Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings
of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
The quantity of dissolved oxygen required for biochemical
oxidation of decomposable organic matter under aerobic conditions
in a period of five days at a temperature of 20° C., expressed
in parts per million by weight. Such BOD shall be determined as described
under the heading "Biochemical Oxygen Demand" in the Standard Methods
for the Examination of Water, Sewage and Industrial Wastes (latest
edition), as published jointly by the American Public Health Association,
the American Water Works Association, and the Federation of Sewage
and Industrial Wastes Association.
COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any structure or store, office or other unit thereof intended
to be used wholly or in part for the purposes of carrying on a trade,
business or profession or for social, amusement, educational, charitable
or public use.
EDU
The estimated annual usage of the sewer system by a single-family
dwelling. Based upon a review of applicable records of the water company
relating to water usage by customers within the Township (made by
the Authority and its consulting engineer), one EDU is hereby established
as a use equalling approximately 74,000 gallons per annum. (Based
upon the same study, it has been determined that the average annual
usage by an individual dwelling unit within a multiple-dwelling building
is approximately 0.8 EDU.)
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any structure or separate unit thereof intended to be used
wholly or in part for the manufacturing, fabricating, processing,
cleaning, laundering or assembly of any product, commodity or article.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes
or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing
of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
PRIVATE DWELLING OR LIVING UNIT
Any structure intended to be occupied as a whole by one family
or an apartment intended to be occupied by one family or any other
one-family living unit.
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from
residences, business buildings, institutions, and commercial and industrial
establishments.
SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS
All facilities for the collection, transportation, treatment
and disposal of sanitary sewage and acceptable industrial waste in
and for the Township operated or caused to be operated by the Township,
Valley Forge Sewer Authority and any other municipality or municipal
authority to which the sewer system is or may hereafter be connected.
SEWER MANAGER
Any person who may, from time to time, be placed in general
charge of the sewer system.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities operated by the Township for the collection
and disposal of sanitary sewage and acceptable industrial waste in
and for the Township, whether or not interconnected.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
The dry weight of the solids physically suspended in a flow
of sewage, industrial waste, or water as determined by the method
of determining suspended matter described under the heading "Suspended
Matter" in the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water, Sewage,
and Industrial Wastes (latest edition), as published jointly by the
American Water Works Association and the American Public Health Association
and the Federation of Sewage and Industrial Wastes Association, and
expressed in parts per million by weight.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Easttown, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
WATER COMPANY
That private water company providing water service to customers
connected to the sewer system.
There is hereby imposed upon each property located within the
Township, served by the sewer system and having available to it the
use thereof, sewer rents or charges, payable as hereinafter provided,
for the use, whether direct or indirect, of the sewer system, based
on the schedules of classifications and rates hereinafter set forth.
In order to comply with applicable federal laws and regulations,
there is also imposed upon each industrial user of the sewer system,
as the term "industrial user" may be defined from time to time in
such laws and regulations, a charge (hereinafter referred to as the
"industrial repayment charge"). So long as the regulations in force
on the date of enactment hereof continue without relevant amendment,
the term "industrial user" shall include agriculture, mining, manufacturing,
transportation, public utilities and services activities, but shall
exclude any user producing solely the normal domestic-type wastes.
The charge payable by each industrial user shall be determined annually
as follows: First, there shall be determined, pursuant to applicable
federal regulations and guidelines, the total amount required to be
recovered by the Township or the Authority for service rendered during
the preceding year from all industrial grant repayment charges, which
generally shall be an amount equal to 1/30 of that part of all grants
received pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments
of 1972 toward the cost of construction of the sewer system, and grants
received by other authorities for the construction of joint transportation
and treatment facilities used by the Township, which is in the same
proportion to such grants as the greater of total usage by, or total
capacity reserved for, all industrial users of the sewer system and
such joint facilities respectively bears to the total rated capacity
of the sewer system and such joint facilities, respectively, on the
basis of aggregate flow and strength characteristics. Second, of such
total annual amount required to be charged to all industrial users,
the amount which shall be payable by each industrial user shall be
determined, which shall be that part of the total charges which is
properly allocable to each such user, based upon proportionate flows,
strength of waste and delivery rates from each industrial user. Charges
shall be payable annually based upon the preceding year's use
and shall be billed no later than January 31. All determinations referred
to above shall be made by the consulting engineers, whose written
decisions shall be final, except that charges for joint facilities
may be determined by the agency operating such facilities.
If use or classification of any property should change within
any quarterly period, the difference in the sewer rental, prorated
on a monthly basis to the nearest calendar month, will be charged
or credited, as the case may be, on the bill for the succeeding quarterly
period. Additional classifications and additional sewer rentals may
be established by the Township from time to time.
Sewer rentals and charges and reserve capacity charges shall
be billed quarterly. Bills for sewer rentals and charges for properties
using water company water meter readings for determination of a portion
of such quarterly billing shall be dated as of the water company billing
date for such quarter. Bills for sewer rentals and charges for properties
not using water company meter readings for determination of any portion
of such quarterly billing and for reserve capacity charges shall be
dated as of January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. Bills for properties
connecting during a billing period will be prorated on the basis of
the applicable rate. Bills for the first billing period after the
rates established hereunder become effective shall be prorated.
