[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Beverly as Art. XXXIV of the Code of Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 5-20-2024 by Ord. No. 046]
The Mayor and City Council may lay, make and maintain all such main drains or common sewers as they adjudge to be necessary for the public convenience or the public health through any of the streets or ways of the City, and through the lands of any person, and may repair the same whenever it is necessary. Main drains and common sewers so laid shall be the property of the City, and all drains and common sewers in a street or highway shall be substantially made or repaired with brick, stone or with such other materials and in such manner as the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works may direct.
A. 
Responsibilities of property owner. Commencing at the sewer line, all sewer connections, sewers, sewer services and sewer maintenance shall be the responsibility of the property owner.
B. 
Responsibilities of building owner; work to be performed by person licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and by the City of Beverly Engineering Department. All sewer repairs or sewer replacements between the street line and property building will be the responsibility of the owner of the building.
C. 
Responsibility of City Department of Public Services. All sewer repairs or sewer replacements between the main sewer line and street line will be the responsibility of the Department of Public Services.
D. 
Need. The need of such work will be determined by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works.
[Amended 5-20-2024 by Ord. No. 046]
[Amended 2-16-2016 by Ord. No. 013]
The City Council shall grant sewer connection licenses as required by this chapter as recommended by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works and also approved by the Mayor. All work performed by the contractors will be inspected and approved or disapproved by representatives of the Department of Public Services.
[Amended 5-20-2024 by Ord. No. 046]
The Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works shall, whenever any main drain or common sewer is ordered to be built, ascertain its depth, dimensions and mode of construction, distance from street lines and general direction, and insert the same on plans of sewerage on file in their office. They shall from time to time ascertain and insert on the plans the particular location of all private drains entering into such main drain or sewer.
All main drains and sewers owned or constructed by the City, and all property connected therewith, shall be under the care of the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works, and all appropriations for sewer connections shall be expended under the direction of such Commissioner.
A. 
Permit required. No person shall enter their particular drain into any main or common sewer without a permit in writing from the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works, which permit, the application therefor, and the granting thereof shall be in such form and under such regulations as the Commissioner may prescribe, and any person to whom such permit shall be granted shall pay therefor the sum of $100, payable to the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works.
[Amended 5-20-2024 by Ord. No. 046]
B. 
Construction. Any particular drains entering any main drain or common sewer shall, so far as the same shall be constructed within the limits of any street or way, be built of such materials, of such size and in such a manner as the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works may direct.
No gasoline or other explosive or inflammable substance shall be caused or allowed to enter directly or indirectly any common sewer or other public drain.
A. 
Generally. When a main drain or common sewer is laid in any street or way of the City, the City Council shall assess upon owners of estates abutting on such street or way the cost thereof, based upon the estimated average cost of the sewers in the sewerage system adopted by the City by the following fixed uniform rate: $1.50 per foot of frontage which such estates have upon any street or way where a sewer is constructed, and $0.015 per square foot of area which such estates contain within 100 feet from such street or way; provided, however, that no assessment in respect to any such estate, which by reason of its grade, level or any other cause cannot be drained into such sewer, shall be made, certified or notified by the Director of Engineering until such incapacity is removed. Such assessment shall be ascertained, assessed and certified by the City Council to the Board of Assessors for assessment, and notice thereof shall be given to the party to be charged, or his tenant or lessee.
B. 
Exception. Any drain or sewer laid in any land or way, public or private, which is opened or proposed to be opened for public travel and accommodation, shall be a main drain or common sewer, and if such drain or sewer is laid in a public or private way or land at the expense of the owner thereof, his land shall not be assessed for such drain or sewer, except for the cost of connecting it with common drains or sewers already established.
C. 
Estates abutting on more than one street. When estates abut upon more than one street or way, assessment for sewers based upon frontage shall be assessed upon the frontage of one such street or way and upon so much of such other street as is not exempted by the City Council; and the City Council may exempt from assessment so much of the frontage on such other street as it may deem just and equitable.
D. 
