[Adopted 3-29-1951 by Ord. No. 386[1] (Ch. XVIII, Part 1, of the 1993 Code of Ordinances)]
[1]
Editor's Note: The preamble to this ordinance reads:
"WHEREAS, The Council of the Borough of West Reading, jointly with the Borough of Wyomissing, in order to promote and benefit the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and of said Boroughs, by Ordinances dated January 7, 1947, and January 9, 1947, respectively, adopted pursuant to the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945, P.L. 382, as amended, caused to be organized the Joint Municipal Authority of Wyomissing Valley for the purpose of exercising any and all of the powers conferred by said Act; and
WHEREAS, Said Authority has acquired a sewage treatment plant and is about to construct certain improvements and additions thereto, and will make such facilities available to the inhabitants of both of said Boroughs; and
WHEREAS, Borough Council, in order to promote the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Borough and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the purity of its waters, believing that the use thereof is unsafe and unsanitary, deems it advisable to prohibit the use of privies, cesspools, septic tanks or similar receptacles, for receiving sewage within the Borough of West Reading, in that the same encourage the spread of disease and impair public health, and to require connections to be made to said sewer system . . ."
[Amended 6-15-2004 by Ord. No. 898]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACT or THE ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.
AUTHORITY
The Joint Municipal Authority of Wyomissing Valley as presently or hereafter constituted, which has been created jointly by the Councils of the Borough of Wyomissing and the Borough of West Reading.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER
A. 
If the user is a corporation:
(1) 
The president, secretary, treasurer or a vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
(2) 
The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons, if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
B. 
If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor.
C. 
If the user is a federal, state or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or his or her designee.
D. 
The individuals described in Subsections A through C above may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the Borough.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20° C., usually expressed as a concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)]. The standard procedure shall be as noted in 40 CFR 136 as found in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Sewage.
BOROUGH
The Borough of West Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania or the Borough Council of the Borough of West Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
BUILDING SEWER OR LATERAL
The extension of the building drain from the curbline or property line to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD
Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the United States EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.
CHLORINE DEMAND
The quantity of chlorine absorbed in water, sewage or other liquids allowing a residual of 0.1 ppm after 15 minutes of contact.
COLOR
The optical density at the visual wave length of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent transmittance is equivalent to zero (0.0) optical density.
CONNECTION
The pipeline or pipelines from the main or street sewer in any public highway, street, lane or alley to the building line.
COUNCIL
The group of elected officials acting as the governing body of the Borough.
DISSOLVED SOLIDS
The anhydrous residues of the dissolved constituents in water or wastewater.
DOMESTIC WASTE
The normal water carrying household and toilet wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments.
EXISTING SOURCE
Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.
GARBAGE
Solid waste resulting from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
GROUND GARBAGE
Garbage that has been shredded to such a degree that all its particles shall be carried freely under normal sewage flow conditions, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
GROUNDWATER
Water which is standing in or passing through the ground.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within the service area upon which there is erected a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE
The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Act.[1]
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any improved property used, in whole or in part, for manufacturing, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembling in any product, commodity or article; or from which any process waste, as distinct from domestic waste, shall be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL USER
A source of indirect discharge industrial waste which does not constitute a "discharge of pollutants" under regulations issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any liquid or gaseous substance, whether or not solids are contained therein, discharged from any industrial establishment during the course of any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or in the course of the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE PERMIT
A permit to deposit or discharge liquid industrial wastes into the POTW.
INTERFERENCE
A discharge which along or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and, therefore, is a cause of a violation of the Authority's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation, or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act[2]; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), including Title II commonly referred to as the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)"; any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA; the Clean Air Act[3]; the Toxic Substances Control Act[4]; and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
MANHOLE
A shaft or chamber leading from the surface of the ground to a sewer; large enough to enable a person to gain access to the latter.
MAY; SHALL
"May" is permissive. "Shall" is mandatory.
MEDICAL WASTE
Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
mg/l
Milligrams per liter. Equivalent to parts per million (ppm) by weight.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or PRETREATMENT STANDARD
Any regulation containing pollutants discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1347) which applies to a specific category of industrial users.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM OR NPDES PERMIT
A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD or PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD
Any regulation developed under the authority of 307(b) of the Act and 40 CFR 403.5.
NEW SOURCE
A. 
Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is, or may be, a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act[5] which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided that:
(1) 
The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or
(2) 
The building, structure, facility or installation replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
(3) 
The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general activity as the existing source, should be considered.
B. 
