[Code 1985 § 27-128; Code 2005 § 110-141]
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
BOD (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,
beginning 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.
CITY MANAGER
The City Manager or his authorized deputy, agent or representative
such as the superintendent of sewage works and/or of water pollution
control.
CUSTOMER or SEWER USER
Every water customer of the City to whom sewer service is
available and shall be deemed ipso facto a sewer service user and
customer unless the water customer produces evidence to the contrary.
In addition, each person, whether a water customer of the City or
not, who discharges any sewage into the sewer main of the City or
any sewer pipe connected thereto or which ultimately, by intermediate
pipes or mains, reaches and discharges into a sewer main of the City,
shall be deemed a sewer user and customer.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER
The liquid wastes from the noncommercial preparation, cooking
and handling of food or human excrement and similar matter from the
sanitary conveniences of dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial
facilities and institutions.
EPA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking, dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale
of produce.
INDUSTRIAL SEWAGE
The liquid waste resulting from any process of industry,
manufacturing, trade or business including cooling water that is discharged
to the sanitary sewerage system.
INDUSTRIAL USER
Any nongovernmental user of publicly owned treatment works
identified in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972,
Office of Management and Budget, as amended and supplemented under
the following divisions: Division A, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing;
Division B, Mining; Division D, Manufacturing; Division E, Transportation,
Communications, Electric, Gas and Sanitary Services; Division I, Services.
A user in the division listed may be excluded if it is determined
that it will introduce primarily segregated domestic wastes or wastes
from sanitary conveniences.
Mg/l
Milligrams per liter.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other
body of surface water or groundwater.
NORMAL STRENGTH SEWAGE
Sewage discharged by a user into the sanitary sewers and
in which the average concentrations of total SS is not more than 300
mg/l and BOD is no more than 300 mg/l.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
PLUMBING INSPECTOR
That person designated by the City Manager to inspect work
and compliance with ordinances and laws governing the installation
and operation of sewer, water and gas plumbing.
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 one-half inch (1.27 centimeters)
in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal
rights and is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface
and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SANITARY SEWERAGE SYSTEM
All sanitary sewer trunk lines, main lines, submain lines,
lateral lines, lift stations and sewage treatment plants, and all
sewer lines connected to the City's sewer lines or treatment
plants, whether owned by the City or not.
SEWAGE
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together
with such ground, surface and stormwaters as may be present and includes
the domestic wastewater and industrial sewage in any combination.
SEWAGE WORKS
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing
of sewage. Sewers, sewer mains, public sewers, sewer system or words
of like import shall mean the conduits, pipes, mains and works that
are used to collect and dispose of sewage and that are owned by the
City or connected to sewers that empty into or connect with sewers
owned, maintained or operated by the City.
SEWER SERVICE AVAILABLE
The property to be served is adjacent to or abuts any available
gravity sewer under the jurisdiction of the City for its operation,
repair and maintenance.
SEWER SERVICE RATE
The price per unit (mg/l, 1,000 gallons, pounds, etc.) of
waste discharged into the sanitary sewerage system of the City.
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.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS)
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.
USER
A customer whose property also discharges sewage into the
sanitary sewerage system of the City in any quantity.
USER CHARGE
The monthly charge fixed for the user based upon the volume
and strength of sewage determined to be discharged by the user into
the sanitary sewerage system of the City.
WATERCOURSE
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
[Code 1985 § 27-127; Code 2005 § 110-142]
The sanitary sewerage system of the City is hereby declared
to be a public utility, and a proper source of revenue for the upkeep
and maintenance of the system and for other purposes.
[Code 1985 § 27-129; Code 2005 § 110-143]
The City Manager shall have the authority to decide any question
which may arise and which is not fully covered by any of the provisions
contained in this chapter, and his decision in such cases shall become
final unless appealed to the Board of Commissioners. It shall be the
duty of the City Manager at least once each month to cause the assessment
for usage of the sanitary sewer to be recorded in a proper manner
and submitted to the City Clerk's office for review and preparation
of sewer bills. The City Manager shall enforce all ordinances, rules
and regulations relating to the connections, use and operations of
the sanitary sewerage system and shall have the necessary right of
ingress and egress to private property so far as is necessary in the
proper and full discharge of his duties. To this end, the City Manager
may appoint necessary assistants and/or inspectors with the same authority
and powers.
[Code 1985 § 27-130; Code 2005 § 110-144]
The rates, rules and regulations prescribed in this article
shall constitute and be considered a part of the contract with every
person who is supplied with sewer service from the sanitary sewer
system of the City; and every person who accepts and uses sewer service
shall be held to have consented to be bound hereby.
