[Adopted as Ch. 95 of the 2000 Code]
The purpose of the articles in this Chapter 256 of the Code of Ordinances pertaining to sanitary sewers is to establish rules and regulations governing the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage within the City in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
For use in the articles of this Chapter 256, unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms are defined:
An agreement dated May 23, 1979, between the City of Marion
and the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to provide upgraded water pollution
control facilities in the region.
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 or parts per million.
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a building 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.
That part of the horizontal piping from the building wall
to its connection with the main sewer or the primary treatment portion
of an on-site wastewater treatment and disposal system conveying the
drainage of one building site.
The City Engineer of the City of Marion or any authorized
deputy agent or representative.
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
Any person responsible for the production of domestic, commercial
or industrial waste which is directly or indirectly discharged into
the public sewer system.
The Director of the Sewage Treatment Facility.
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and
sale of produce.
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
A structure that is suitably built to permit access from
the surface for inspection control and maintenance of a sewer.
A unit of the concentration of water or wastewater constituent.
It is 0.001 g. of the constituent in 1,000 ml of water.
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other
body of surface water or groundwater.
All equipment and devices necessary for proper conduction,
collection, storage, treatment, and disposal of wastewater from four
or fewer dwelling units or other facilities serving the equivalent
of 1,500 gpd or less.
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
Any treatment of wastewater or sewage before introduction
into a public sewer.
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal
rights, and is controlled by public authority.
Sewage discharging from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings
(including apartment houses and hotels), office buildings, factories
or institutions, and free from stormwater, surface water, and industrial
waste.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface
water and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
with such ground, surface, and storm waters as may be present.
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating
sewage.
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing
of sewage.
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
Any and all charges, rates or fees levied against and payable
by customers, as consideration for the servicing of said customers
by said sewer system.
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 more than five times the average twenty-four-hour
concentration that flows during normal operation.
A sewer which carries stormwater and surface waters and drainage
but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling
water.
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.
The concentration of ammonia and organic nitrogen expressed
in milligrams per liter.
Water of quality equal or better than the applicable standards
in effect under the State or Federal Act or water that would not cause
violation of receiving water quality standards under the applicable
act and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers
and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
No person shall do, or allow, any of the following:
A.
Damage sewer system. Maliciously,
willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or
tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part
of the sewer system.
B.
Surface runoff or groundwater.
Connect a roof downspout, sump pump, exterior foundation drain, areaway
drain, or other source of surface runoff or groundwater to a building
sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly
to a public sanitary sewer.
C.
Manholes. Open or enter any manhole
of the sewer system, except by authority of the Public Works Department.
[Amended 8-22-2024 by Ord. No. 24-10]
D.
Objectionable wastes. Place or
deposit 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.
E.
Septic tanks. Construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage except as provided in this Chapter 256.
F.
Untreated discharge. Discharge
to any natural outlet within the City, or in any area under its jurisdiction,
any sanitary sewage, industrial wastes, or other polluted waters,
except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with
subsequent provisions of this chapter.
G.
Combined sewers. The construction
of and use of combined sewers are prohibited.
[Ord. No. 22-03]
The owners of any 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, are hereby required to install, at such owner's expense, suitable toilet facilities therein and a building sewer connecting such facilities directly with the proper public sewer, and to maintain the same all in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter 256. Such compliance shall be completed within 90 days after date of official notice from the City to do so, provided that said public sewer is located within 250 feet of an existing or proposed house or building and is of such design as to receive and convey by gravity such sewage as may be conveyed to it. Billing for sanitary sewer service will begin the date of official notice to connect to the public sewer.
The owners of property outside the corporate limits of the City
so situated that it may be served by the City sewer system may apply
to the Council for permission to connect to the public sewer upon
the terms and conditions stipulated by resolution of the Council.
The duly authorized employees of the City bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter 256. The representatives 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.
The 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
said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement
shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated
easement pertaining to the private property involved.
The following special penalty provisions shall apply to violations of this Chapter 256:
A.
Notice of violation. Any person found to be violating any provision of Chapter 256, except § 256-3A, C and D, 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.
