[Adopted 4-18-1984 by Ord. No. 2-84]
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACCESSIBLE
With respect to any premises being accessible to a public sanitary sewer as having any occupied building on said premises located within 150 feet of the public sanitary sewer.
BUILDING DRAIN or HOUSE DRAIN
The part of the lowest horizontal piping of drainage system which receives the sewage or discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER or HOUSE SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
COMMERCIAL USER
Any office, store, shop, restaurant, club, tavern, barber or beauty shop, service station, funeral home, or other similar commercial establishment selling a product or rendering a service, motel, hotel, school, or any religious or fraternal or governmental establishment. Each commercial user even though in a building or complex of buildings shall be considered to be a separate unit even though it may be located in the same building with a residential unit or units or other commercial units.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL USER
Any industrial establishment and shall include any unit not defined as a residential user or a commercial user.
INSPECTOR
The person appointed by the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority to inspect sewage works, including both public and semipublic sewers, and including also inspection of building sewers and all other connections between occupied homes and other buildings and the public sewers.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet directly or indirectly into a watercourse, pond, gutter, ditch, lake or other body or surface of groundwater.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such 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 in any dimension.
PUBLIC SANITARY SEWER
A sanitary sewer which has been constructed and is owned by the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority or has been constructed by private parties and has been accepted by the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.
RESIDENTIAL USER
Any room, group of rooms or enclosure, occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters for a family or other group of persons living together or by persons living alone.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface water and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE
A combination of water-carried wastes from the residence, business and commercial buildings, apartments, institutions and industrial establishments.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT or SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS
Any arrangement or devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS or SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities for collecting, transporting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SHALL
Is mandatory.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN
A sewer which carries stormwater and surface water and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
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.
[Amended 3-3-2025 by Ord. No. 2-2025]
A. 
Within 60 days after the passage of this article, the owner or owners of all occupied buildings located on premises now accessible to a public sanitary sewer shall connect, or cause to be connected, the said building or buildings with the sanitary sewer to which the property is accessible in the manner hereinafter provided.
B. 
Further that, hereinafter as public sanitary sewers are provided in areas of the Township of Cecil, the owners of all occupied buildings accessible to such public sanitary sewers so laid and provided shall, within 60 days, connect or cause to be connected the said occupied buildings with the sanitary sewer to which the property is accessible in the manner hereinafter provided.
C. 
Further that, as public sanitary sewers are provided in areas of the Township of Cecil in connection with projects initiated and completed by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority and the Township, and proper notice is provided by either the Cecil Township Municipal Authority or the Township, the owners of all occupied buildings accessible to such public sanitary sewers so laid and provided shall, within 60 days of proper notice from either the Cecil Township Municipal Authority or the Township, file application for sewer connection and remit tapping fee to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority. Further, within 120 days of the date of receipt of same proper notice from the Cecil Township Municipal Authority or the Township, the owners of all occupied buildings accessible to such public sanitary sewers so laid and provided shall connect or cause to be connected the said occupied buildings with the sanitary sewer to which the property is accessible in the manner hereinafter provided.
[Amended 3-3-2025 by Ord. No. 2-2025]
When connection has been made with the public sanitary sewer, the owner or owners of such property shall forthwith abandon any and all privies, privy vaults, cesspools and septic tanks then existing on said premises and shall use them no longer in accordance with the Cecil Township Municipal Authority Rules and Regulations. Any and all connections or connection with the occupied building which has been served shall be broken, destroyed, filled, or subsequently altered in such a manner that sanitary sewage can no longer enter therein.
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect or construct any privy, privy vault, cesspools, septic tank or any other type of disposal receptacle or structure in, on or under any premises accessible to any public sanitary sewer in the Township of Cecil.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to connect any privy, privy vault, cesspool, septic tank or any other type of disposal receptacle or structure to any public sanitary sewer in the Township of Cecil.
C. 
It shall be unlawful in areas where public sanitary sewers have been provided and where the owner or owners of premises have connected with the public sanitary sewer, or are by this article duly bound so to do, to connect to any privy, privy vault, cesspool, septic tank or any other type of disposal receptacle or structure.
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
A. 
