 and 258-18 are hereby levied and charged against all properties in the borough served by the sanitary sewer system or sewage disposal facilities of the borough and the owners of such properties and shall be a lien on such property.
A. 
The annual sewer rental rates provided for in the preceding §§ 258-17 through 258-19 shall be payable quarterly on the first day of January, April, July and October of every year, and bills for the same shall be mailed to the property owners on or before such dates. In the event that the quarterly payments for sewer bills are not paid on or before the 20th day of the month when such payment is due, a ten-percent late charge will be assessed on each late payment. In addition to the late charge, there will be imposed an interest charge of ten percent (10%) per annum for all late payments.
[Amended 8-2-1983 by Ord. No. 83-7]
B. 
Such annual sewer rental rates shall be a lien on the properties charged with the payment thereof, as provided by the preceding § 258-19, from the dates as above provided and, if not paid after thirty (30) days' notice, may be collected by an action of assumpsit, in the name of the borough, against the owner of the property charged or by distress of personal property on the premises or by a lien filed in the nature of a municipal lien; provided, however, that failure to receive a sewer rental bill or notice shall not relieve a property owner from the payment of sewer rental in the amounts and at the times herein prescribed.
Such annual sewer rental rates shall not exceed the amount expended annually by the borough in maintenance, repair, alteration, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in relation to the sanitary sewer system and sewage disposal facilities of the borough and any interest on money expended by the borough in the construction of the sewer system.
The annual sewer rentals, as collected, shall be segregated and deposited in a special account, to be known as the "Sewer Rental Fund," and shall be expended by the borough for no purposes other than maintenance, repair, alteration, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in relation to the sanitary sewer system and sewage disposal facilities of the borough and any interest on money expended by the borough in the construction of the sewer system, unless other expenditures from such fund shall hereafter be authorized by law.