[Ord. No. 11-0248 §1, 8-9-2011]
As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have these
prescribed meanings:
AERATION TREATMENT UNIT (ATU)
A unit that pretreats wastewater by adding air to break down
organic matter, reduce pathogens, and transform nutrients.
AGGREGATE
Graded hard rock that has been washed with water under pressure
over a screen during or after grading to remove fine material and
with a hardness value of three (3) or greater on Mohs' Scale of Hardness.
Aggregate that will scratch a copper penny without leaving any residual
rock material on the coin has a hardness value of three (3) or greater
on Mohs' Scale of Hardness.
ALLUVIUM SOIL
Parent material which was transported and deposited in a
running water setting.
ALTERNATIVE
An on-site sewage treatment system employing methods and devices as presented in Article
VI of this code.
APPROVED
Considered acceptable by the Jefferson County Code Official.
AUTHORIZED SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
An organization, group, individual, or other entity that
is authorized by a manufacturer to distribute, sell, install, or service
on-site sewage treatment systems.
AVERAGE
The sum of individual measurements taken during a given period
divided by the total number of measurements taken during the same
period.
BAFFLE
A device installed in a septic tank for proper operation
of the tank and to provide maximum retention of solids. This includes
vented sanitary tees and submerged pipes in addition to those devices
normally called baffles.
BEDROCK
That layer of geologic material which is consolidated.
BEDROOM
Any room within a dwelling that might reasonably be used
as a sleeping room. The number of bedrooms in a residence as given
by an appraiser will be used in determining volumes in the sizing
of an on-site sewage treatment systems.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD5)
The concentration of oxygen (expressed as mg/l) utilized
by microorganisms in the oxidation of organic matter during a five
(5) day period at a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius (20°C)
(sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit (68°F)).
BUILDING SEWER
That part of the drainage system that extends from the end
of the building drain and conveys its discharge to an on-site sewage
treatment system.
CESSPOOL
A covered excavation in the ground receiving sewage or other
organic wastes from a drainage system, and is designed to retain the
organic matter and solids, permitting the liquids to seep into the
soil cavities.
CODE COMMISSION
The Jefferson County, Missouri, Code Commission as set forth
in the Home Rule Charter of Jefferson County, Missouri.
CODE OFFICIAL
The Director of the Department of County Services and Code
Enforcement or designee for Jefferson County, Missouri.
COLLUVIUM
Soil transported under the influence of gravity.
COLOR
The moist color of the soil based on the Munsell soil color
system.
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
All of the written, graphic and pictorial documents prepared
or assembled for describing the design, location and physical characteristics
of the elements of the project necessary for obtaining a building
permit. The construction drawings shall be drawn to an appropriate
scale.
CONVENTIONAL SOIL ABSORPTION SYSTEM
A system employing gravity flow from the septic or other
treatment tank and applying effluent to the soil through the use of
a seepage trench, bed or pit.
DISTRIBUTION PIPE
A perforated rigid pipe that is used to distribute sewage
tank effluent in a soil treatment system.
DOSING DEVICE PUMP
Siphon or other device that discharges sewage tank effluent
from the dosing chamber to the soil treatment system.
DOSING SOIL ABSORPTION SYSTEM
A system employing a pump or automatic siphon to elevate
or distribute effluent to the soil through the use of a seepage trench
or bed.
DWELLING
Any building or place used or intended to be used by human
occupants as a residential unit(s).
EFFLUENT
Liquid discharged from a septic or other treatment tank.
EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM
Any system or method which has not yet been evaluated and
approved by the Code Enforcement Division.
FAILURE
A condition of on-site sewage treatment system that threatens
the public health by inadequately treating sewage or by creating a
potential for direct or indirect contact between sewage and the public.
Examples of failure include, but not limited to:
1.
Sewage on the surface of the ground;
2.
Sewage backing up into a structure caused by slow soil absorption
of septic tank effluent;
3.
Sewage leaking from a treatment tank, pump chamber, holding
tank, or collection system;
4.