Construction on a site at which an existing source is located in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility or installation meeting the criteria of Subsection A(2) or (3) above but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.
C. 
Construction of a new source as defined under this paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(1) 
Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
(a) 
Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment; or
(b) 
Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation or removal of existing buildings, structures or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or
(2) 
Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this paragraph.
OBJECTIONABLE WASTE
Any wastes that can, in the Borough of Authority's judgment, harm either the sewers or sewage treatment process or equipment, or in the judgment of any municipality where the wastes are being carried, can have an adverse effect upon its system; can have an adverse effect upon the receiving stream; can otherwise endanger life, health or property; or which constitutes a public nuisance.
OCCUPIED BUILDING
Any structure erected or intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage and industrial waste, or either thereof, is or may be discharged.
PASS-THROUGH
A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the Authority's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state and local governmental entities.
pH
A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT
Dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock sand, cellar dirt, municipal agricultural and industrial wastes and certain characteristics of waste (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD), toxicity or odor).
POLLUTION
The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.
PREMISES ACCESSIBLE TO THE SEWAGE SYSTEM
Real estate which adjoins, abuts on or is adjacent to the sewer system.
PRETREATMENT
The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS
Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS
Prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards and local limits.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES
Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in § 363-20 of this chapter.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW)
A treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the Borough or the Authority. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant. The term also means the Borough or the Authority.
SANITARY SEWER
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system, or usable for sewage collection purposes, and to which stormwater, surface water and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE
Human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).
SEWER SYSTEM
The present sanitary sewer collection system of the Borough or the Authority and any additions or extensions that hereafter may be made thereto by the Borough or the Authority.
SHALL; MAY
"Shall" is mandatory. "May" is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER
A. 
A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
B. 
A user that:
(1) 
Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); or
(2) 
Contributes a process wastestream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
C. 
Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in Subsection B has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Borough or the Authority may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user [and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6)] determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC)
This denotes that the circumstances of a particular violation are severe enough to meet the following criteria for significant noncompliance (SNC):
A. 
Violations of wastewater discharge limits:
(1) 
Chronic violations: 66% or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit in a six-month period (any magnitude of exceedance).
(2) 
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations: 33% or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit by more than the following TRC in a six-month period.
(a) 
Group I for conventional pollutants (BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease): TRC = 14.
(b) 
Group II for all other pollutants, except pH: TRC = 1.2.
(3) 
Any other violation(s) of an effluent limit that the Borough or the Authority believes has caused, along (e.g., slug loads) or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through; or endangered the health of the sewage treatment personnel or the public.
(4) 
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health/welfare or to the environment and has resulted in the exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
B. 
Violations of compliance schedule milestones contained in enforcement orders as well as schedules contained in the industrial discharge permits for starting construction, completing construction and attaining final compliance by 90 days or more after the schedule date.
C. 
Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules, self-monitoring data or categorical standards (baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports and periodic reports) within 30 days from the due date.
D. 
Failure to accurately report noncompliance.
E. 
Any other violation or group of violations that the Borough or the Authority considers to be significant.
STORMWATER
Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
STRONG WASTE
Any waste having a BOD5, suspended solids, dissolved solids, ammonia nitrogen or phosphorus concentration in excess of that found in normal domestic waste, but which is otherwise acceptable into a public sewer under the terms of this chapter.
STRONG WASTE SURCHARGE
A charge levied on any user of the treatment works of the POTW for the additional cost of treating strong wastes.
SURFACE WATER
That portion of the precipitation which runs off over the surface of the ground.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
TOTAL SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension, or dissolved in water, sewage or other liquids, and which are determined by 40 CFR 136 procedures.
TOXIC POLLUTANT
One of 126 pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by EPA under Section 307 (33 U.S.C. § 1317) of the Act.
TOXIC SUBSTANCE
Any noxious and/or deleterious substance in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, to create a public nuisance, or to create any hazard in any sewer system or in the receiving stream of the sewage treatment plant.
TREATMENT PLANT EFFLUENT
The discharge from the POTW into waters of the United States.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER
A source of indirect discharge.
WASTEWATER
Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT
That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 33 U.S.C. § 1317(b), (c) or (d).
[2]
Editor's Note: See 33 U.S.C. § 1345.
[3]
Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.
[4]
Editor's Note: See 15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.
[5]
Editor's Note: See 33 U.S.C. § 1317(b).
A. 
All persons owning any occupied building now erected upon premises accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within nine months after the effective date of this article.
B. 