In all cases where a sanitary sewer connection is made from an occupied building to the sanitary sewer system either cast iron, terra cotta, plastic or transite pipe of the kind and quality hereinafter specified of at least four inches' inside diameter shall be used, and the house sewer shall be laid to a reasonably even grade and alignment to the public sanitary sewer. Terra cotta pipe for house sewers shall be of the best quality salt-glazed, vitrified stoneware. It shall be thoroughly burned, glazed on both sides, and be free of any cracks, blisters or other flaws. It shall be of the bell-and-spigot type and when struck with a hammer it shall produce a clear ringing sound. This pipe shall meet the requirements of ASTM C13; and all subsequent revisions for laterals up to a depth of 12 feet and for laterals over 12 feet in depth, the pipe shall meet the requirements of ASTM C200 and all subsequent revisions.
B. 
Terra cotta pipe shall be laid with full and even bearing. No blocking will be allowed. Joints for terra cotta pipe must be premium type conforming to ASTM Specifications C425 and any subsequent revisions. Preformed bituminous type joints will not be permitted.
C. 
When plastic pipe is used, it shall conform to the specifications of ASTM D1784 and ASTM D3034. Solvent cement shall meet the requirements of ASTM D2564. Joining systems shall be in compliance with Section six of ASTM Specifications D3034. The pipe shall be marked "Type PSM 5DR-42 PVC Pipe" or "Type PSM 5DR-35 PVC Sewer Pipe."
D. 
When transite pipe is used for house sewers it shall conform to the National Plumbing Code ASA 40.8 and any subsequent revisions. All joints shall be composed of material which conforms to the standards of the manufacturer of the pipe with which the couplings will be used. Where cast-iron pipe is used, the joints shall be caulked with oakum and leaded. All work is to be done in a workmanlike manner.
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86; 5-6-1987 by Ord. No. 2-87]
The property owners shall install the building sewers at their own expense from the building drain to the wye connection supplied in the public sewer. Maintenance and repair of the building sewer is the responsibility of the property owner from the house to the wye in the public sewer. Connections to public sewers in private property shall, in all respects, meet the same specifications as when the sewer is in a public street. The property owners shall make application to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority for permission to connect to the public sewer on forms supplied by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority. A tap-in charge, which will include the permit and inspection fee and which will be subject to an in-lieu-of-initial-service charge and such discount for prompt and early payment as the Cecil Township Municipal Authority shall provide by its separate rate resolution, will be due and payable with the application for permission to connect to the public sanitary sewer. The charges and rates for service shall be as follows:
A. 
Tap-in charges.
(1) 
Single-family dwelling residential tap-in charge: $650.
(2) 
Multiple-family dwelling or apartment charge: $650 per unit.
(3) 
Commercial or industrial charge: $1,300.
B. 
Cecil Township and the Cecil Township Municipal Authority reserve the right to modify tap-in charges and rates at any time.
C. 
Unless written permission is obtained from Cecil Township, a separate connection will be required for each individual building or house whether constructed as a detached unit or as one of a pair or row, but a single house connection will be permitted to serve a school, factory, apartment house or other permanent multiple-unit structure whose individual apartments or units may not be subject to separate ownership. A single house connection will be permitted to serve a double house in which the internal plumbing waste system is common to both units or is not readily separable. In such case, a tap-in application shall state the specific conditions of the house to be tapped in. The Township of Cecil and the Cecil Township Municipal Authority does not assume any obligation or responsibility caused by or resulting from such a single house connection.
D. 
No connection less than four inches in inside diameter will be permitted to the main sewer lines and the construction of the property owners' connection shall be in accordance with the general requirements of public sanitary sewers, except that a grade of not less than 1/4 inch per foot shall be allowed. The applicant will also be required to conform to all other requirements of the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority as regards charges for sewage transportation, collection, etc., as outlined under the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority rules and regulations and as necessary to establish to meet the management, overhead, operation and fixed charges to retire the capital cost of the system. House sewers shall be installed by competent skilled pipelayers in accordance with approved standards, plans and specifications of the Township of Cecil and the Cecil Township Municipal Authority.
E. 
Each house sewer, after installation, shall be air-tested by the contractor in the presence of the Sewer Inspector. The procedure and criteria to be used for air testing shall conform to the requirements of ASTM C828.78. If the pipe installation fails to meet these requirements, the contractor shall determine, at his own expense, the source or sources of leakage, and he shall thereafter repair or replace all defective materials and/or workmanship.
[Amended 5-6-1987 by Ord. No. 2-87]
A. 
