Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
(a) “BOD” (denoting biochemical oxygen demand)
means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at twenty degrees Centigrade, expressed in milligrams per liter.
(b) “Building drain”
means 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 (one and five-tenths meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
(c) “Building sewer”
means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
(d) “Combined sewer”
means a sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
(e) “Equivalent residential unit (ERU)”
means the average amount of sewage contributed to the wastewater collection and treatment system by a single-family residential household. For purpose of determination of ERUs, a single-family living unit will be defined as one ERU. The ERUs for multifamily housing units or commercial facilities will be determined using the schedule of equivalent residential units (ERUs) in Section 9.08.065. For uses that do not fit into any of the listed categories, an independent ERU calculation will be performed using the following formula: ERU = [0.38 x ((flow in gpd)/(250 gpd)) + 0.387 x ((BOD in ppm)/(200 ppm)) + 0.223 x ((TSS in ppm)/(200 ppm))] where BOD is biological oxygen demand and TSS is total suspended solids.
(f) “Garbage”
means solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
(g) “Industrial wastes”
means the liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
(h) “Natural outlet”
means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
(j) “pH”
means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
(k) “Properly shredded garbage”
means 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.
(l) “Public sewer”
means a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and which is controlled by public authority.
(m) “Sanitary sewer”
means a sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwaters, surface waters and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
(n) “Sewage”
means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwaters, surface waters and stormwaters as may be present.
(o) “Sewage treatment plant”
means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
(p) “Sewage works”
means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
(s) “Slug”
means 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 fifteen minutes more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
(t) “Storm drain” (sometimes termed “storm sewer”)
means a sewer which carries stormwaters and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
(u) “Superintendent”
means the director of public works of the city of Omak, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
(v) “Suspended solids”
means 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.
(w) “System development fee”
means a fee charged for new connection to the city’s wastewater collection and treatment system. The purpose of the system development fee (SDF) is to help defray the costs of past and future system improvements. System development fees for the wastewater systems are determined for an equivalent residential unit (ERU). Unless specifically provided otherwise, SDFs for connections involving more than one ERU are charged according to the ERUs calculated for the service to the new connection. Once a system development fee has been paid for a property, it will not be collected again if the service is repaired or replaced in the future; provided, that the ERUs being served do not increase as a result of the modification.
(x) “Watercourse”
means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. 762 § 1(a), 1977; Ord. 1638 § 1 (part), 2008; Ord. 1662 § 1 (Exh. A)(part), 2010)