Cesspool or seepage pits where evidence of ground water or surface
water quality degradation exists;
5.
Inadequately treated effluent contaminating ground water or
surface water; or
6.
Non-compliance with standards stipulated on the permit.
FLOOD FRINGE
That portion of a flood plain located outside of the floodway
encroachment lines, but still subject to inundation by the regulatory
flood.
FLOOD PLAIN
The land area susceptible to being inundated by water from
any source.
FLOODWAY
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
flood plain areas that must be kept free of encroachment so that the
one percent (1%) annual chance flood can be carried without an increase
in flood heights of more than one (1) foot.
GRAVELLESS SYSTEM
An absorption system recognized by the Code Official as an
acceptable method of subsurface treatment of sewage without the required
use of gravel. The following are examples:
1.
Large diameter eight (8) inch and ten (10) inch corrugated,
perforated plastic pipe wrapped in a sheath of spun-bonded filter
wrap;
2.
Chamber system, open bottom structure covered with a filter
fabric, which forms underground chamber over the soil; or
3.
Expanded Polystyrene Aggregate (EPS) System, a twelve (12) inch
gravelless aggregate bound in netting.
GRAY WATER — LIQUID WASTE
Specifically excluding toilet, hazardous, culinary and oily
wastes from a dwelling or other establishment that is produced by
bathing, laundry, or discharges from floor drains.
GREASE TRAP
A device designed and installed to separate and retain oils
and fats from normal wastes while permitting normal wastes to discharge
into the drainage system by gravity.
GROUND ABSORPTION SEWAGE TREATMENT AND TREATMENT SYSTEM
A system that utilizes the soil for the subsurface treatment
of partially treated or treated sewage effluent. The following are
examples:
1.
Chamber system. A system that uses an open
bottom structure which forms an underground chamber over the soil's
infiltrative surface. The wastewater is discharged into the chamber
through a central weir, trough or splash plate and is allowed to flow
over the infiltrative surface in any direction;
2.
Conventional soil absorption system. A system
that distributes effluent by gravity flow from the septic or other
treatment tank and applies effluent to the soil through the use of
a seepage trench or bed;
3.
Dosing soil absorption system. A system that
distributes effluent by a pump or automatic siphon to elevate or distribute
effluent to the soil through use of a seepage trench or bed.
4.
Drip soil absorption system. An experimental
system that distributes effluent through drip lines in a grid pattern
(also known as trickle irrigation);
5.
Pressure distribution system. A soil absorption
system that distributes effluent by a pump and smaller diameter distribution
piping with small diameter perforations to distribute effluent;
6.
Large diameter system. Eight (8) inch and
ten (10) inch corrugated, perforated plastic pipe wrapped in a sheath
of spun-bonded filter wrap; and
7.
Expanded Polystyrene Aggregate (EPS) System. A gravelless aggregate system that uses a fine-free aggregate cylinder,
bound in netting, that distributes effluent from the septic or other
treatment tanks by gravity flow over the soil infiltrative surface
through the use of a seepage trench or bed.
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Any waste or combination of wastes, as determined by the
Hazardous Waste Commission by codes, which, because of its quantity,
concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics,
may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality
or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible,
illness, or pose a present or potential threat to the health of humans
or the environment.
HIGH GROUND WATER
Zones of soil saturation which include: perched water tables,
shallow regional ground water tables or aquifers, or zones that are
seasonally, periodically or permanently saturated.
HIGH WATER LEVEL
The highest known floodwater elevation of any lake, stream,
pond or flowage or the regional flood elevation established by a State
or Federal agency.
HOLDING TANK
A water-tight tank for temporary storage of sewage until
it can be transported to a point of approved treatment.
HORIZON
A layer of soil, approximately parallel to the surface, which
has distinct characteristics relative to adjacent layers.
HUMAN EXCRETA
Undigested food and by-products of metabolism that is passed
out of the human body.
IMMEDIATE HEALTH HAZARD
A condition that is likely to cause an immediate threat to
life of a serious risk to the health, safety, and welfare of the public
if immediate action is not taken.