All persons owning any premises accessible to the sewer system upon which a building is hereafter erected shall, at the time of the erection of such building and at their own expense, connect the same with the sewer system.
C. 
All persons owning any occupied building upon premises which hereafter becomes accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within three months after notice to do so from Borough Council.
[Added 6-15-2004 by Ord. No. 898; amended 2-20-2024 by Ord. No. 1182]
There is hereby imposed on each and every owner of real estate located in the Borough connecting to the sewer system a tapping fee in an amount as set forth by resolution of the Borough Council from time to time (the “tapping fee”), per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), for each new connection of a structure, proposed structure, change in use of the property/structure, change in sewer flows (hydraulic loading) and/or change in the sewer characteristic (organic loading) to the sewer system. The tapping fee shall be in an amount equal to 1) the tapping fee, per EDU, as established by resolution of the Authority from time to time, which portion shall be forwarded to the Authority and expended by the Authority solely for the upgrading and/or expansion of the Authority’s sanitary sewage treatment plant facilities, which facilities treat, in part, sewage transported through the sewer system of the Borough, plus 2) the tapping fee, per EDU, as established by resolution of the Borough from time to time, for use by the Borough for the maintenance and transmission of sewage in the collection and conveyance portion of the sewer system.
A. 
The tapping fee shall be imposed for each EDU, including, but not limited to, single residence, apartment unit, condominium unit and/or residential retirement unit (the "base tapping fee").
B. 
For the purposes of this section, it is established that an EDU constitutes 17,200 gallons of sewage, per quarter annum, to the sewer system. In calculating the amount of the tapping fee for commercial or industrial properties, for uses accessory to residential dwelling units, the Council shall cause to be determined based upon accepted engineering practices the projected quarter annual flow of sewage, in gallons, to be contributed by the existing structure and/or proposed structure to the sewer system. This projected quarter annual flow of sewage, expressed in gallons, when divided by 22,800 gallons and the quotient thereof (rounded off to the nearest whole number), when multiplied by the base tapping fee, shall be the amount of the established tapping fee for commercial or industrial properties, and includes any change in the use and flows from the property.
C. 
For any property which is used for any combination of residential, commercial, industrial and/or uses accessory thereto, the tapping fee shall be calculated by adding the tapping fees for all of the various components of such uses as determined under the prevailing tapping fee computations.
D. 
The minimum tapping fee for any structure or proposed structure connection to the sewer system shall be the "base tapping fee."
[Added 6-15-2004 by Ord. No. 898]
All new commercial, residential and industrial customers in the Borough shall be billed for tapping fee charges based upon EDU's as established in the following EDU schedule:
Category
EDUs
Residential
1
Each retail store, office, business or industry:
With 8 or fewer employees
1
Each additional 4 employees, or fraction thereof
1/2
Each business or industry providing showers for employees:
With 6 or fewer employees
1
Each additional 3 employees, or fraction thereof
1/2
Funeral home
2
Each school, public or private:
Toilet facilities only — per each 40 pupils and staff, or fraction thereof
1
Toilet facilities and kitchen — per each 30 pupils and staff, or fraction thereof
1
Toilet facilities and gymnasium — per each 25 pupils and staff, or fraction thereof
1
Toilet facilities, kitchen and gymnasium — per each 20 pupils and staff, or fraction thereof
1
Each hotel — per each 4 rental rooms, or fraction thereof
1
Each restaurant, club or tavern — per each 15 seats, or fraction thereof
1
Each church
1
Each firehouse or hall
1
Each service station or automobile repair garage:
With 2 bays or fewer
2
Each additional bay over 2
1/2
Each barbershop or beauty shop attached to or part of owner's residence
1/2
Each barbershop or beauty shop not attached to or part of owner's residence
1 1/2
Each laundromat — per each 5 washers, or fraction thereof
1
Each convalescent home — per each 2 beds
1
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any occupied building on premises accessible to the sewer system, to erect, construct, use or maintain, or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained, any privy, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or other receptacle on such premises for receiving sewage after January 1, 1952.
Any person who erects, constructs or maintains a privy, cesspool, sinkhole or septic tank on any property accessible to the sewer system shall be deemed, and shall be declared to be erecting, constructing and maintaining a nuisance, which nuisance the Borough is hereby authorized and directed to abate in the manner provided by law.
[Amended 3-22-1952 by Ord. No. 397; 11-16-1954 by Ord. No. 413; 1-21-2003 by Ord. No. 876]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, together with costs of prosecution, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days. Every day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.