[Adopted 2-14-1977 by Ord. No. 349,[1] approved 2-14-1977]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance supersedes former Ch. 98, Sewers, adopted as follows: Art. I, Sewer Connections, 10-6-1955 by Ord. No. 197; Art. II, Sewer Rents, 10-10-1955 by Ord. No. 200, Art. III, Penalties, 6-14-1976 by Ord. No. 346.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMERCIAL USER
Any building or structure or major portion thereof which is occupied by a person or persons, partnership, firm or corporation proffering the sale of goods and/or services.
INDUSTRIAL USER
Any building or structure housing any operation or process involving the manufacture or alteration of any material and/or physical substance.
MULTIPLE DWELLING
Each unit or domicile of a multiple dwelling shall be deemed a single residential dwelling unit, except rooming houses, offices or similar occupancy where each tenant occupies only one or two rooms using common toilet facilities.
OWNER
Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation owning real estate within the area of the public sewer system. The singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
PUBLIC USER
Any user consisting of a nonprofit organization and normally considered as a public institution, such as schools, libraries, municipal buildings, volunteer fire companies and like institutions.
RESIDENTIAL USER
Any building or structure or major portion thereof which has as its primary function that of a dwelling or occupancy by persons on a more or less permanent basis.
Every property in Conway Borough adjoining or abutting upon any street or alley in which a public sewer is now or shall hereafter be located shall be connected with such sewer in such manner and within such time as the Borough may order for the purpose of the discharge of all fecal matter, human excrement, kitchen and laundry wastes and other sewage from said premises. All such sewage shall, after such connection, be conducted into such sewers. Every such property shall be connected separately and independently with the sewer through the house connection branch directly opposite the building or nearest in a downstream direction. Grouping of buildings upon one house sewer shall not be permitted, except under special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons with special permission granted by the Borough Council upon recommendation of the Borough Engineer.
[Added 5-13-1996 by Ord. No. 452, approved 5-13-1996]
The discharge of stormwater runoff to the public sewers shall be prohibited. No person shall convey or cause to be conveyed to the public sewer system any source of extraneous water, including roof drains, foundation drains, driveway drains or any similar drain conveying surface water. Any user found to be discharging extraneous water to the public sewer system shall be required to disconnect such drain or source of extraneous water within such period of time as may be required by the Borough.
The duly authorized agents of the Borough shall have access at all reasonable hours of the day to all parts of the premises to which sewer service is supplied to make necessary inspection.
The Borough reserves the right to refuse connection to a sanitary sewer, or otherwise to compel discontinuance of use or to compel pretreatment by an industry, to prevent discharge to the sewer of any waste deemed to be harmful to the sewer system or sewage treatment plant or to have a deleterious effect on the sewage treatment process.
[Added 5-13-1996 by Ord. No. 452, approved 5-13-1996]
The Borough reserves the right to require the use of grease interceptors on building sewers where, in the opinion of the Borough or Borough Engineer, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease and/or excessive amounts of oil, flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for individual private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of the type and capacity approved by the Borough or the Borough Engineer and shall be located so as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be constructed of impervious materials capable of withstanding abrupt and extreme changes in temperature. Interceptors shall be of substantial construction, watertight and equipped with easily removable covers which, when bolted in place, shall be gastight and watertight. All grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be maintained by the owner, at the owner's expense, in continuously efficient operation at all times.
Neither the Borough nor the Municipal Authority of the Borough shall be liable for any damage resulting from leaks, broken pipes or from any other cause occurring to or within any house or building, and neither the Borough nor the Authority shall be liable to any owner for any claim for damage arising by reason of leaking or breaking of any main, interceptor, lateral or building connection, sewer line or any attachment to the sewer.
The Borough may give an owner whose property is not connected with the sewer system written notice to connect with the sewer system within 45 days pursuant to § 98-2 herein by personal service or by certified mail sent to the last address of such owner. Upon failure of such owner to make the required connection within such forty-five-day period, the Borough may make such connection and collect the cost thereof from the owner by a municipal claim or in an action in assumpsit.
The Borough has provided and will provide six-inch wye outlets from the main sewer lines for each lot. All owners must connect to this wye. With permission of the Borough Engineers, connections may be made at other points. Every connection to a main sewer must be inspected by the Borough Engineer or other constituted Borough personnel before the trench is backfilled.
If any owner of improved property within the Borough, not connected with the sewer system, shall be required by § 98-2 to connect therewith and shall have been given notice to connect as provided by § 98-6 and shall have failed to make the required connection within the period of 45 days required by such notice, such failure shall be and is hereby declared a violation of this article and such owner shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided by § 98-17 herein.
