[Adopted 9-8-1986 as Ord. No. 86-490]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms and phrases used in this article shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
The Upper Merion Municipal Utility Authority, a municipality authority incorporated pursuant to provisions of the Municipal Authorities Act of 1945, approved May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, as amended and supplemented, of the commonwealth.[1]
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure to the lateral of a sewer.
COMMONWEALTH
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within this Township 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 sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any improved property located within this Township and used or intended for use, wholly or in part, for the manufacturing, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembling of any product, commodity or article or any other improved property located in this Township from which wastes, in addition to or other than sanitary sewage, shall be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any and all wastes discharged from any industrial establishment, other than sanitary sewage.
LATERAL
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the property line or, if no such "lateral" shall be provided, then "lateral" shall mean that portion of or place in a sewer which is provided for connection of any building sewer.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any improved property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society, trust, corporation, municipality, municipality authority or other group or entity.
SANITARY SEWAGE
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any improved property.
SEWER
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting, pumping, transmitting, treating and disposing of sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes, situate in or adjacent to this Township, and owned by the Authority.
STREET
Includes any street, road, lane, court, cul-de-sac, alley, public way or public square.
TOWNSHIP
Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a Township of the second class of the commonwealth, acting by and through its Board of Supervisors or, in appropriate cases, acting by and through its authorized representatives.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 301 et seq.
A. 
The owner of any improved property accessible to and whose principal building is within 150 feet from the sewer system shall connect such improved property with and shall use such sewer systems, in such manner as this Township may require, within 60 days after notice to such owner from this Township to make such connection, for the purpose of discharge of all sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from such improved property; subject, however, to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise shall be established by this Township, from time to time.
B. 
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer shall be required under Subsection A, shall be conducted into a sewer; subject, however, to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise shall be established by this Township from time to time.
C. 
No person shall place, shall deposit or shall permit to be placed or to be deposited upon public or private property within this Township any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A. No person shall discharge or shall permit to be discharged to any natural outlet within this Township any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A, except where suitable treatment has been provided which is satisfactory to this Township.
D. 
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be used or shall be maintained at any time upon any improved property which has been connected to a sewer or which shall be required under Subsection A to be connected to a sewer. Every such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at the discretion of this Township, shall be cleansed and shall be filled, at the expense of the owner of such improved property, under the direction and supervision of this Township; and any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by this Township, not cleansed and filled shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance may be abated, as provided by law, at the expense of the owner of such improved property.
E. 
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle at any time shall be connected with a sewer.
F. 
The notice by this Township to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in Subsection A, shall consist of a copy of this article, including any amendments and/or supplements at the time in effect or a summary of each section hereof, and a written or printed document requiring the connection in accordance with the provisions of this article and specifying that such connection shall be made within 60 days after the date such notice is given or served. Such notice may be given or served at any time after a sewer is in place which can receive and can convey sanitary sewage and industrial wastes for treatment and disposal from the particular improved property. Such notice shall be given or served upon the owner in accordance with law.
A. 
No person shall uncover, shall connect with, shall make any opening into or shall use, shall alter or shall disturb, in any manner, any sewer or any part of the sewer system without first obtaining a permit, in writing, from this Township.
B. 
Application for a permit required under Subsection A shall be made by the owner of the improved property served or to be served or by the duly authorized agent of such owner.
C. 
No person shall make or shall cause to be made a connection of any improved property with a sewer until such person shall have fulfilled each of the following conditions:
(1) 
Such person shall have notified the Secretary of this Township of the desire and intention to connect such improved property to a sewer.
(2) 
Such person shall have applied for and shall have obtained a permit as required by Subsection A.
(3) 
Such person shall have given the Secretary of this Township at least 24 hours' notice of the time when such connection will be made so that this Township may supervise and inspect or may cause to be supervised and inspected the work of connection and necessary testing.
(4) 
If applicable, such person shall have furnished satisfactory evidence to the Secretary of this Township that any tapping or connection fee which may be charged and imposed by the Authority against the owner of each improved property who connects such improved property to a sewer has been paid.
D. 
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, each improved property shall be connected separately and independently with a sewer through a building sewer. Grouping of more than one improved property on one building sewer shall not be permitted, except under special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or for other good cause shown, but then only after special permission of this Township, in writing, shall have been secured and only subject to such rules, regulations and conditions as may be prescribed by this Township.
E. 
All costs and expenses of construction of a building sewer and all costs and expenses of connection of a building sewer to a sewer shall be borne by the owner of the improved property to be connected; and such owner shall indemnify and shall save harmless this Township and the Authority from all loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of construction of a building sewer or of connection of a building sewer to a sewer.
F. 
A building sewer shall be connected to a sewer at the place designated by this Township or by the Authority and where, if applicable, the lateral is provided. The invert of a building sewer at the point of connection shall be at the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection of a building sewer to the lateral shall be made secure and watertight.
G. 
If the owner of any improved property located within this Township and accessible to and whose principal building is within 150 feet from the sewer system, after 60 days' notice from this Township in accordance with § 133-102A, shall fail to connect such improved property as required, this Township may enter upon such improved property and construct such connection and may collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof in the manner permitted by law.
A. 
Where an improved property, at the time connection to a sewer is required, shall be served by its own sewage disposal system or sewage disposal device, the existing house sewer line shall be broken on the structure side of such sewage disposal system or sewage disposal device, and attachment shall be made, with proper fittings, to continue such house sewer line as a building sewer.
B. 
No building sewer shall be covered until it has been inspected and approved by this Township. If any part of a building sewer is covered before so being inspected and approved, it shall be uncovered for inspection, at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property, to be connected to a sewer.
C. 
Every building sewer of any improved property shall be maintained in a sanitary and safe operating condition by the owner of such improved property.
D. 
Every excavation for a building sewer shall be guarded adequately with barricades and lights to protect all persons from damage and injury. Any street, sidewalk and other public property disturbed in the course of installation of a building sewer shall be restored, at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property being connected, in a manner satisfactory to this Township.
E. 
If any person shall fail or shall refuse, upon receipt of a notice of this Township or the Authority, in writing, to remedy any unsatisfactory condition with respect to a building sewer, within 60 days of receipt of such notice, this Township or the Authority may refuse to permit such person to discharge sanitary sewage and industrial wastes into the sewer system until such unsatisfactory condition shall have been remedied to the satisfaction of this Township and the Authority.
F. 
This Township reserves the right to adopt, from time to time, additional rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary and proper relating to connections with a sewer and with the sewer system, which additional rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate, shall be and shall be construed as part of this article.
A. 
Any person who shall violate this article shall be liable, upon summary conviction for a first offense and upon summary conviction for each subsequent offense, to a fine as set forth in Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III, General Penalty Provisions, together with costs of prosecution in each case. Each day that a violation shall continue shall be deemed and shall be taken to be a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.
B. 
Fines and costs imposed under provisions of this article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner at the time provided by applicable law.
It is declared that enactment of this article is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of inhabitants of this Township.