[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Coxsackie 7-1-1971. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
No septic tank, tile field, seepage pit, chemical toilet, privy,
pipe or other means for the disposal or discharge of sewage or sink
wastes shall be installed anywhere in the Town of Coxsackie except
as herein provided.
No installation of a septic tank, tile field, seepage pit, chemical
toilet, privy, pipe or other means of disposal or discharge of sewage
or sink wastes shall be begun, nor shall the construction, location
or alteration of any structure intended for human occupancy be commenced
until an application duly filled out on forms supplied by the Town
Clerk and a plot plan showing the intended location of the proposed
disposal system to be used in connection with such structure shall
have been filed in the Town Clerk's office and approved in the
manner hereinafter prescribed. In the case of subdivisions, temporary
residences, mobile home parks or other premises requiring New York
State Health Department approval, such approval must be on file with
the Town Clerk before an application can be accepted.
The Town Board shall appoint a competent Sanitary Inspector
who shall be responsible to the Town Board for the performance of
the duties hereinafter mentioned and whose appointment shall be held
at the pleasure of the Town Board. It shall be the duty of the Sanitary
Inspector:
A.
To receive applications filed with the Town Clerk.
B.
To promptly investigate, when requested by the applicant before installation,
any proposed disposal devices indicated in said application and, when
the proposed installation meets the requirements of this chapter,
to approve the issuance of a permit to proceed with the installation.
C.
To see that the provisions of this chapter are observed and to inspect
the installation after it has been completed but before the system
is covered.
D.
To approve for issuance a certificate of compliance permitting the
use of such installation that conforms to the provisions of this chapter.
One copy of the application shall be returned to the Town Clerk
after approval or disapproval of the completed project by the Sanitary
Inspector. When the project is approved, a certificate of compliance
shall be issued by the Town Clerk. Should a project be disapproved,
the reason(s) for declining a certificate of compliance shall be noted
on two copies of the application, one of which shall be given to the
applicant.
If the Sanitary Inspector declines to approve any proposed installation,
the applicant may appeal to the Town Board, whose approval or rejection
shall be final.
No septic tank, tile field, seepage pit, chemical toilet, privy
or other devices for the storage or disposal of human excreta shall
be installed unless every part of such installation shall be 10 feet
or more from the boundary line of the property on which it is located
and more than 25 feet from any lake or reservoir, stream or watercourse
not protected by rules enacted by the State Commissioner of Health;
nor shall the leaching parts of such installation be located on the
direction of drainage to, nor less than 100 feet in a horizontal direction
from any source of domestic water supply. Systems which are located
on watersheds of public water supplies must comply with the rules
and regulations enacted by the State Department of Health for the
protection of such supplies.
[Amended 5-14-1991 by L.L. No. 4-1991]
No person, firm or corporation, either as owner, lessee or tenant
of any property, dwelling, building or place, shall construct or maintain
a privy, cesspool, sewage disposal system, pipe or drain so as to
expose or discharge the contents or other liquid matter therefrom
to the atmosphere or on the surface of the ground nor so as to endanger
any source of drinking water no person shall discharge any sewage
or sewage effluent from a cesspool, sewage disposal system, pipe or
drain, or any excreta from a privy vault or other receptacle for the
storage of excreta unless a permit for such discharge shall be issued
therefor by the State Health Commissioner, and such discharge shall
be made in accordance with the requirements thereof.
A.
Settling or septic tanks for a single- or two-family dwelling shall
have capacities below the flow line of not less than one day's
flow of sewage based upon 150 gallons per bedroom for small dwellings,
farm houses and summer cottages and 75 gallons per person for large
dwellings, boarding houses and hotels. The minimum size of a septic
tank (approved) is to be 750 gallons working capacity. Septic tanks
must be at least 10 feet outside the foundation of buildings. Drains
from buildings to septic tanks must be watertight and equipped with
a house trap and fresh air vent. They must have a diameter of not
less than four inches. No roof leaders or floor or cellar drains are
to drain into the septic tank. Septic tank effluents shall be disposed
of by discharging to subsurface tile systems, teaching cesspools or
by such other means as may be approved in writing by the Sanitary
Inspector.
