No person shall receive from the Lowell Regional
Water Utility water or water service except at the rates and charges
set forth in this Part 1.
No person shall injure any public pipe or reservoir
connected with the waterworks or shall break and enter the same or
draw or cause to be removed any of the water therefrom or shall turn
on or off the water in any such water pipe or reservoir or remove
the cover of any hydrant, except in case of fire, without the permission
of the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility or
the Chief of the Fire Department.
The Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility shall require all persons desiring water introduced
into the premises to sign up an application therefor, after which
he may without delay proceed to lay the necessary service pipe, in
all cases to the interior of the building, and all expenses incurred
beyond the line of the street shall be paid by the owner of the premises.
[Amended 12-23-2008]
The following regulations shall be considered a part of the contract with every person who takes the water, and every such person, by taking the water, shall be considered to express his assent to be bound thereby. They shall be printed on every bill for water rent, and whenever any one of them is violated, the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall cause the water to be cut off from the building or place of such violation, although two or more parties may receive the water through the same pipe, and shall not let the water on again except by his order and on payment as provided in Chapter 150, Fees, and in case of any such violation, the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall have the right to declare any payment made for the water by the person committing the violation to be forfeited and the same shall thereupon be forfeited.
A.Â
All persons taking water shall keep the service pipe
within their premises, including any area beneath the sidewalk, in
good repair and protected from frost, at their own expense, and they
will be held liable for all damage which may result from their failure
to do so.
B.Â
They shall prevent all unnecessary waste of water,
and there shall be no concealment of the purpose for which it is used.
C.Â
No alterations shall be made in any of the pipes or
fixtures inserted by the City, except by its agents, who are to be
allowed to enter the premises supplied to examine the apparatus and
to ascertain whether there is any unnecessary waste.
D.Â
No water is allowed to be supplied to parties not
entitled to the use of it under the City ordinances unless by special
permission.
E.Â
The Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water
Utility with the necessary agent and assistants may enter the premises
of any water taker to examine the quantity used and the manner of
use and to cut off the water for nonpayment of rents or fines or any
violation of the foregoing rules.
F.Â
Every separate connection with the City service pipe
shall be provided with a stop and waste cock in the cellar, of a pattern
which has been approved by the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility.
A.Â
All money due the City on account of waterworks shall
be paid to the City Treasurer, and the same shall be placed to the
credit of the Lowell Regional Water Utility, to which use it shall
be exclusively appropriated.
B.Â
The annual rent for the use of water shall be made
up and assessed to the owners of estates having a service pipe and
not using metered water on the first day of March in each year for
the year commencing the first day of April succeeding the assessment,
and the rate so assessed shall be due and payable in advance on the
first day of May following.
C.Â
No abatements shall be made for vacancies in houses
or tenements unless such vacancies shall be of two or more consecutive
months' duration, due notice thereof having been given the Executive
Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility at the beginning of
the vacancies, or for a fewer number of persons occupying any premises
after the annual assessment in March.
A.Â
All charges for specific supplies, or for any 365th
part of a year, shall be payable in advance and before the water is
let on.
B.Â
In all cases of the nonpayment of the water rates for 60 days after the same is due, the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall cut off the supply, and the water shall not again be let on except upon the payment of the amount due, together with the sum as provided in Chapter 150, Fees, provided that in any case where the water may have been let on by mistake or otherwise before payment of the water rate, it may be cut off without notice, and further provided that in any case where a timely notice of dispute or appeal has been filed pursuant to Articles VII and/or VIII of this chapter, the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall have the power to stay discontinuation of service during the pendency of any such dispute or appeal.
[Amended 12-23-2008; 8-26-2014]
C.Â
Unless the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility shall otherwise direct, the foregoing provisions shall
apply when two or more parties take water through the same service
pipe, although one or more may have paid the proportion due from him
or them.
The Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility, or his designee, shall exercise a constant supervision
over the use of water and attend to the enforcement of all regulations
relating thereto. He shall make out and distribute all bills for the
same, and on or before the 10th day of January annually shall present
to the City Council a report containing a statement of the number
of water takers, the number of cases where the water has been cut
off, the number and amount of abatements, the expenditures in the
Utility and such other matters as he may deem expedient. He shall
keep suitable books in which shall be entered the names of all persons
who take the water, the kind of building, the name and number of the
street, the nature of the use, the number of taps and the amount charged.
All water bills shall be payable as indicated
on the bill, and any current bill paid within 30 days thereof shall
be entitled to a discount of 5%.
A.Â
The Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water
Utility shall have the power to ascertain by meter the quantity of
water used in any case, and when in any case the quantity used shall
be ascertained and measured by meter, the Executive Director of the
Lowell Regional Water Utility may charge for measured water or establish
a water rate therefor instead of the specific rate hereinbefore established.