A. 
Beginning the first day of January 2007, all owners of property connected or connecting with the sewers, sewer system and sewage treatment works, zoned or leased by the Borough of Conway, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and all the owners of property who may hereafter connect with and use the same shall pay sewer rentals or charges payable quarterly as hereinafter provided for the use of such facilities based upon the following schedules of rates:
[Last amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 509, approved 12-20-2006[1]]
(1) 
Minimum rates. The following minimum rates are hereby imposed:
(a) 
For residential buildings: $21.11.
(b) 
For commercial establishments and buildings: $24.95.
(c) 
For industrial and public users: $59.68.
(2) 
Sewer rental rates:
Water Use per Quarter
(gallons)
Charge
1,000 or less
Minimum rate
1,000 or more
$2.34 per 1,000 gallons or part thereof
(3) 
Flat-rate customers: $45.06.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that any change of rates hereinafter would be done by resolution and would be applicable as designated.
B. 
Users with private water supply who discharge into the sewer system are required to install and maintain, at their expense, water meters of a type and size approved by the Borough, or be assessed a flat rate as determined by the Borough by resolution from time to time.
C. 
Industrial and commercial water users discharging sewage to the sewer system having an average suspended solids content greater than 250 parts per million, a five-day twenty-degree-centigrade BOD greater than 250 parts per million and a chloride demand not to exceed 50 parts per million shall be subject to strength-of-waste surcharges as may be subsequently determined by the Borough.
D. 
Connection or tapping fee and bond. Each single residential user or commercial, industrial or public unit shall pay a tapping and connection fee, as established by resolution of Council, which is payable on application for a connection permit.
[Amended 12-18-1978 by Ord. No. 363, approved 12-18-1978; 4-9-1979 by Ord. No. 365, approved 4-9-1979; 10-8-1984 by Ord. No. 402, approved 10-8-1984]
[Amended 5-13-1996 by Ord. No. 452, approved 5-13-1996]
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged to any public sewer wastes having any of the following characteristics:
A. 
Wastes containing liquids, solids or gases which, by reason of their nature or quality, may cause fire or explosions or be in any other way injurious to persons, the structures of the public sanitary sewage system or its operation.
B. 
Wastes having a temperature in excess of 150° F. or less than 32° F.
C. 
Wastes having a pH lower than 6.0 or higher than 9.0 or having any corrosive properties capable of causing damage or hazards to structures, equipment or personnel of the public sanitary sewage system. Where the Borough deems it advisable, it may require any person discharging industrial wastes to install and maintain at his own expense, in a manner approved by the Borough or its designated representative, a suitable device to continuously measure and record the pH of the wastes so discharged.
D. 
Wastes containing any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which, either singly or by interaction with sewage or other wastes, may create a public nuisance or hazard to life or prevent entry to sewerage structures for their maintenance and repair.
E. 
Wastes containing ashes, cinders, sand, mud, garbage, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, hair, chemical or paint residues, greases, lime slurry or viscose materials of such character or in such quantity that may cause an obstruction to the flow in the sewers or otherwise interfere with the proper operations of the public sanitary sewage system. Attention is called to the fact that the maximum permissible concentration will vary throughout the public sanitary sewage system depending upon the size of the particular interceptor receiving the same and the flows therein.
F. 
Wastes containing insoluble, nonflocculent substances having a specific gravity in excess of 2.65.
G. 
Wastes containing soluble substances in such concentration as to cause the specific gravity of the waste to be greater than 1.1.
H. 
Wastes containing any of the following substances in solution or in suspension in concentrations exceeding those shown in the following table:
Substance
Maximum Permissible Concentration
(milligrams per liter)
Phenolic compounds as C5H6OH
1.0
Cyanides as CN
1.0
Cyanates as CNO
5.0
Iron as FE
0.3
Trivalent chromium as Cr plus
Hexavalent Chromium as Cr
0.5
Nickel as Ni
1.0
Copper as CU
0.03
Lead as Pb
0.5
Zinc as Zn
0.15
Manganese as MN
0.05
Cadmium
1.0
Tin
0.4
I. 
Wastes containing fat, oil and/or greases in concentrations in excess of 200 milligrams per liter.
J. 
Wastes containing more than 10 milligrams per liter of any of the following gases: hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide or any of the halogens.
K. 
Wastes containing gases or vapors, either free or occluded, in concentrations toxic or dangerous to humans or animals.
L. 
Wastes containing toxic substances in quantities sufficient to interfere with the biochemical processes of the sewage treatment works or that will pass through the treatment process and still exceed the state and federal requirements for the receiving stream.