A.
A subsurface tile system is hereby defined as a field of perforated
pipe or open joint farm tile laid with proper slope and alignment
below the ground surface in such a fashion as to permit an even flow
from the septic tank into all parts of the tile field. The main distributor
should have diameters of not less than four inches and be laid with
tight joints on uniform slopes not greater than 1% or approximately
1/8 of an inch per foot. Lateral distributors comprising the tile
field should be laid in trenches 24 inches wide when the soil test
indicates a rate of one inch in seven minutes or less and in widths
of up to 36 inches when the rate is slower. Trench depth should be
between 18 inches and 30 inches; depths of less than 24 inches are
preferred.
B.
Individual laterals shall be not longer than 60 feet. The minimum
distance between walls of adjacent trenches should be five feet, although
greater separations are desirable. Laterals of tile field should be
kept 20 feet from cellar walls.
C.
Laterals should have a diameter of not less than four inches and
be laid on uniform slopes not greater than one-sixteenth inch per
foot. Farm tile should be laid with open joints one-fourth inch wide,
protected by strips of tar paper laid over the top and 2/3 around
the circumference of pipe. The entire pipe should be surrounded by
gravel or broken stone 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in size from a level
six inches below the bottom of the tile to a level two inches above
the top of the tile.
D.
Perforated pipe with split couplings or vitrified clay pipe with
open joints may be substituted for farm tile laterals, but when perforated
pipes are used, care must be taken to place the holes so the liquid
will escape at an equal rate along the entire lateral. The top layer
of stone should be covered with hay, straw or untreated building paper
before placing the earth backfill. The placing of laterals over water
service lines is prohibited. Curtain drains of suitable depth and
location shall be provided to intercept surface and groundwater where
necessary. Laterals shall not be any nearer than 25 feet to any lake,
stream or other watercourse or body of water and must not be laid
in swampy soil that cannot take care of drainage. The length of four-inch
tile required should be determined by results of percolation tests
and in accordance with the table given below, except that the minimum
amount of tile which will be approved will be 100 feet.
E.
Results of percolation test, or time for water to fall one inch:
|
Time
(minutes)
|
Two Bedroom, Trench
(inches)
|
Three Bedroom, Trench
(inches)
|
Additional Bedroom, Trench
(inches)
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5
|
100 feet 24
|
100 feet 24
|
32 feet 24
| |
|
10
|
100 feet 36
|
100 feet 36
|
30 feet 36
| |
|
30
|
100 feet 36
|
150 feet 36
|
50 feet 36
| |
|
60
|
250 feet 36
|
375 feet 36
|
125 feet 36
| |
|
More than 60: soil is unsuitable.
| ||||
F.
The property owner or his representative shall contact the Sanitary
Inspector for a percolation test. After proper notification, the Inspector
shall have three working days to witness the percolation test. The
test should be performed as follows: When the Inspector has agreed
on a date, a hole should be dug by the owner or representative under
the supervision of the Inspector one foot square and at a depth equal
to that in which it is proposed to lay the tile drain. Fill with water
to ensure thorough moistening of the soil and allow the water to seep
away. Then, while the bottom of the hole is still moist, fill to a
depth of six inches and observe the time for the water level to fall
one inch. This percolation test shall be done by the Sanitary Inspector.
The Inspector shall inform the owner of the results of the test as
to whether suitable or unsuitable for the installation of a sewage
system.
[Amended 4-29-1986]
A.