B.Â
If a meter gets out of repair and fails to register,
the consumer may be charged at the average daily consumption as shown
by the meter when in order.
C.Â
Water meters of all sizes are owned by the City of
Lowell. The City shall provide meters of a size of one inch or less
at the expense of the owner/consumer. Larger meters, approved by the
Water Utility, which are required for certain larger water consumers
may be provided by the City or by the owner/consumer, at the City's
discretion. All such meters shall be provided at the owner/consumer's
expense, but said meters shall become City of Lowell property upon
installation approved by the City. Use of water meters of any size
shall not affect the City's ownership thereof. The owner/consumer
shall also be responsible for the cost of repairs to and replacement
of water meters in excess of the size of one inch. The City may make
the repairs to or replace water meters in excess of the size of one
inch and charge the owner/consumer for the cost of said repairs or
replacement or, in the alternative, require the owner/consumer to
make the repairs to or replace water meters in excess of the size
of one inch at the owner/consumer's expense. Any unpaid amounts due
to the City for meter repairs or replacements shall be subject to
the collection and lien provisions of MGL c. 40, §§ 42A
through 42F.
[Added 8-13-1991; amended 11-19-1991; 10-17-2000]
Repairs to meters may be made at the expense
of the owner whenever the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility deems repairs necessary, and no meter shall be moved,
disturbed, removed or interfered with without permission from the
Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility.
It shall be the duty of the police of the City
to report to the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility
all cases of leakage, waste or unnecessary profusion in the use of
water and all violations of the water ordinances that may be brought
to their notice.
A.Â
For water used by the City, an account shall be made
and the amount thereof shall be charged to the proper appropriations
and credited to the waterworks.
B.Â
For the purposes of providing full payment to the
Lowell Regional Water Utility for the yearly consumption of water
in and upon the public parks and playgrounds of the City, there shall
be appropriated annually by the City Council a sufficient sum, and
the sum shall be so credited to the Lowell Regional Water Utility
of the City for the maintenance thereof.[1]
C.Â
For the purpose of providing full payment for the
yearly maintenance of hydrant service and for the yearly consumption
of water used for the protection of property from fire hazard in the
City, there shall be appropriated by the City Council annually a sufficient
sum, and such sum of money shall be credited to the Lowell Regional
Water Utility for the maintenance thereof.[2]
D.Â
In order to provide for the payment of the appropriations
mentioned in this section, it shall be the duty of the City Council
to instruct the Board of Assessors to raise the amount of money necessary
for such appropriations.
A.Â
All plumbing and piping work done in the construction
of all water pipes and fixtures, through which or by means of which
water is furnished or distributed by the City, whether such pipes
and fixtures belong to the City or not, shall be done by a plumber
or piper licensed, as hereinafter provided, by the statutes of the
commonwealth.
B.Â
No person shall perform any labor in the nature of
plumbing or piping upon or in connection with any water pipes through
which or by means of which water is furnished or distributed by the
City, whether such pipes or fixtures are owned by the City or not,
except under the authority of the license hereinbefore named.
Under Public Law 93-523, the Safe Drinking Water
Act of 1974, and NHRSA Chapter 148, Protection of Sources of Water,
all as amended, the water purveyor has the primary responsibility
for preventing water from unapproved sources, or any other substances,
from entering the public potable water system.
A.Â
Purpose The purpose of this article is to:
(1)Â
Protect the public potable water supply of the area
served by the Lowell Regional Water Utility from the possibility of
contamination or pollution by isolating within its customers' internal
distribution system(s) or its customers' private water system(s) such
contaminants or pollutants which could backflow or backsiphon into
the public water supply;
(2)Â
Promote the elimination or control of existing cross-connections,
actual or potential, between its customers' in-plant potable water
system(s) and nonpotable systems, plumbing fixtures and industrial
piping systems; and
(3)Â
Provide for the maintenance of a continuing program
of cross-connection control which will systematically and effectively
prevent the contamination or pollution of all potable water systems
by cross-connection.
B.Â
Responsibility. The Executive Director of the Lowell
Regional Water Utility or his designee shall be responsible for the
protection of the public potable water distribution system from contamination
or pollution due to the backflow or backsiphonage of contaminants
or pollutants through the water service connection. If, in the judgment
of said Executive Director, an approved backflow prevention device
is required at the City's water service connection to any customer's
premises for the safety of the water system, the Executive Director
or his designated agent shall give notice in writing to said customer
to install such an approved backflow prevention device at each service
connection to his premises. The customer shall, within 30 days, install
such approved device or devices at his own expense, and failure, refusal
or inability on the part of the customer to install said device or
devices within 30 days shall constitute a ground for discontinuing
water service to the premises until such device or devices have been
properly installed.