M. 
Wastes containing toxic radioactive isotopes without a special permit.
N. 
Wastes at a flow rate and/or pollutant discharge rate which is excessive over relatively short time periods.
[Added 5-13-1996 by Ord. No. 452, approved 5-13-1996]
A. 
Wastewater containing waste constituents compatible with the public sanitary sewer system and for which the sewage treatment plan is capable of providing treatment and removal shall be subject to a surcharge for such constituent concentrations in excess of those provided herein. The wastewater constituents for which surcharges are applicable are BOD5, suspended solids, ammonia nitrogen, phosphorus, ABS and oil, greases and fats. The surcharges shall be in addition to the regular sewage collection, conveyance and treatment charges as set forth in § 98-9 and shall be chargeable as hereinafter provided.
B. 
The surcharge for the exceeding of applicable surcharge constituents of wastewater shall be determined by the Borough by samples taken at either a manhole or other sampling point mutually agreed upon by the Borough and the producer of such waste. The frequency and duration of the sampling period shall be such that, in the opinion of the Borough, it will permit a reasonable reliable determination of the average composition of such waste during a particular billing period. Samples shall be collected or their collection supervised by a representative of the Borough. Samples shall be analyzed in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Health Association. The analysis shall be used to establish the surcharge or surcharges for the wastewater constituents herein regulated. In addition to the applicable surcharges, the waste producer shall also be responsible for the costs of sample collection and analysis when such analysis indicates an exceeding of the allowable concentration of any wastewater constituent regulated herein. Discharge of wastewater into the public sanitary sewer system containing waste constitutes in excess of the following shall be subject to the surcharges indicated.
(1) 
Any discharge having an average five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) greater than 300 mg/l (mg/l) shall pay a surcharge equal to 1/10 of 1% of 1%) of the quarterly charges as computed on the quarterly bill for each mg/l that the BOD5 exceeds the 300 mg/l.
(2) 
Any discharge having a suspended solids content greater than 275 mg/l shall pay a surcharge equal to 1/10 of 1% of the quarterly charges for each mg/l that the suspended solids exceeds the 275 mg/l.
(3) 
Any discharge having a phosphorus concentration in excess of 10 mg/l; an ammonia nitrogen concentration in excess of 20 mg/l; a concentration of oil, grease or fat in excess of 100 mg/l; or a concentration of ABS in excess of 10 mg/l shall pay a surcharge equal to 1/10 of 1% of the quarterly charge for each milligram per liter that exceed the above stated limits for each parameter.
C. 
Violations and penalties as set forth in § 98-17 shall also be applicable in the amount of $300 per occurrence in addition to the surcharges as set forth herein.
Sewer charges shall be paid quarterly in accordance with the rate schedule for sewer service as shall be rendered by Conway Borough; provided, however, that during the first quarter that a residential, commercial, industrial or public user begins to discharge sewage into the sewer system, said charge shall be based on a per diem pro rata amount from the time such connection is made until the following quarterly billing period. Quarterly charges for sewer service shall be subject to a penalty of 10% if not paid within 20 days after the date due.
Each sewer rental or charge imposed shall be a lien on the property served by the sewer system of the Borough, and such lien may be filed in the office of the Prothonotary and collected in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of municipal claims.
The funds received by the Borough from the collection of charges or rentals herein provided shall be used only for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Borough as approved by the Engineer for the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Conway, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in the operation, maintenance, repair, alteration and inspection, depreciation and other expenses in relation to such sewers, sewer system and sewage treatment works and for such payments as the Borough may be required to make under any lease or agreement it may enter into or has heretofore entered into for said sewers, sewer system and sewage treatment works with the Municipal Authority of Conway, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, as amended.
The rental or charges imposed by this article shall become effective immediately or at the time of connection to the sewer system, as the case may be.
If and when an industrial user begins to discharge into the sewer system or sewage treatment works, the Borough of Conway agrees to develop and maintain a surcharge system in conformance with 40 CFR 35.935-13(b) and Appendix B to Part 35, subject to review by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Borough of Conway shall annually review the user charges under this article and shall revise them periodically, if necessary, to meet actual operation and maintenance expenses. The Borough and/or the Authority shall maintain such records as are necessary to document compliance with all regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Whenever in this article any act is prohibited or is declared to be unlawful or the doing of an act is required or the failure to do an act is declared to be unlawful, the violation of any provision of this article shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $300 and, in default of payment of such fine, by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 10 days. Each day any violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense. All fines and penalties imposed under this article shall be turned over to the Borough Treasurer to be used for general Borough purposes unless otherwise directed by statute or ordinance.