Assessments to constitute lien. Assessments so made hereunder shall, for two years after they have been committed to the Treasurer-Collector for collection, constitute a lien on the real estate assessed, and may, together with incidental costs and expenses, be levied by sale of such real estate if the assessment is not paid within three months after a written demand for payment made either upon the person assessed or upon any person occupying the estate, such sale to be conducted in like manner as sales for the payment of taxes; provided, however, that if any owner of real estate within 30 days after notice of a sewer assessment thereon, or of any charges made for entering or using any public sewer, notifies in writing the Board of Assessors to apportion the same, such Board shall apportion the same into such number of equal parts, not exceeding 10, as the owner shall in the notice state. The Assessors shall add one of such parts with interest to the annual tax of such real estate each year next ensuing, until all such parts have been so added. Such assessments or charges or apportionments thereof shall constitute a lien upon the real estate, and may be collected according to the provisions of law made for the collection of taxes upon real estate. All liens for the collection of such assessments or charges shall continue until the expiration of two years from the time when the last installment is committed to the Treasurer-Collector, and interest shall be added to all such assessments or charges until they are paid, provided that nothing herein contained shall be constructed to prevent the payment at any time in one payment of any balance of such assessment or charges then remaining unpaid, notwithstanding a prior apportionment.
E. 
Extension of time payment. The City Council may extend the time of payment of assessments upon estates not built upon, when requested by the owner, until built upon or for a fixed time, provided that interest at a rate of 4% per annum shall be charged or paid annually upon the assessment from the time it was made, and in such case the assessment shall be paid within three months after such estate is built upon or after the expiration of such fixed time.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
BOD (denoting BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, which begins five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
COMBINED SEWER
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
DIRECTOR
The Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works of the City, or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
DISTRICT
The South Essex Sewerage District.
DISTRICT SEWER
Sewer lines, appurtenances, and other works owned and operated by the South Essex Sewerage District.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trades, or businesses, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
PLUMBING INSPECTOR
The Plumbing Inspector of the Department of Municipal Inspections of the City.[1]
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and which is controlled by public authority, or a sewer laid in any land or way, public or private, open or proposed to be opened for public travel.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface water and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such groundwater, surface water, and stormwaters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SLUG
Any discharge of water, sewage, or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.[2]
STORM DRAIN (sometimes termed "STORM SEWER")
A sewer which carries stormwater and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
WATERCOURSE
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).
[2]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the sewage works.
A. 
The Director and Plumbing Inspector, and other duly authorized employees of the City bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of these regulations. The Director and Plumbing Inspector, or his representative, shall have no authority to inquire into any processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic, paper, or other industries beyond that point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or facilities for waste treatment.
B. 
The Director and Plumbing Inspector, and other duly authorized employees of the City, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the City holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair, and maintenance of any portion of the sewage works lying within the easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on the easement shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.
A. 
Any person found to be violating any provision of this article, except § 227-11, Unlawful tampering with sewage works, shall be served by the Director or Plumbing Inspector with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of such time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
B. 
Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in Subsection A or § 227-11, Unlawful tampering with sewage works, without the necessity of written notice, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of $50 for each violation. Every day during which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense; such offense may be prosecuted by indictment or complaint before a District Court. Such a fine shall be in no way any defense to the proceedings by the Director or Plumbing Inspector for enforcement of any such order or regulations, by injunction or otherwise, or any complaint or prosecution under MGL Chapter 266 for malicious mischief or malicious damage to property.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).
C. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall become liable to the City for any expense, loss, or damage occasioned the City by reason of such violation.
A. 
Permit required. No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works, or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
B. 
Authority of Director. No person shall lay or connect a sewer in any land or way, private or public, open or proposed to be opened for the public travel, or connect any such sewer to an existing sewer, except by authority of the Director.
C. 
Permit application; form; fee. The owner or his agent shall make application on a special permit form furnished by the City Plumbing Inspector, if work is being performed in the building to within 10 feet of the building, or the Engineering Department, if work is being performed outside of the building to the sewer main. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent, in the judgment of the Commissioner and Plumbing Inspector, for services to commercial buildings and establishments producing industrial wastes.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).
D. 
Costs and expenses of connections. All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the City from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer and maintenance thereof.
E. 
Separate sewers. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building.
F. 
Old building sewers. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and review by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works and Plumbing Inspector to meet all requirements of this article.
G. 
Construction methods; compliance with technical codes; connection of drains, downspouts.
(1) 
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes, or other applicable rules and regulations of the City. In the absence of code provisions, or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and the WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation)[2] Manual of Practice No. 9, shall apply.
[2]
Editor's Note: Now the Water Environment Federation.
(2) 
Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer. The owner shall hold the City free from any claim for damage from the backflow of sewage due to malfunction or stoppage within or due to such building drain.
(3) 
No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain, which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
(4) 
The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes, or other applicable rules and regulations of the City, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and the WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation)[3] Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works and Plumbing Inspector before installation.
[3]
Editor's Note: Now the Water Environment Federation.
H. 