As used in this article, the following words
and terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed:
Accepted by the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility as meeting an applicable specification stated or cited
in this article or as suitable for the proposed use.
Any water supply on or available to the premises other than
the purveyor's approved public potable water supply.
The flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances
into the distributing pipes of a potable water supply system from
any source or sources other than its intended source.
A device or means designed to prevent backflow or siphonage.
AIR GAPThe unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet supplying water to a tank, plumbing fixture, or other device and the flood rim of said vessel. An approved air gap shall be as required by Lowell Regional Water Utility standards.
REDUCED-PRESSURE-PRINCIPLE DEVICEAn assembly of two independently operating approved check valves with an automatically operating differential relief valve between the two check valves, tightly closing shutoff valves on either side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of the check and relief valves.
DOUBLE CHECK-VALVE ASSEMBLYAn assembly of two independently operating approved check valves with tightly closing shutoff valves on each side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of each check valve.
PRESSURE VACUUM BREAKERA device containing one or two independently operating loaded check valves and an independently operating loaded air inlet valve located on the discharge side of the check or checks.
The flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances
into the distributing pipes of a potable water supply system from
any source other than its intended source caused by the sudden reduction
of pressure in the potable water supply system.
An impairment of the quality of the potable water by sewage,
industrial fluids or waste liquids, compounds or other materials to
a degree which creates an actual hazard to the public health through
poisoning or through the spread of disease.
Any physical connection or arrangement of piping or fixtures
between two otherwise separate piping systems, one of which contains
potable water and the other nonpotable water or industrial fluids
of questionable safety, through which, or because of which, backflow
or backsiphonage may occur into the potable water system.
The installation of any approved backflow prevention device
at the water service connection to any customer's premises or the
installation of an approved backflow prevention device on the service
line leading to and supplying a portion of a customer's water system
where there are actual or potential cross-connections which cannot
be effectively eliminated or controlled at the point of cross-connection.
A connection between a potable water system and a nonpotable
water system with an approved backflow prevention device properly
installed that will continuously afford the protection commensurate
with the degree of hazard.
The term is derived from an evaluation of the potential risk
to public health and the adverse effect of the hazard upon the potable
water system.
HAZARD, HEALTH (HIGH HAZARD)Any condition, device, or practice in the water supply system and its operation which could create or, in the judgment of the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility, may create a danger to the health and well-being of the water consumer.
HAZARD, PLUMBING (HIGH HAZARD)A plumbing-type cross-connection in a consumer's potable water system that has not been properly protected by a vacuum breaker, air-gap separation or backflow prevention device. Unprotected plumbing-type cross-connections are considered to be a health hazard.
HAZARD, POLLUTIONAL (LOW HAZARD)An actual or potential threat to the physical properties of the water system or to the potability of the public or the consumer's potable water system but which would constitute a nuisance or be aesthetically objectionable or could cause damage to the system or its appurtenances but would not be dangerous to health.
Any system containing a fluid or solution which may be chemically,
biologically or otherwise contaminated or polluted in a form or concentration
such as would constitute a health, system, pollutional or plumbing
hazard if introduced into an approved water supply.
The presence of any foreign substance (organic, inorganic
or biological) in water which tends to degrade its quality so as to
constitute a hazard or impair the usefulness or quality of the water
to a degree which does not create an actual hazard to the public health
but which does adversely and unreasonably affect such waters for domestic
use.
Water which is not safe for human consumption or which is
of questionable potability.
Water from a source which has been approved by the Massachusetts
Division of Water Pollution Control for human consumption.[1]
The terminal end of a service connection from the public
potable water system, i.e., where the water purveyor loses jurisdiction
and sanitary control over the water at its point of delivery to the
customer's water system. If a meter is installed at the end of the
service connection, then the service connection shall mean the downstream
end of the meter. Service connection shall also include water service
connection from a fire hydrant and all other temporary or emergency
water service connections from the public potable water system.
Any water supplied by a water purveyor from a public potable
water system to a customer's water system after it has passed through
the point of delivery and is no longer under the sanitary control
of the water purveyor.
A.Â
Water system.
(1)Â
The water system shall be considered as made up of
two parts, the Utility system and the customer system.
(2)Â
The Utility system shall consist of the source facilities
and the distribution system and shall include all those facilities
of the water system under the complete control of the Utility, up
to the point where the customer's system begins.
(3)Â
The source shall include all components of the facilities
utilized in the production, treatment, storage, and delivery of water
to the distribution system.