INSPECTION AGENCY
Any County, State, or Federal agency or any County registered
licensed designer, geologist, sanitarian or on-site soil evaluator
that is involved as a professional with design or site evaluation
of an on-site sewage treatment system.
INTERMITTENT SAND FILTERS
Intermittent sand filters are beds of granular materials
twenty-four (24) to thirty-six (36) inches thick underlain by graded
gravel and collecting pipe. Wastewater is applied intermittently to
the surface of the bed through distribution pipes or troughs and the
bed is under drained to collect and discharge the final effluent.
Uniform distribution is normally obtained by dosing so as to flood
the entire surface of the bed. Filters may be designed to provide
free access (open filters) or may be buried in the ground (buried
filters or subsurface sand filters).
LEGAL DESCRIPTION
An accurate metes and bounds description, a lot and block
number in a recorded subdivision, or a recorded Assessor's plat.
MAJOR MODIFICATION OR MAJOR REPAIR
The redesigning and alteration of an on-site sewage treatment
system by relocation of the system or a part of the system, replacement
of the septic tank or construction of a new absorption field.
MANHOLE
An opening of sufficient size to permit a person to gain
access to a sewer or any portion of an on-site sewage treatment system.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING UNIT
A structure of vehicular, portable design built on a chassis
and designed to be moved from one site to another and to be used with
or without a permanent foundation.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING UNIT PARK
Any plot or plots of ground owned by a person, State or local
government upon which two (2) or more units, occupied for dwelling
or sleeping purposes regardless of mobile unit ownership, are located
and whether or not a charge is made for such accommodation.
MANUFACTURER
The entity that develops, designs, and produces residential
on-site sewage treatment systems.
MOTTLES
Irregular patch of a wide variety of colors.
MOTTLING-SPOTS
Splotches of color interspersed in the dominant color of
a soil material.
MOUND SYSTEM
A system where the soil treatment area is built above the
ground to overcome limits imposed by proximity to water table or bedrock
or by rapidly or slowly permeable soils.
NUISANCE
Public nuisance as known in common law or local regulations;
whatever is dangerous to human life or detrimental to health; whatever
building, structure or premise is not sufficiently ventilated, sewered,
drained, cleaned or lighted in reference to its intended use; and
whatever renders the air or human food or drink or water supply unwholesome.
Sewage, human excreta or other human organic waste discharged or exposed
on the owner's land or any other land from an on-site sewage treatment
system in a manner that makes it a potential instrument or medium
for the breeding of flies and mosquitoes, the production of odors,
or the transmission of disease to or between a person or persons,
or which contaminates surface waters or ground water.
ON-SITE SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM
A sewage treatment and treatment system serving a single
structure with a septic tank and soil absorption field located on
the same parcel as the structure. This term also means an alternative
sewage treatment system, including a substitute for the septic tank
or soil absorption field, a holding tank, a system serving more than
one (1) structure or a system located on a different parcel than the
structure. An on-site sewage treatment system is permitted to be owned
by the property owner or a special purpose district.
ON-SITE SOIL EVALUATOR
An individual licensed by Jefferson County who has a minimum
of fifteen (15) semester credit hours of soils course work, including
a minimum of three (3) hours in the area of soil morphology and interpretations,
and has a minimum of two (2) years of field experience.
OTHER ESTABLISHMENT
Any public or private structure other than a dwelling that
generates sewage.
PERCHED WATER TABLE
A saturated zone above and separated from the water table
by a horizon that is unsaturated.
PERMEABILITY
The ease with which liquids and gases move within the soil
or rock.
PERSON
Any individual, group of individuals, association, trust,
partnership, corporation, person doing business under an assumed name,
the State of Missouri or any department thereof, or any political
subdivision of this State.
PLASTIC LIMIT
The soil moisture content below which the soil may be manipulated
for purposes of installing an on-site sewage treatment system and
above which manipulation will cause compaction, puddling and smearing
as determined by the Code Official. This is not to be confused with
plastic limit as used or defined in the Unified Soil Classification
System.