Seepage pits or cesspools may be permitted where the topsoil is underlaid
with sand or gravel. They should be preceded by a septic tank. Such
tanks should be made of durable material and construction and of such
proportions that the side area is approximately three times the bottom
area. The bottom of the seepage pit shall be at least two feet above
the groundwater table. The seepage area of a pit or cesspool shall
be calculated as the area of the walls below the flow line plus the
area bottom. The effective seepage area of the walls in square feet
is three times the diameter of the pit multiplied by its depth below
the flow line. The seepage area required for such installations shall
be determined by the results of percolation tests in accordance with
the following table, but no permit will be issued for a seepage pit
unless the character of the soil in which it is located is such that
the groundwater flow appears to be away from any adjoining property
within 50 feet and at least 25 feet from any lake, stream or other
watercourse or body of water. Such installation shall not be located
closer than 100 feet to any source of water supply. No permit will
be issued for a seepage pit or a cesspool where, in the judgment of
the Sanitary Inspector, such installations would be dangerous to the
adjoining property. A minimum of 80 square feet of seepage area must
be provided for any such system.
B.
Results of the percolation test or the time for the water to fall
one inch:
|
Time
(minutes)
|
One Bedroom
(square feet)
|
Two Bedroom
(square feet)
|
Three Bedroom
(square feet)
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5
|
80
|
100
|
150
| |
|
10
|
80
|
140
|
210
| |
|
30
|
135
|
270
|
405
| |
|
60
|
300
|
600
|
900
| |
|
More than 60 minutes: soil is unsuitable.
| ||||
C.
To make a percolation test, dig a pit or sink a test hole to 1/2
the depth of the proposed seepage pit. The bottom of the test hole
should be one foot square. Fill the test hole with water to thoroughly
moisten the soil and allow to drain. While the bottom of the test
hole is still moist, fill with water to a depth of six inches and
observe the time required for the water level to lower one inch. If
more than one seepage pit or cesspool is required in order to obtain
adequate seepage area, a distribution box must be used to equalize
the flow to them. The minimum distances between centers of pits must
be at least three times the diameter of the larger pit.
Outdoor pit privies are permissible only in porous sandy soil
where the groundwater level is at least two feet below the bottom
of the pit. They shall be flytight, properly ventilated and otherwise
constructed as to facilitate maintenance in a sanitary condition.
When the nearby groundwater must be protected or seepage systems
cannot be utilized, a watertight vault privy, a removable receptacle
privy or a chemical toilet can be used if approved by the Sanitary
Inspector and adequate facilities are available for proper sanitary
maintenance and disposal of wastes.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to permit
the installation or maintenance of a disposal facility which is or
may become a nuisance. The Town Health Officer may at any time by
personal inspection determine that existing sewage disposal facilities
are inadequate on a property or do not function properly or that there
is not available an adequate supply of water for use in connection
therewith. In such cases, he shall notify the owner of said premises
in writing of such fact, and a copy of such notice shall be sent to
the Town Clerk. Upon receipt of such notice, it shall be the duty
of the owner, within 10 days, to make application to the Town Clerk
for a permit to reconstruct or alter such disposal system and to complete
such reconstruction or alteration within 30 days after receipt of
such notice. Unless such reconstruction or alteration as is required
shall be completed within said 30 days, it shall be unlawful and improper
to use the said premises for human occupancy until such reconstruction
or alteration is completed and approved in the manner provided for
new installations.
[Amended 5-14-1991 by L.L. No. 4-1991]
The fees for applications, permits and inspections shall be in such amounts as the Town Board shall set by resolution from time to time. The failure to pay any such fee or fees shall be deemed a violation within this chapter and shall be within the purview of § 159-15.
[Amended 5-14-1991 by L.L. No. 4-1991]
Any violation of this chapter, either by occupancy of a structure
without a duly authorized certificate of compliance or by the installation
or use of a septic tank, tile field, seepage pit, chemical toilet,
privy or discharge pipe without compliance with the terms and provisions
of this chapter, is hereby declared to be an infraction and shall
render the owner of the land whereon the same was installed or the
tenant or contractor or other person installing the same guilty of
a violation thereof, liable to a fine not to exceed the sum of $250
or to imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both.
[Added 5-14-1991 by L.L. No. 4-1991]
Nothing in this chapter on sewage disposal shall be deemed or
construed to permit construction or maintenance of a sewage disposal
system not permitted or authorized by the New York State Department
of Health; nor shall this chapter supersede or control prevailing
state law, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with this
chapter.