Inspection upon connection to public sewer. The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Director and the Plumbing Inspector, or their duly appointed representatives.
I. 
Barricades; restoration of disturbed public property. All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the City.
A. 
Prohibited discharges. No person shall discharge or cause or allow to be discharged into any sewers under the control of the City or any sewer tributary thereto within the South Essex Sewerage District the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if it appears likely, in the opinion of the City, that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving waters, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming its opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the City and the South Essex Sewerage Board will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of wastes in relation to the flows and velocities in the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment plant, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant, materials of construction of the sewers, and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:
(1) 
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F.
(2) 
Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 mg/l, or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° F. and 150° F.
(3) 
Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-quarters horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Commissioner and Plumbing Inspector.
(4) 
Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.
(5) 
Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the South Essex Sewerage Board for such materials.
(6) 
Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the South Essex Sewerage Board as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal, or other public agencies or jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters.
(7) 
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the South Essex Sewerage Board in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(8) 
Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.
(9) 
Materials which exert or cause:
(a) 
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, fuller's earth, lime slurries, and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).
(b) 
Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).
(c) 
Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.
(d) 
Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting a "slug" as defined in this article.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).
(10) 
Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters;
(11) 
Any sewage, drainage, substances, or wastes containing caustic lime, calculated as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate), in excess of 75 mg/l.
(12) 
No person shall discharge or cause or allow to be discharged, directly or indirectly, into any sewer under the control of the City or any other sewer tributary thereto within the South Essex Sewerage District, any of the following described waters or wastes:
(a) 
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas.
(b) 
Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance, or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant.
(c) 
Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, and personnel of the sewage works.
(d) 
Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works, such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, paper dishes, cups, milk containers, buffing dust, or waters or wastes containing suspended solids in excess of 500 mg/l.
(e) 
Any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted industrial process water which the State Division of Water Pollution Control determines is sufficiently free from contamination to permit its discharge into the nearest stream, drain or watercourse.
B. 
Options of City regarding admission into system of hazardous waste.
(1) 
If any waters or wastes are discharged or proposed to be discharged into any sewers under the control of the City or any sewer tributary thereto within the South Essex Sewerage District, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in prohibited discharges section of this article, and which in the judgment of the City and the South Essex Sewerage Board may have deleterious effects upon the sewerage works, processes, equipment, or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the City may:
(a) 
Reject the wastes.
(b) 
Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers.
(c) 
Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge.
(d) 
Require payment to cover the added costs of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of Subsection G of this section.
(2) 
If the City permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Commissioner and Plumbing Inspector, and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, and laws.
C. 
Traps and separators. Garages and other establishments, where wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable waste, sand or other harmful ingredients can be discharged and are connected, directly or indirectly, with public sewers, shall be provided with a suitable trap or separator. All traps or separators shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Director of the Division of Water Pollution Control or his authorized representative, and shall be located so as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
D. 
Maintenance of facilities. Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.
E. 
Required control manhole. When required by the Director and Plumbing Inspector, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances, in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling, and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Director and Plumbing Inspector. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense, and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
F. 
Compliance with Standard Methods; sampling. All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this article shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at such control manhole. In the event that no special manhole has been provided, the control manhole shall be determined by the Commissioner. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works, and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. (The particular analyses involved will determine whether a twenty-four-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate, or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pHs are determined from periodic grab samples.)
G. 
Agreements allowing acceptance of unusual-strength wastes. No statement contained in this article shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the City and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the City for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the industrial concern.
A. 
Any owner aggrieved by the refusal of the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works to issue a sewer permit, or aggrieved by an order of the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works issued in accordance with this article, shall have the right to review such refusal or decision of the Director with the Committee on Public Services, such review to be requested in writing within five days of the receipt by the owner of the decision or refusal; the Committee shall issue a final decision after review, and shall establish and direct that the decision of the Director shall stand, or revise the decision of the Director, or remand the decision of the Director for further investigation, or revoke the decision of the Director and render an appropriate decision in writing in accordance with this article.
B. 
An owner aggrieved by a decision of the Director of Public Health or Plumbing Inspector rendered in accordance with this article shall have the right to a review of such refusal or decision, so far as it pertains to the Board of Health, by notifying the Chairman of the Board of Health in writing within five days of the receipt of the decision of the Plumbing Inspector or the Director of Public Health, and the Board shall issue a decision after review and shall establish and direct that the decision of the Director shall stand, or review the decision of the Director, or remand the decision of the Director for further investigation, or revoke the decision of the Director and render an appropriate decision in writing in accordance with this article.