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
A soil absorption system employing a pump or automatic siphon
and smaller diameter distribution piping with small diameter perforations
to introduce effluent into the soil.
PRIVY
An outhouse or structure used for receiving human excrement
in a container or vault beneath the structure.
PROPERTY OWNER
The person in whose name legal title to the real estate is
recorded.
REGISTERED DESIGN PROFESSIONAL
An architect, engineer registered or licensed to practice
professional architecture or engineering as defined by the statutory
requirements of the Professional Registration Laws of the State in
which the project is to be constructed.
REGISTERED LICENSED DESIGNER
A person or firm that is licensed to perform on-site sewage
treatment system designs in Jefferson County, Missouri.
RESERVE AREA
An area of land approved for the installation of a conforming
system and dedicated for replacement of the on-site sewage treatment
system upon its failure.
RESTRICTIVE HORIZON
A soil horizon that is capable of perching ground water or
sewage effluent and that is brittle and strongly compacted or strongly
cemented with iron, aluminum, silica, organic matter or other compounds.
Restrictive horizons may occur as fragipans, iron pans or organic
pans and are recognized by their resistance in excavation or in use
of a soil auger.
RESTRICTIVE LAYER
A stratum impeding the vertical movement of water, air, and
growth of plant roots, such as hardpan, claypan, fragipan, caliche,
some compacted soils, bedrock and unstructured clay soils.
ROCK FRAGMENTS
The percentage by volume of rock fragments in a soil that
is greater than two millimeters (2 mm) in diameter or retained on
a Number 10 sieve which may include, but is not restricted to, chert,
sandstone, shale, limestone or dolomite.
SANITARIAN
A person registered either as a sanitarian or environmental
health professional by the National Environmental Health Association
or the Missouri Board of Certification for Environmental Health Professionals
or employed as a sanitarian or environmental health professional by
the Code Official.
SEEPAGE BED
An excavated area larger than three (3) feet in width, which
contains a bedding of aggregate and has more than one (1) distribution
line.
SEEPAGE TRENCH
An area excavated one (1) foot to three (3) feet in width,
which contains a bedding of aggregate and a single distribution line.
SEPTAGE
Those solids and liquids removed during periodic maintenance
of a septic or aeration unit tank or those solids and liquids removed
from a holding tank.
SEPTIC TANK
Any water-tight, covered receptacle designed and constructed
to receive the discharge of sewage from a building sewer, separate
solids from liquid, digest organic matter, store liquids through a
period of detention and allow the clarified liquids to discharge to
an on-site sewage treatment system.
SETBACK
A separation distance measured horizontally.
SEVERE GEOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS
Site-specific geologic conditions which are indicative of
rapid recharge of an aquifer and likely ground water contamination.
Locations with significant ground water contamination potential shall
be investigated by a registered geologist to determine if the site
has severe geological limitations. Standardized criteria for determination
of severe geological limitations are available from the Department
of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Land Survey.
SEWAGE
Any water-carried domestic waste, exclusive of footings and
roof drainage. Domestic waste includes, but is not limited to, liquid
waste produced by bathing, laundry, culinary operations, liquid wastes
from toilets and floor drains and specifically excludes animal waste
and commercial process water. Also known as wastewater.
SEWAGE FLOW
Flow as determined by measurement of actual water use or,
if actual measurements are unavailable, as estimated by the best available
data provided by Table 601.2.3(a).
SIGNIFICANT GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION POTENTIAL
Any condition that would cause or indicate rapid recharge
of an aquifer. This includes, but is not limited to, the following
conditions or parameters: a water sample from an on-site well which
exceeds drinking water standards, with respect to fecal coliform;
a hydrologic connection is established between the on-site sewage
treatment system and any well; a treatment field to be placed in Class
V soils or soils with a percolation rate less than ten (10) minutes
per inch; a treatment field within one hundred (100) feet of the topographic
drainage of a sinkhole; or a sewage tank with fifty (50) feet of the
topographic drainage of a sinkhole.