[Amended 8-3-1981 by Ord. No. 176-81]
A. Quarterly sewer rents or charges and reserve capacity charges shall
be subject to a ten-percent penalty if not paid within 30 days after
they are due and a twenty-percent penalty if not paid within 60 days
after they are due. The charges plus the penalty shall bear interest
from the due date at the rate of 1% per month or fraction thereof
until paid. The Township shall have the additional or independent
right to cut off sewer service, by cutting off water service, from
such premises and not to restore the same until all charges, penalties
and interest against the same and the cost of cutting off and restoring
service shall have been paid.
B. All persons connected to the sewer system must give the Township
their correct address. Failure to receive bills will not be considered
an excuse for nonpayment, nor permit an extension of the period during
which bills are payable at face.
C. All sewer rents or charges and reserved capacity charges, together
with all penalties and interest thereon, not paid on or before 120
days from the date of each bill shall be deemed delinquent. All such
charges shall constitute a lien, until paid, against the property
to which service is provided or for which capacity is reserved, and
the amount thereof may be recovered by due process of law.
[Amended 5-3-1982 by Ord. No. 181-82]
Floor drains used for washing and cleaning will be permitted
only on application to the Township and only after provisions have
been made for the removal of sand, grit, oil, grease, garbage or any
other materials.
In the event that the owner or operator of any industrial or
commercial establishment fails to conform or comply with the terms
and conditions of its agreement with the Township pertaining to the
discharge of its wastes, which failure causes damage to the sewer
system or to any employee thereof, the owner or operator shall be
liable for such damage, or, in the event of the discharge of any substance
that kills fish, the owner or operator shall be liable for the damages
thereof. The limit of the damage shall be determined by the Township,
and the owner or operator shall be billed therefor. Legal action may
be taken to enforce collection, and the Township may resort to the
termination of its connection to the sewer system.
Any industrial waste of unusual strength or character accepted by the Township shall be subject to a surcharge to be paid by the industrial or commercial establishment concerned. The basic rate for the surcharge shall be the rate per thousand gallons as set forth in §
345-70 above, as follows:
A. The surcharge is based on a waste having a five-day twenty-degree-centigrade
BOD greater than 250 ppm.
B. Average suspended solids content of greater than 300 ppm.
[Amended 11-21-1977 by Ord. No. 143]
C. In the case of waste containing heavy metals, either in suspension
or solution or when in the opinion of the Township the suspended solids
do not represent the true characteristics of the solids loading, the
Township reserves the right to use total solids instead of suspended
solids.
|
Industrial Waste Surcharge Factor
|
|
F = (Si-Sa)\Sa + Bi-Ba\Ba
|
|
|
F
|
=
|
Factor applied to basic treatment rate.
|
|
|
Si
|
=
|
Industrial waste average suspended solids concentration in ppm. [Amended 11-21-1977 by Ord. No. 143]
|
|
|
Sa
|
=
|
Domestic sewage average suspended solids concentration in excess
of 300 ppm. [Amended 11-21-1977 by Ord. No. 143]
|
|
|
Bi
|
=
|
BOD industrial waste in parts per million.
|
|
|
Ba
|
=
|
Average BOD domestic sewage in parts per million (250).
|
D. In the case of waste containing substances or materials that only
can be treated with extra care and costs and where the surcharge as
stated above does not apply, they must accept after a study of the
waste has been made and a formula for the discharge has been established.
E. In order to ascertain the strength of every industrial waste, the
Township shall cause appropriate analysis to be made at least four
times each year of every industrial waste entering the sewer system,
the average of which shall be used to establish the surcharge for
the ensuing year.
The Township reserves the right to, and may from time to time,
adopt, revise, amend and readopt such rules and regulations as it
deems necessary and proper for the use and operation of the sewer
system.
[Added 3-4-1985 by Ord. No. 186-85]
A. Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall,
upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay
a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorneys' fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this
article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination
of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further,
the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized
to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance
herewith.
[Amended 10-7-1996 by Ord. No. 293-96]
B. Any duly authorized employee or agent of the Township or of the Authority
shall be permitted and shall have the authority, at any reasonable
time, to enter upon any property subject to this article or the rules
and regulations adopted hereunder for the purpose of inspecting, observing,
measuring, sampling and testing as may be required to identify actions
affecting the Township sewer system and/or to implement and enforce
the terms and provisions of this article or the rules and regulations
adopted hereunder.
C. In addition to summary proceedings provided for herein, the Township
may proceed at law or equity to seek appropriate injunctive or other
relief from actions adversely or improperly affecting the Township's
sewer system or the public health and welfare.
Except as hereinafter provided, this chapter and any rules and regulations hereunder shall become effective on the earliest date permitted by law and shall be applicable to all properties as soon as they respectively become connected with and have the right to use the sewer system. The Township reserves the right to make such changes from time to time as in its opinion may be desirable or beneficial and to amend this article or to change the rates or charges in such manner and at such times as in its opinion may be advisable or as may be required by any lease referred to in §
345-78 hereof.