No basement seepage or groundwater drainage or any other uncontaminated source of water shall be discharged to the sanitary sewerage system, and all applicants desiring connection to the sewerage system shall certify that no groundwater or seepage drains are or shall be connected to their system. After connection to the sewer is made, the applicant shall maintain his house system in such a manner that no such seepage or drainage enters his sanitary sewage system. Whenever possible, all groundwater or surface water must be discharged through the use of a storm sewer or other appropriate facility.
B. 
In the event the discharge of groundwater or surface water is accomplished through the use of a drainage sump, said sump shall not be located closer than 25 feet from any private or public sewer line or any other sewage facility.
No downspouts, roof drainage or surface or areaway drainage shall be connected into the sanitary sewerage system, and before attachment to the sewer system, the property owner or applicant for service shall remove such connections and adequately and rightly plug his system to prevent the entrance of any downspout, roof, surface or areaway drainage.
Each user of the system before connections are made thereon shall provide in his house sewering system, just outside the building wall, a trap with a fresh air vent on the house side, in accordance with the standards approved by the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority.
No cross-connections shall be made between the sanitary sewerage system and the potable water system whereby vacuums or backsiphonage could permit sanitary wastes to enter the potable water system. No cross connections shall be made between the sanitary sewerage system and storm drains or storm sewers.
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
A. 
No person shall connect or cause to be connected with any of the public sewers in the Township, directly or indirectly, any steam exhaust, boiler blowoff, sediment drip, or any pipe carrying or constructed to carry hot water or acid, germicide, grease, gasoline, naphtha, benzene, oil or any other substance detrimental to the sewers or to the operation of the Township sewerage system or sewage disposal.
B. 
No person shall connect or cause to be connected with any of the public sewers in the Township, directly or indirectly, any commercial waste without first receiving the consent of the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority and satisfactory arrangements are made with the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Municipal Authority concerning said industrial or commercial waste.
C. 
In addition to the foregoing, the following are also prohibited:
(1) 
Flammable and explosive liquids, solids and gases.
(2) 
Corrosive materials with a pH of not less than 5.5 nor more than 9.0.
(3) 
Material that obstructs flow or interferes with treatment.
(4) 
Liquids in excess of a maximum temperature of 150° F. or below a minimum temperature of 32° F.
(5) 
Material with concentrations of oil in excess of 50 mg/l.
(6) 
Material that creates noxious and malodorous gases.
(7) 
Radioactive material.
(8) 
Such other wastes as shall be prohibited by the rules and regulations adopted by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority and in force from time to time hereafter.
The inspector and other duly authorized employees of the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter upon all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, sampling, testing and retesting in accordance with the provisions of this article.
[Amended 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
A. 
No person, firm or corporation shall make or cause to be made any connection of his property with any public sanitary sewer until he has fulfilled all of the following conditions:
(1) 
He shall apply to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority for permission to connect to the public sewer system.
(2) 
He shall pay such "tap-in" or connection fees or expenses as are fixed for such services by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority.
(3) 
No work shall commence before the issuance of a connection permit.
(4) 
He shall have given the Sewer Inspector at least 24 hours' notice of the time when such connection shall be made, in order that the Sewer Inspector can be present to supervise and inspect the work of connection and observe the required air testing.
(5) 
At the time of inspection, the owner or owners of properties shall allow and permit the full and complete inspection of all sanitary and drainage arrangements and facilities in his building and in and about all parts of his property.
B. 
Barricades and nonconcealment of lines.
(1) 
All work contemplated by this article shall be under the direct supervision and inspection of the Sewer Inspector appointed by the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority, and no building sewer line shall be covered over, or in any manner concealed until after it is inspected and approved by said Sewer Inspector.
(2) 
House lateral construction as well as all other construction contemplated by this article shall be protected by barricades and proper safety procedures followed during construction to minimize public hazards.
C. 
Any owner, owners or developers wishing to extend the sanitary sewer system in the Township of Cecil shall first become familiar with the requirements of the particular watershed. In the Brush Run Watershed the requirements include the service agreement between Cecil Township Municipal Authority, Township of Cecil, the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority, the Borough of Canonsburg and the Borough of Houston, dated July 1, 1962, as amended on November 3, 1976. A summary of these requirements are:
(1) 
The Cecil Township Municipal Authority shall submit to the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority one set of final contract drawings and specifications of the proposed sewers to be connected to the system for its approval and review and, in addition, submit a list of manufacturers and suppliers to be used in furnishing materials and appurtenances necessary for constructing said sewers.