SINKHOLE
A land surface depression that is hydraulically connected
with a subterranean passage developed by a solution or collapse into
the underlying bedrock, or both.
SITE
The area bounded by the dimensions required for the proper
location of the on-site sewage treatment system.
SLOPE
The ratio of vertical rises or falls to horizontal distance.
SOIL
The naturally occurring, unconsolidated mineral or organic
material of the land surface developed from rock or other parent material
and consisting of sand, silt and clay sized particles and variable
amount of organic materials.
SOIL CHARACTERISTICS, LIMITING
Those soil characteristics which preclude the installation
of a standard system, including, but not limited to, evidence of water
table or bedrock closer than three (3) feet to the ground surface
and percolation rates slower than one hundred twenty (120) minutes
per inch.
SOIL MORPHOLOGY EXAMINATION
The method of testing absorption qualities of the soil by
physical examination of the soil's color, mottling, textures, structure,
topography and hill slope position.
SOIL SATURATION
The condition that occurs when all the pores in soil are
filled with water.
SOIL TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION
Soil particle sizes or textures specified in this code refer
to the soil textural classification in the "Soil Survey Manual Handbook
Number 18", U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1993.
SOIL TREATMENT AREA
That area of trench or bed bottom that is in direct contact
with the trench rock of the on-site sewage treatment system.
SUBDIVISION
The division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two (2)
or more lots, tracts or other divisions of land.
SUBSURFACE SOIL ABSORPTION SYSTEM
A system for the final renovation of the sewage tank effluent
and return of the renovated wastewater to the hydrologic cycle, including
the lateral lines, the perforated pipes, the rock material or other
approved gravelless aggregate chamber or gravelless pipe system and
the absorption trenches. Included within the scope of this definition
are sewage tank absorption system, privies, chemical toilets, single-family
lagoons and other similar systems.
TREATMENT TANK
A water-tight tank used in the treatment of sewage, which
includes, but is not limited to, septic tanks and aeration treatment
units.
TRENCH ROCK
Clean rock, washed creek gravel or similar insoluble, durable
and decay-resistant material free from dust, sand, silt or clay. The
size shall range from one (1) inch to two and one-half (2½)
inches.
VALVE BOX
A device which contains, but is not limited to, caps or plugs
on distribution or drop box outlets, divider boards, butterfly valves,
gate valves or other mechanisms.
VENT CAP
An approved appurtenance used for covering the vent terminal
of an effluent treatment system to avoid closure by mischief or debris
and still permit circulation of air within the system.
VERTICAL ELEVATION REFERENCE POINT
An easily identifiable stationary point or object of constant
elevation for establishing the relative elevation of percolation tests,
soil borings and other locations.
VERY SLOWLY PERMEABLE
Soils, bedrock and soil horizon or layer having a vertical
permeability less than one (1) inch in twenty-four (24) hours.
WASTE
Sewage, human excreta or domestic sewage.
WASTEWATER STABILIZATION POND
A sealed earthen basin that uses the natural unaided biological
processes to stabilize wastewater (also known as a sewage lagoon).
WATER TABLE
The highest elevation in the soil or rock where all voids
are filled with water, as evidenced by presence of water or soil mottling
or other evidence. This includes perched water tables or perched zones
of saturation.
WATERCOURSE
A stream usually flowing in a particular direction, though
it need not flow continually and is sometimes dry. A watercourse flows
in a definite channel, with a bed, sides or banks, and usually discharges
itself into some other stream or body of water. It must be something
more than a mere surface drainage over the entire face of a tract
of land, occasioned by unusual freshets or other extraordinary cause.
It does not include the water flowing in the hollows or ravines in
land, which is the mere surface water from rains or melting snows,
and is discharged through them from a higher to a lower level, but
which at other times are destitute of water. Such hollows or ravines
are not, in legal contemplation, watercourses.
WORKMANSHIP
Work of such character that will fully secure the results
sought in all the Sections of this code as intended for the health,
safety and welfare protection of all individuals.