[Adopted 8-20-1951 by Ord. No. 238 (Ch. 70, Art. III, Part 1, of the 1971 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORITY
Refers to said Columbia Municipal Authority as the same now is or may hereafter be constituted.
BOROUGH
Refers to the Borough of Columbia.
CONNECTION
Means and refers to a connection or connections between the house line and the lateral at the curbs or property lines.
EXISTING SEWERS
Refer to the present sewers previously constructed and now in place in the Borough.
LATERAL
Means and refers to a sewer pipe extending from the sewer line to the curb or property line.
SEWAGE
Refers to household waste, liquids, human excreta or other materials commonly known as "sewage," but shall not include roof or surface waters, exhaust steam, oils, tar, grease, gas, gasoline, benzine, other combustible gases and liquids, garbage (unless treated in a manner approved by the Sewer Manager), offal, insoluble solids or industrial wastes of a dangerous nature or which would interfere with treatment in the sewage treatment plant of the Authority.
SEWER
Refers to any pipe forming part of the sewer system.
SEWER MANAGER
Means and refers to the person from time to time placed in general charge of the sewer system.
SEWER SERVICE
Means and refers to sanitary sewer service to be made available through the sewer system.
SEWER SYSTEM
Refers to the existing sewers used in conjunction with the additional sanitary sewers and sewage treatment plant to be constructed by the Authority, but does not include stormwater sewers.
As the sewer system is constructed and sewer service becomes available, each and every owner of improved property in the Borough of Columbia not already connected with a sewer forming a part of the sewer system and abutting on or adjoining any street, alley, lane or other public highway in which there is a sewer is hereby required to connect his, her or its premises with the sewer system in accordance with regulations duly adopted by the Authority or the Borough, but only upon receipt of due notice to so connect.
As from time to time sewer service becomes available to additional properties within the Borough by reason of improvements of properties abutting on or adjoining any street, alley, lane or other public highway in which there is a sewer or by reason of the extension of the sewer system so as to make sewer service available to additional improved properties, each and every owner of such additional property shall likewise be required to connect his, her or its premises with the sewer system, but only upon receipt of due notice to so connect.
If, after the expiration of three months from the date of the notice given pursuant to § 173-14 or 173-15 of this article, any owner of improved property abutting on or adjoining any street, alley, lane or other public highway in which there is a sewer shall have failed to connect with the sewer system, the Borough or its agents may enter upon the property of such owner and make such connection. In such ease, the Borough shall, upon completion of the work, send an itemized bill of the cost of construction of such connection to the owner of the property to which connection has so been made, which bill shall be payable forthwith, and in case of the neglect or refusal of the owner of said property to pay said bill, the Borough may collect the same by an action in assumpsit or the Borough may file a municipal lien for said construction of said connection, the same to be subject in all respects to the general laws providing for filing and recovery of municipal liens.
If after the expiration of three months from the date of the notice given pursuant to § 173-14 or 173-15 of this article, any owner shall have failed to connect his, her or its property with the sewer system as required by § 173-14 or 173-15, such failure shall be and is hereby declared a violation of this article.
[Amended 8-12-1968 by Ord. No. 420]
At the expiration of three months after the construction of the sewer system has been completed, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect, construct, own, maintain, operate or use within the Borough any privy, cesspool, septic tank or similar receptacle for receiving sewage, upon any property now or hereafter improved which abuts on or adjoins any street, alley, lane or other public highway in which sewer service is available; or to connect with the sewer system any existing sewer, privy, cesspool, septic tank or receptacle on any such property; or to discharge sewage into any pipe or other outlet leading from any such property and not connected to the sewer system. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to discharge any sewage or contaminated water of any kind into any pipe, manhole, vent or other opening other than a proper connection to the sewer system or lateral which complies with existing laws, ordinances and regulations.
[Amended 9-9-1974 by Ord. No. 513]
A. 
Prohibited discharge.
(1) 
No customer shall discharge into the sewer system any exhaust or steam or any oil, tar, grease, gas, benzine or other combustible gases or liquids or any garbage (unless treated in an approved manner), offal, insoluble solids or industrial waste or other dangerous or harmful substances which would adversely affect the functioning of the sewer system or the processes of sewage treatment.
(2) 
Restaurants, garages or service stations shall install interceptors of the types Series GA, GX, GNC, GRC of Josam Manufacturing Company, Michigan City, Indiana, or the equivalent.
(3) 
Other commercial establishments discharging sewage containing oils or greases shall be required to install an interceptor of the above-mentioned type when directed by the Sewer Superintendent.
B. 
No person shall discharge to the public sanitary sewerage system any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes having any of the following characteristics:
(1) 
Wastes containing liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quality may cause fire or explosion or be in any other way injurious to persons, the structures of the public sanitary sewerage system or its operation.
(2) 
Wastes having a temperature in excess of 150º F. or less than 32º F.
(3) 
Wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 9.0 or having any corrosive properties capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment or personnel of the public sanitary sewerage system. Where the Borough Council 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 Council or its designated representative, a suitable device to continuously measure and record the pH of the wastes so discharged, and/or a readily accessible sampling manhole for additional sampling of discharged wastes.
(4) 
Wastes containing any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which either singly or by interaction with sewage or other wastes is, in the opinion of the Borough, likely to create a public nuisance or hazard to life, or prevent entry to sewerage structures for their maintenance and repair.
(5) 
Wastes containing ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, hair, chemical or paint residues, greases, lime, slurry or viscose materials of such characters or in quantity that, in the opinion of the Borough, they may cause an obstruction to the flow in the sewers or otherwise interfere with the proper operations of the public sanitary sewerage system. Attention is called to the fact that the maximum permissible concentration will vary throughout the public sanitary sewerage system depending upon the size of the particular interceptor sewer receiving the same and the flows therein.
(6) 
Wastes containing insoluble, nonflocculent substances having a specific gravity in excess of 2.65.
(7) 
Wastes containing soluble substances in such concentration as to cause the specific gravity of the waste to be greater than 1.1.
(8) 
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
0.0
Cyanates as CNO
0.3
Iron as Fe
5.0
Trivalent Chromium as Cr plus
0.3
Hexavalent Chromium as Cr
0.5
Nickel as Ni
1.0
Copper as Cu
0.3
Lead as Pb
0.5
Zinc as Zn
0.3
(9) 
Wastes containing more than 100 milligrams per liter by weight of fat, oil or grease.
(10) 
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.
(11) 
Wastes containing gases or vapors, either free or occluded in concentrations toxic or dangerous to humans or animals.
(12) 
Wastes containing toxic substances in quantities sufficient to interfere with the biochemical processes of the sewerage treatment works or that will pass through the treatment process and still exceed the state and federal requirements for the receiving stream.
(13) 
Wastes containing toxic radioactive isotopes, without a special permit.
[Amended 9-9-1974 by Ord. No. 513]
The Borough reserves the right to refuse connection to a Borough sewer or to compel discontinuance of use of a sewer or to compel pretreatment of industrial wastes by an industry, in order to prevent discharge to the sewer deemed to be harmful to the sewerage system or a sewage treatment plant or to have a deleterious effect on the sewage treatment or sludge handling processes.
No connection shall be made to the sewer system or to any lateral thereof excepting in a manner and of such materials as comply with existing laws, ordinances and regulations and good plumbing practices.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction before any District Justice residing in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, pay a fine not exceeding $600, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, shall undergo imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days. Each and every day that the provisions of this article shall be violated shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense with a like penalty.