(2) 
The Cecil Township Municipal Authority agrees that the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority may provide such inspection of the construction of said collecting sewers as the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority feels necessary with all costs therefor to be paid by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority. The Cecil Township Municipal Authority agrees that, prior to acceptance of said collecting sewers by the Township of Cecil and/or the Cecil Township Authority, said sewers may be inspected and tested by the consulting engineer for the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority.
(3) 
Upon completion of the construction, the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority will submit the total costs by verified statement for legal and engineering fees, including review of plans, specifications and construction inspection, to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority so that the same may be verified and payments made by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority within 60 days after being billed.
(4) 
The owner, owners or developers shall agree to reimburse the Cecil Township Municipal Authority for any and all expenses pertaining to the above.
(5) 
After becoming familiar with the above, they shall complete PADEP's (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) transmittal letter. Upon receipt of this transmittal letter, the Cecil Township Municipal Authority shall have its engineer verify the capacity of the existing sanitary sewers and check the total expected flows with the above-mentioned service agreement for treatment services.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
(6) 
Upon approval of the transmittal letter by PADEP, they shall then complete PADEP's Modules II and IV, and these modules shall be submitted to PADEP after the Cecil Township Municipal Authority reviews anal approves them. When the above modules have been approved, the owner, owners or developers shall then apply to PADEP for their construction permit.
(7) 
No actual construction will be permitted to proceed until the above permit and any and all other permits required for the work have been obtained.
(8) 
In preparing the construction drawings for the sanitary sewer extension or extensions, the owner, owners or developers shall prepare them using the standards and specifications of the Cecil Township Municipal Authority, said standards and specifications being on file at the Authority's office and identified and included in their Contract Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of the Brush Run Construction Project. The above construction drawings must be approved by the Cecil Township Municipal Authority.
(9) 
No construction will be permitted to proceed until the Cecil Township Municipal Authority has been notified at least 48 hours in advance so that it may make the necessary arrangements to have a construction inspector present.
(10) 
Upon completion of construction and all approvals of the inspectors, the owner, owners or developers shall submit a tracing of the as-built plans of the sewers showing all as-built elevations, wye locations, distances and angles between manholes, and a request that the Cecil Township Municipal Authority accept the sewers for maintenance purposes. The Cecil Township Municipal Authority may schedule a final inspection of the project and, if acceptable, will accept the sewers for maintenance purposes after the owner, owners or developers supply the Cecil Township Municipal Authority with any and all easements required to maintain the system; a two-year maintenance bond for 50% of the final construction costs; and the payment to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority for any and all expenses of the project, including construction, inspection, legal, etc.
Hereafter, when sanitary sewers have become available to any property and the property owner or owners have failed to connect or cause to be connected his or their property to the sanitary sewer, the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority may give or cause to be given written notice to the said owner or owners to connect or cause to be connected his, her or their property to the sanitary sewer within 60 days from the date thereof, and failure to comply with the said notice shall subject the property owner or owners to the penalties of this article.
If the owner or owners of any occupied building or buildings shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this article, the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority may serve a written notice upon said owner or owners, or upon the tenant or party in possession of the premises if said owner or owners cannot be found on the said premises, requiring said owner or owners to comply with the provisions of this article in every respect within 60 days after the service of such notice, and if said owner or owners shall neglect or refuse to comply with said notice, the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority may perform or cause to be performed such work and labor, and furnish or cause to be furnished such material as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this article at cost and expense of such owner or owners, together with 10% additional thereof and all charges and expenses incident thereto, which sum shall be collected from said owner or owners for the use of the Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority's debts are by law collectible, or the said Township of Cecil and/or Cecil Township Municipal Authority may, by its proper officer, file a municipal claim or lien therefor against said premises as provided by the act or acts of assembly in such cases made and provided.
[Amended 3-16-1988 by Ord. No. 1-88[1]]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues or each section of this article which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Added 4-16-1986 by Ord. No. 3-86]
A. 
Public notice shall be given prior to amending this article.
B. 
All fees, penalties and charges collected pursuant to this article will be used for the sewer system operation, maintenance and debt service retirement.