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City of Yonkers, NY
Westchester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A. 
Permit required. No person shall undertake to construct or provide a system or facilities for the disposal of waterborne sewage, domestic or trade wastes or human excrement to serve any building, dwelling, school, institution or premises in or from which such wastes may be discharged unless such construction conforms to standards approved by the Commissioner of Public Works.
B. 
Such plans for construction shall be submitted for approval to the Commissioner of Public Works; and after approval of such plans, he shall issue a permit.
It shall be the duty of the owner of every building, dwelling, school, institution or premises now or hereafter erected upon any land adjacent or accessible to a public sewer to cause said building, dwelling, school, institution or premises to be properly connected with such sewer; and no such building, dwelling, school, institution or premises hereafter erected shall be inhabited, occupied or used by any person before the same shall be connected with a public sewer, if practicable, in the judgment of the Commissioner of Public Works. The Commissioner of Public Works may issue an order upon the owner of any property whereon any other method of sewage or liquid waste disposal, including private sewers, long house connections or multiple-house connections, is located requiring said owner to abandon the use of such other method of sewage or liquid-waste disposal within a period of not more than 30 days and to connect with such public sewer system.
A. 
No sewage, human excrement or liquid waste may be discharged, deposited or permitted to flow on the surface of the ground.
B. 
No person shall be allowed to disconnect, break or relocate a sewer pipe without permission from the Commissioner of Public Works, and the breakage of any sewer piping shall be repaired by the owner within a twenty-four-hour period.
The operator of every sewage treatment plant shall furnish such records and reports as may be deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Public Works for ascertaining the effectiveness of the plant operation.
A. 
No person shall open or enter, or cause to be opened or entered, any manhole of any public sewer to dispose of garbage or other deleterious substances or storm- or surface waters or for any other like purpose not provided for by permits issued in compliance with this chapter.
B. 
No person shall connect a building, dwelling, school, institution or premises to a sewer or make an industrial sewer connection to a public sewer except with the consent of the Commissioner of Public Works.
A. 
No person shall engage in the business or practice of cleaning of subsurface sewage disposal systems or the emptying and removal of such sewage, sludge or human excrement unless such person shall have applied for a permit from the Commissioner of Public Works. After approval of the equipment to be used and the application, a permit shall be issued.
B. 
No person shall remove or dispose of any sewage, human excrement or liquid waste without first obtaining permission therefor from the Commissioner of Public Works for such removal or disposal. Disposal of such sewage, human excrement or liquid waste shall be at a place and in a manner designated by the Commissioner of Public Works. Notice of 24 hours shall be given to the Commissioner of Public Works before such removal or disposal takes place.
A. 
No person shall allow or cause to be allowed, in or on any court, yard, area or the premises of any habitable building or in or on any vacant lot or other place or direct or divert the flow on the property of others, any surface drainage which may be or may become a public health nuisance.
B. 
The location of manholes, cleanouts and other such appurtenances shall be installed as directed by the Director of the Bureau of Plumbing.
C. 
Where a proposed long house connection passes through private property other than the property to be served by said house connection, the applicant shall furnish an easement of at least five feet in width, said easement to be shown on the drawings submitted with the application. Said easement shall be recorded in the County Clerk's office, and a copy of the recorded easement shall be filed with the Director of the Bureau of Plumbing.
D. 
Upon completion of the work, a certificate will be required from the professional engineer who prepared the plan and profile attesting to the fact that the work has been completed and installed in accordance with the plan, profile and specifications.
E. 
The diameter of a long house connection shall be based upon the estimated design flow. However, in no case shall the long house connection be less than six inches in diameter, and said connection shall be constructed of extra-heavy cast-iron pipe. In the event that the estimated design flow requires a pipe size in excess of six inches in diameter or the pipeline is to serve more than one structure, construction of a private sewer will be required.
All extensions to the sewer system shall conform to the minimum requirements set up in the New York State Department of Health Rules and Regulations for the Preparation of Plans for Sewerage and Sewage Disposal and Waste Disposal Systems, Bulletin I, Part I, and the Recommended Standards for Sewage Works.
A. 
Private sewers.
(1) 
"Private sewers" shall be construed to mean pipelines, installed by persons or corporations or agencies other than the City of Yonkers, to convey domestic or industrial waste to the City of Yonkers sewer system, which will be dedicated to the City of Yonkers and be incorporated in the overall sewer system. Connection by adjacent property owners shall be permitted free of charge, except for necessary permits and fees required by the City of Yonkers.
(2) 
Sewers constructed by private interests in a public street, upon satisfactory completion, will automatically become a portion of the overall sewer system of the City of Yonkers.
(3) 
The minimum size of private sanitary sewers shall be eight inches, and they shall be designed to meet the minimum standards outlined in Bulletin I, Recommended Standards for Sewage Works, and the requirements and specifications of the Department of Public Works, City of Yonkers.
B. 
Connection to sanitary sewer system. The owner of any habitable building or property used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purpose abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is a public or private sewer shall be required to connect to such sewer by individual connection to each building site.
A. 
Application for an individual subsurface sewage disposal system shall be made on a form approved by the Commissioner of Public Works. The plans and a report shall be prepared by a licensed professional engineer and shall include an analysis of the soil, percolation rate, number of bedrooms and other pertinent waste data. The engineer's seal shall be affixed to the plan and signed.
B. 
Cesspools will not be permitted for sewage disposal except where special permission is granted by the Commissioner for the disposal of laundry wastes.
C. 
Individual subsurface sewage disposal systems will not be permitted for the disposal of sewage for subdivisions.
D. 
Lots submitted for approval shall meet all of the following minimum requirements:
(1) 
The lot shall contain no less than the area required in Chapter 43, Zoning, and shall not be subject to appeal for the reduction of the required area.
(2) 
The area for the subsurface sewage disposal system shall contain sufficient area, based upon the percolation rate, to take the design flow and provide for additional space as may be required by the Public Health Engineer for future expansion or for system failure. This area shall not include a ten-foot setback from all buildings, property lines and side yards. A minimum distance of 10 feet is required from a sharp break in slope. The filled-in area shall be sealed with at least a thirty-inch-thick layer of clay around its edges.
(3) 
Soil shall have a percolation rate of at least 15 minutes per inch. The percolation test shall be taken at the bottom of the trench or at the average depth of the dry well, in undisturbed soil.
(4) 
The groundwater shall be more than four feet below the bottom of the trench or pit.
(5) 
Ledge rock shall be at least four feet from the bottom of the trench or pit.
(6) 
Surface, roof, foundation, cellar and cooling water or area drainage must be so disposed of as to:
(a) 
Permit future relocation.
(b) 
Discharge below and not into the sewage disposal area.
(c) 
Provide land-slope drainage away from building walls and footings but not across or into sewage-absorption areas.
(7) 
Raising of the grade in the area for the subsurface sewage disposal system will not be permitted to heights in excess of five feet. The percolation test shall be made in the undisturbed soil.
(8) 
The material to be used as fill shall be approved by the Commissioner of Public Works.
(9) 
The subsurface sewage disposal shall be designed according to the Standards for the Construction of Sewage or Waste Disposal Systems, on file with the Division of Environmental Health.
E. 
The application, plan and engineer's report shall be submitted to the Director of the Division of Environmental Health. After review, if it is found that the plot and surrounding area are suitable for the addition of a subsurface disposal system, a permit will be issued. If, in the professional-engineering judgment of the Director of the Division of Environmental Health, the area is not suitable for additional sewage subsurface systems by virtue of too much rock, high water table, poor drainage, potential flooding or other factors which will cause the system to not operate properly, a permit will be denied.