Editor's Note: See also Chapter 18, Sewers, of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Watchung.
[1972 Code § 157-1; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
As used in this chapter:
Shall mean the Borough of Watchung.
Shall mean waste and wastewater from humans or household
operations.
Shall mean solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and
the dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of
produce.
Shall mean nondomestic waste, including, but not limited
to, those pollutants regulated under Section 307(a), (b), or (c) of
the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317 (a), (b),
or (c)).
Shall mean the sewer laid along the center line or other
part of the streets or other rights-of-way, and to which all owners
have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.
Shall mean a conveyance or system of conveyances (including
roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs,
gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) that is owned
or operated by the Borough of Watchung or other public body, and is
designed and used for collecting and conveying stormwater.
Shall mean a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties
have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.
Shall mean a sewer which carries sewage and to which surface
or groundwaters are not admitted.
Shall mean a combination of the water-carried wastes from
residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments.
Shall mean any arrangement of devices and structures used
for the treatment of sewage.
Shall mean all facilities for collecting, pumping and disposing
of sewage.
Shall mean the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing
of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles
will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing
in the public sewers, and no particle greater than 1/2 inch.
[1972 Code § 157-2; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit
to be deposited in an unsanitary manner upon a public or private property
within the Borough of Watchung, or in any area under the jurisdiction
of the Borough, any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable
waste.
[1972 Code § 157-3; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
It shall be unlawful for any owner of any house, building or structure used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other human use within the Borough of Watchung to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other similar facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage, where a public sewer is located within 200 feet of the property line of said premises, except as provided in Section BH8-2.3.
[1972 Code § 157-4; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
a.
Upon acceptance of any public sewer by the Governing Body of the
Borough of Watchung, the owner or owners of all houses, buildings
or structures used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or
other human use, which house, building or structure is located within
200 feet of said accepted public sewer, shall, at his own expense,
connect directly with said public sewer in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter; and such connection shall be accomplished within
180 days after the date of acceptance of said public sewer by the
Governing Body of the Borough of Watchung.
b.
Pursuant to Section 18-3 of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Watchung, no authorization for the repair, alteration or replacement of an individual disposal system shall be granted where public sanitary sewer is available. However, where the existing individual subsurface sewage disposal system is failing, the connection to the public sewer shall be accomplished immediately and the 180 day connection period specified in paragraph a above, shall not apply.
c.
The Board of Health may, after written application therefor, hearing
thereon and good cause shown, by formal resolution, grant exemptions
from the requirement for connection to the public sewer provided for
under paragraph a above, if, due to physical conditions upon the property,
connection to the public sewer would be impracticable and result in
substantial hardship to the owner because of the need for blasting
of bedrock, provided, however, that the conditions set forth in paragraph
f below, shall have been met.
d.
The Board of Health may, after written application therefor, hearing
thereon and good cause shown, by formal resolution, grant exemptions
from the requirement for connection to the public sewer provided for
under paragraph a above, if, the connection requires an individual
property owner to obtain an easement or right-of-way to cross an adjoining
property, or requires crossing a watercourse, railway, major highway
or other significant obstacle and would be impracticable and result
in substantial hardship to the owner, provided, however, that the
conditions set forth in paragraph f below, shall have been met.
e.
The Board of Health may, after written application therefor, hearing
thereon and good cause shown, by formal resolution, grant deferrals
in the requirement for connection to the sewer provided for under
paragraph a above if the conditions set forth in paragraph f below,
shall have been met and the following grounds for deferral exist:
1.
That the individual sewage disposal system serving the property has
been installed new or altered within 36 months prior to the date of
acceptance of said public sewer by the Governing Body of the Borough
of Watchung, and the installation or alteration has been approved
and permitted by the Board of Health. In such case, the Board of Health
may grant a deferral for a period not to exceed seven years. In no
case shall the period of deferral of the requirement for connection
to the sewer granted under this subparagraph extend beyond the time
at which ownership or occupancy of the property shall have changed.
f.
The Board of Health shall not grant exemptions under paragraphs c
or d above, or deferrals under paragraph e above, unless the owner
establishes to the satisfaction of the Board of Health that the septic
tank has been pumped within three years of the date of the application
for exemption or deferral; that the individual sewage disposal system
serving the property is functioning properly, safely, and in accordance
with all applicable laws and regulations; and can be expected to provide
long-term reliable service.
g.
The requirement for connection to the sewer within 180 days as set
forth in paragraph a above shall automatically be extended, by the
filing of an application for exemption or deferral with the Board
of Health, to a date 180 days from the date of the Board of Health's
formal action on such application, or as specified by the Board of
Health.
h.
All applications for exemption or deferral shall be made on forms
provided by the Board of Health and shall be accompanied by documentation
of all technical data necessary to support them.
i.
The applicant shall have the burden of establishing entitlement to
exemption or deferral and the applicant's failure to sustain
this burden shall result in a denial of the application.
[1972 Code § 157-19; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater,
surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling
water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
[1972 Code § 157-20; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
Stormwater and any other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged
into such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers, or
to a natural outlet approved by the Borough Engineer. Industrial cooling
water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged to a storm sewer
or stream as approved by the proper authority of the Borough.
[1972 Code § 157-25; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
The Health Officer and/or designee and other duly authorized
employees of the Borough bearing proper credentials and identification
shall be permitted to enter upon all properties for the purpose of
inspections, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
[1972 Code § 157-26; Ord. No. BH 12-01]
The Health Officer and/or designee of the Borough of Watchung
shall serve written notice on the owner of any property violating
any provision of this chapter ordering said person to comply therewith
within the time prescribed by this chapter. Any person who fails to
comply with the notice within the time set forth, shall, upon conviction
thereof, be subject to a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than
$500. Such notice may be served on the owner personally or by registered
mail.