[Code 1985 § 27-132; Code 2005 § 110-145]
A. The City is merely a supplier of sanitary sewer service via the customer's
installation, and is not responsible for any damage to apparatus,
equipment or to other property of the customer, either from wear or
tear or inherent defects in the installation.
B. The City shall not be responsible to any person entitled to the use
of sewer service from the City sanitary sewerage system under any
license for use by reason of the failure of sewer service from any
cause; no claim for damage shall be maintainable against the City
by any person by reason of such failure of service or by reason of
any damage of service pipe or connection with the mains. A stipulation
to this effect shall be deemed to be contained in every application
for a sewer connection.
[Code 1985 § 27-133; Code 2005 § 110-146]
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit to
be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property
within the City, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the City,
any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable waste.
B. It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the
City, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the City any sewage
or other polluted waters except where suitable treatment has been
provided in accordance with this article.
C. Except as otherwise provided, it shall be unlawful to construct or
maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility
intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
D. The owner of all houses, buildings or properties used for human occupancy,
employment, recreation or other purposes situated within the City
and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is
now located or may in the future be located a public sanitary sewer
of the City, is hereby required at his expense to install suitable
toilet facilities thereon, and to connect such facilities directly
with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of
this article within 90 days after date of official notice to do so,
provided that the public sewer is within 300 feet of the property.
[Code 1985 § 27-136; Code 2005 § 110-147]
All applications for sewer service shall be made by the customer
to the office of the City Clerk and upon acceptance of the application,
the City shall, as promptly as practicable, supply the customer with
service in accordance with rates, rules, terms, regulations and all
provisions of this article.
[Code 1985 § 27-137; Code 2005 § 110-148]
A. It shall be unlawful for any person upon whose premises there is
sewer service supplied to install additional fixtures on the premises
or to apply the service to purposes other than to those for which
the application was made, or to furnish sewer service to additional
persons unless he shall first make written application to the City
and receive permission for such use. Sewer service delivered to consumers
from the sewer conduit shall be for use upon the premises of the individual
consumer only. Service is for the exclusive use of the customer, and
is not to be resold or shared with others.
B. No person shall install piping, make connections or attach pipes
to service lines in a manner so that sewer service may be secured
without being supplied under the terms of this article.
[Code 1985 § 27-138; Code 2005 § 110-149]
The City reserves the right to cause the usage of sewer service
to be discontinued from the mains when necessary for repairs, making
connections or extensions or doing any other necessary work. No claim
shall be made against the City on account of discontinuing of the
service from the mains or for the breaking of any service pipe or
fixtures connected thereto.
[Code 1985 § 27-139; Code 2005 § 110-150]
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
injure, break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any
structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the sewage
works.
[Code 1985 § 27-140; Code 2005 § 110-151]
The City shall not be liable for any loss, damage or injury
whatsoever caused by leakage, escape or loss of sewage from the customer's
service line or for defects in the customer's piping or fittings.
[Code 1985 § 27-141; Code 2005 § 110-152]
A. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to prohibit
any owner or occupant of a residence from repairing or replacing any
plumbing fixture, either in or outside any building, or from extending
any sewer pipes on his property.
B. The owner of any premises to which sewer service shall be connected
shall keep all fixtures and pipes from the public sewer to the premises,
and inside the premises, in good repair. Unless the owner shall promptly
repair any fixtures or pipes when notified by the City, the sewer
service shall be disconnected and shall not be reconnected until repairs
are made.
[Code 1985 § 27-142; Code 2005 § 110-153]
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 required, the control
manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in
the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected.
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
analysis 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 SS analyses
are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all outfalls whereas
pH's are determined from periodic grab samples.
[Code 1985 §§ 6-136(b) 27-143; Code 2005 § 110-154]
A. The City Manager and other duly authorized employees of the City
bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to
enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement,
sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.
B. Whenever such employees in the conduct of their responsibilities
under the terms of this article, deem it necessary to enter upon privately
owned property or to enter buildings or structures, they shall first
obtain the written permission of the owner, occupant, tenant or person
in charge of the premises or buildings or structures, or shall have
a court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
C. The City Manager 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.
D. While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in Subsection
A of this section, the City Manager or duly authorized employees of the City shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company and the company shall be held harmless for injury or death to the City employees and the City shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by City employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gaging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions.
E. The City Manager 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 such easement. All entry and subsequent
work, if any, on such easement shall be done in full accordance with
the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private
property involved.
[Code 1985 § 27-144; Code 2005 § 110-155]
A. Any person found to be violating any provision of this article, except §
20-47, shall be served by the City 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 time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
B. 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.