[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020; Ord. No. 1332, 11-13-2025]
A. 
No person or business shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public or private sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Commissioner.
B. 
Any person or business proposing a new discharge into the system or a substantial change in the volume or character of pollutants that are being discharged into the system shall submit a permit application to the Commissioner at least 14 days prior to the proposed change or connection. The applicant shall be responsible for costs incurred by the City to evaluate the capacity of existing collection system and treatment plant to accommodate proposed changes.
C. 
Where existing or proposed wastewater discharges do not meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements or where such contributions would cause the WWTP to violate its NPDES permit, the Commissioner shall prohibit or place conditions on such contributions to ensure compliance with pretreatment standards or to prevent interference or pass through.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
A. 
There shall be two classes of building sewer permits: (a) for residential and commercial service, and (b) for service to establishments producing industrial wastes, including significant industrial users as defined herein and any other establishment discharging or proposing to discharge wastes containing toxic pollutants or wastes having the potential for significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge or other wastewater treatment residuals, the WWTP's effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the WWTP.
B. 
Within 180 days of the effective date of any categorical pretreatment standard or a category determination by the control authority, whichever is later, or, in the case of a new source of industrial waste as defined herein, not later than 90 days prior to introducing wastes into the wastewater system, industrial users subject to such pretreatment standards or requirements shall submit a baseline monitoring report to the Commissioner.
C. 
Permits for industrial users shall be issued for a period not to exceed three years; be nontransferable without the prior and express written approval of the Commissioner; and, as a minimum, include effluent limits based on applicable general pretreatment standards, categorical pretreatment standards, local limits, and state and local law; include requirements for self-monitoring, sampling, reporting, notification and recordkeeping, including an identification of the pollutants to be monitored and the sampling frequency, type and location; and any other requirements.
D. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed as to require the issuance of any permit to any industrial user or to relieve any industrial user from any responsibility or requirement to make proper application for such permit. No industrial wastewater shall be discharged to the wastewater system by any new source until a permit has been issued by the Commissioner.
E. 
Permits may be revoked by the City for a violation of this chapter, the pretreatment regulations adopted by the City, or applicable state and federal regulations.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
A. 
All costs and expense incident to the installation, connection and maintenance of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the City from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly occur by the installation of the building sewer.
[Ord. No. 1332, 11-13-2025]
B. 
At the time of obtaining a permit, the owner or their designated contractor shall furnish to the City evidence of liability insurance with respect to injuries to persons or property that may arise during the construction of the building sewer in limits of not less than $1,000,000 for bodily injury to persons per occurrence and $500,000 for injury to property of third persons. The owner shall further post with the treasurer a cash or surety bond in an amount deemed sufficient by the Commissioner to ensure restoration of the travelled portion of the public way or unaccepted way, including sidewalks if any, to their condition prior to construction following completion of the work required to complete the sewer connection.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another or an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer. Such exceptions may be only undertaken with written approval of the Commissioner.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
Existing building sewers may be reused in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Commissioner, to meet all requirements of this chapter. The sewers must, in addition, be proven watertight and possess the structural integrity adequate to meet all design standards. At the discretion of the Commissioner, the proponent may be required to perform a sewer capacity analysis at the expense of the proponent and under the oversight of the City. The costs associated with the testing and examination of existing building sewers shall be borne by the building sewer owner.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the City. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the Gravity Sanitary Sewer Design and Construction, Second Edition, ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice No. 60/WEF Manual of Practice No. FD-5, or materials and procedures specifically provided by the City shall apply. All new sewers shall be designed and constructed in accordance with state regulations and tested for infiltration in accordance with an acceptable testing method of the State Department of Public Health.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020; Ord. No. 1332, 11-13-2025]
Subject to the elevation of the public sewer, buildings in which the building sewer is too low to permit gravity discharge to the public sewer, the building sewer shall be pumped by permitted means and discharged to the public sewer. Appurtenances installed to pump building sewers to the public sewer shall be installed and maintained at the building sewer owner's expense.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
A. 
The City assumes no liability for conditions that exist in plumbing fixtures, building sewers and appurtenances that may result from surcharge, repair, and operation and maintenance activities performed by the City on the public sewer. All existing or new building sewers from plumbing fixtures liable to backflow from the public sewer are installed at the building owner's risk. The City will not assume any responsibility for backups or flooding of fixtures or basements as a result of the installation of these fixtures. Any plumbing fixture located at an elevation lower than the top of the public sewer manhole immediately downstream of the building sewer serving the fixture shall be considered to be liable to backflow.
B. 
Plumbing fixtures subject to backflow from the public sewer shall have backwater valves installed at the building sewer owner's expense. A "backwater valve" is a device installed in a building sewer to prevent the discharge from the building, or flows originating outside the building, from flowing back into the building. Backwater valves shall be installed in accordance with the Uniform State Plumbing Code, 248 CMR 10.15(11), and City requirements. The backwater valve shall be installed and maintained at the building sewer owner's expense.
[Ord. No. 1332, 11-13-2025]
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the City, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and the WEF Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Commissioner before installation.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Commissioner when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Commissioner or their duly authorized representative.
[Ord. No. 1226, § I, 6-23-2020]
All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of work shall be restored to their preconstruction condition prior to completion of the work in a manner satisfactory to the City. Trench excavations shall conform to applicable federal and state regulations.