[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
The purpose of this Part is to establish Township regulations
for spray irrigation and stream discharge type treatment systems (which
shall include, but not be limited to, dry stream channel discharge
and overland flow systems) consistent with the Pennsylvania Sewage
Facilities Act (Act 537), as amended. It is hereby declared that the
enactment of this Part is necessary for the protection, benefit and
preservation of the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants
of the Township.
Furthermore, this Part is intended to satisfy the additional
requirements imposed upon a municipality in the amendments to Act
537, which require a municipality to assure compliance of such treatment
systems with the regulations that establish standards for operation
and maintenance of these systems.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
As part of any zoning and subdivision approval proposing the
use of a spray irrigation or stream discharge type treatment system,
compliance with the requirements hereinafter set forth shall be a
condition of any such approval. All spray irrigation and stream discharge
type treatment systems to be constructed in the Township shall be
subject to a permit issued by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pursuant
to the amendments to Act 537. In addition, the property owner and/or
developer must execute an approved maintenance agreement with the
Township in recordable form which, along with the issuance of the
permit, must be memorialized in appropriate textural notes prominently
set forth on the approved final subdivision and land development plan.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
As used herein, the following terms shall have the meanings
herein described, unless otherwise provided:
The Board of Supervisors of the Township.
The Bureau or Office of the Department of Environmental Protection
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products, excrement
or other discharge from the bodies of human beings, and any nocuous
or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical to the public health,
to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water or domestic water
supply or for recreation. The term sanitary sewage specifically excludes
waste waters of industrial origin.
The individual authorized and duly appointed to administer
the issuance of permits and promulgate regulations governing spray
irrigation systems and stream discharge type treatment systems within
the Township, as authorized under the amendments to Act 537.
Any sanitary sewage treatment and disposal system which treats
and disposes of sewage utilizing a system of piping, treatment tanks
and soil renovation through spray irrigation and surface absorption
or land application.
Any sanitary sewage treatment and disposal system which treats
and disposes of sewage utilizing stream discharge.
The Township of Amity, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
All site developments, involving a residential structure, subdivisions
and land development plans utilizing a spray irrigation or stream
discharge type treatment system hereafter installed in the Township
shall not be approved within the Township unless and until the property
owner and/or developer executes a maintenance agreement approved by
the Township for purposes of providing security in a form acceptable
to the Township sufficient to cover the costs of future operation
and maintenance of the system over its design life up to a maximum
of 50% for each of the first two years of operation and no more than
10% each year thereafter of the equipment and installation cost of
the system, estimates for which amounts shall be submitted by the
applicant for review and approval by the Township Engineer and/or
the establishment of properly chartered associations, trusts or other
private legal entities to manage the systems, municipal ownership
of the systems, at the municipality's discretion, establishment of
a sewage management agency to manage the systems or any combination
of the above.
In addition, prior to plan approval, the Township shall have
received the permit issued by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
for the construction and use of the spray irrigation system or stream
discharge treatment system and shall have received any and all escrows
required by the approved maintenance agreement.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
All fees for the Township's review, approval, inspection and
maintenance, in the event that applicant fails to perform the same
after notice by Township, of a spray irrigation or stream discharge
type treatment system shall be established and set forth in the maintenance
agreement approved by the Township, the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference and shall be borne by the applicant as their sole
cost and expense.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
All site development subdivisions and land development plans utilizing a spray irrigation or stream discharge type treatment system within the Township shall be reviewed to determine compatibility with the intent and requirements of the Township's Comprehensive Plan, the Township's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (see Chapter 27 of the Township Code of Ordinances), the Township's Zoning Ordinance (see Chapter 32 of the Township Code of Ordinances), the Building and/or Plumbing Codes adopted by the Township (see Chapter 6 of the Township Code of Ordinances) and the Rules and Regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. All such plans shall be reviewed as may be necessary and otherwise required by the following boards and/or bodies:
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
Once it has been determined by the Sewage Enforcement Officer
for the Township that the site, sewer conditions and system design
meet the standards established by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection for such systems and the applicant has submitted documentation
to the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer reflecting that the proposed
use of the spray irrigation system or stream discharge type system
will not adversely impact existing and proposed drinking water supplies
and will not create a nuisance or public health hazard, the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer may issue a permit for the construction
of such spray irrigation system or stream discharge type treatment
system.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
The system designer shall provide an operation and maintenance
manual to the permittee that shall include at a minimum the following
standards for operation and maintenance that must be met by the permittee:
(a)
Septic tanks, lift tanks, dosing tanks and chlorine contact/storage
tanks must be inspected for structural integrity of the tank, inlet
and outlet baffles, solid's retainer, pumps, siphons and electrical
connections.
(b)
Aerobic treatment tanks must be inspected for structural integrity
of the tank, inlet and outlet baffles, buoyed solid's retainer, pumps,
siphons and electrical connections. Such inspection and concurrent
pumping of excess solids must be conducted in accordance with the
manufacturer's and NSF requirements.
(c)
Free access sand filters, buried sand filters, chlorinators, spray
irrigation piping and nozzles and the spray fields must be inspected
periodically by the property owner and every six months by the responsible
maintenance entity established under Chapter 72, Section 72.25(h).
Each component must be inspected for compliance with the following
standards:
(1)
Chlorine residual sampled after the contact/storage tank must
be maintained at a concentration of at least 0.2 ppm.
(2)
The chlorinator must be functioning within the specifications
of the manufacturer. "Bridging" of chlorine tablets must be prevented.
Regular inspection of the disinfection equipment is necessary to verify
proper operation and treatment.
(3)
Solids shall not accumulate on the sand filter surface. No more
than 12 inches of effluent may be ponded over the sand surface at
any time. The high water alarm shall be functional.
(d)
The surface of the free access sand filter must be raked and porous.
Any of the same that is removed must be replaced with sufficient clean
sand to maintain a depth of sand at 24 inches. Sand inspection and
maintenance (raking, removal/replacement) shall be conducted on a
frequency sufficient to ensure proper treatment.
(e)
The plumbing in the free access sand filter tank must be sound and
functional and splash plates must be in place.
(f)
The free access sand filter tank and cover must be structurally sound.
All components that prevent unauthorized access must be in place.
The proper insulation (filter tank sides to 24 inches and filter tank
cover) shall be used to help prevent freezing.
(g)
The areas surrounding a buried sand filter must be free of ponded
effluent and down-gradient.
(h)
The plumbing to the spray field must be sound and functional.
(i)
The spray nozzles must be functioning within design specifications.
(j)
A laboratory shall test the discharge to the system for fecal coliforms,
BOD, suspended solids and chlorine residual to determine compliance
with Chapter 72. A copy of the test results along with a report of
the most recent system inspection (performed by the maintenance entity
established under the requirements of Chapter 72, Section 72.25(f))
shall be sent to the local agency. This information shall be sent
no less than once a year.
(k)
Septic tank and lift tank pumping should be done on a three- to five-year
basis.
(l)
The use of biological or chemical additives in the septic tank is
not recommended or necessary. The addition of such products, in many
cases, interferes with the natural bacteriological action necessary
to treat sewage.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
The Township Board of Supervisors reserves the right to amend
these regulations by resolution or as may be appropriate from time
to time as is deemed necessary and proper.
[Ord. No. 167, 10/11/1999]
If any sentence, clause, section or part of this Part is, for
any reason, found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such
unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not effect or
impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections
or parts of this Part. It is hereby declared as the intent of the
Board of Supervisors of the Township that this Part would have been
adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause,
section or part thereof not been included herein.