(4)Â
The distribution system shall include the network
of conduits used for the delivery of water from the source to the
customer's system.
(5)Â
The customer's system shall include those parts of
the facilities beyond the termination of the Utility distribution
system which are utilized in conveying Utility-delivered domestic
water to points of use.
B.Â
Policy.
(1)Â
No water service connection to any premises shall
be installed or maintained by the Lowell Regional Water Utility unless
the water supply is protected as required by Massachusetts state law
and this article. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued
by the Lowell Regional Water Utility if a backflow prevention device
required by this article is not installed, tested and maintained or
if it is found that a backflow prevention device has been removed
or bypassed or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises.
Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are
corrected.
(2)Â
The customer's system should be open for inspection
at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the Lowell
Regional Water Utility to determine whether cross-connections or other
structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of this article,
exist. When such a condition becomes known, the Executive Director
of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall deny or immediately discontinue
service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service
line until the customer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance
with state and City statutes relating to plumbing and water supplies
and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto. All expenses relating
to the disconnection and reconnection shall be at the customer's expense.
(3)Â
An approved backflow prevention device, where required,
shall be installed on each service line to a customer's water system
at or near the property line or immediately inside the building being
served but in all cases before the first branch line leading off the
service line wherever the following conditions exist:
(a)Â
In the case of premises having an auxiliary
water supply which is not or may not be of safe bacteriological or
chemical quality and which is not acceptable as an additional source
by the Massachusetts Division of Water Pollution Control, the public
water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises
by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line appropriate
to the degree of hazard.[1]
(b)Â
In the case of premises on which any industrial
fluids or any other objectionable substance is handled in such a fashion
as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system,
the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the
premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service
line appropriate to the degree of hazard.
(c)Â
In the case of premises having internal cross-connection
that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled or intricate plumbing
and piping arrangements or where entry to all portions of the premises
is not readily accessible for inspection purposes, making it impracticable
or impossible to ascertain whether or not dangerous cross-connections
exist, the public water system shall be protected against backflow
from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the
service line.
(4)Â
The type of protective device required under Subsection B(3)(a), (b) and (c) shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists as follows:
(a)Â
In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in Subsection B(3)(a) of this section, or where there is any material dangerous to health which is handled in a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, or where there are "incontrolled" cross-connections, either actual or potential, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced-pressure-principal backflow prevention device at the service connector.
(b)Â
In the case of any premises where there is water
or substance that would be objectionable but not hazardous to health
if introduced into the public water system, the public water system
shall be protected by an approved double check-valve assembly.
(c)Â
In the case of any premises where, because of
security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions it is
impossible or impractical to make a complete in-plant cross-connection
survey, the public water system shall be protected against backflow
or backsiphonage from the premises by the installation of a backflow
prevention device in the service line. In this case, maximum protection
will be required; that is, an approved air-gap separation or an approved
reduced-pressure-principal backflow prevention device shall be installed
in each service to the premises.
(5)Â
Any backflow prevention device required herein shall
be of a model and size approved by the Executive Director of the Lowell
Regional Water Utility. The term "approved backflow prevention device"
shall mean a device that is on the approved list of backflow preventers
and double check valves as revised by the Massachusetts Division of
Water Pollution Control or is on the University of Southern California
Approval List. Said approval lists have been adopted by the Executive
Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility.[2]
(6)Â
It shall be the duty of the customer-user at any premises
where backflow prevention devices are installed to have certified
inspections and operational tests made at least once per year as required
under Massachusetts regulations and this article. The Lowell Regional
Water Utility will conduct testing on these devices twice a year.
The owner of the device will be charged for these tests. The Lowell
Regional Water Utility may have these tests performed by a designated
representative. In those instances where the Executive Director of
the Lowell Regional Water Utility deems the hazard to be great enough
he may require certified inspections at more frequent intervals. These
inspections and tests shall be at the expense of the water user and
shall be performed by Lowell Regional Water Utility personnel or by
a certified tester approved by the Executive Director of the Lowell
Regional Water Utility and approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
It shall be the duty of the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional
Water Utility to see that these timely tests are made. The Executive
Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility shall notify the customer-user
in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that he or his representatives
may witness the tests if so desired. These devices shall be repaired,
overhauled or replaced at the expense of the customer-user whenever
said devices are found to be defective. Records of such tests shall
be kept by the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility.
(7)Â
All presently installed backflow prevention devices which do not meet the requirements of this section but were approved devices for the purposes described herein at the time of installation and which have been properly maintained shall, except for the inspection and maintenance requirements under Subsection B(6), be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Water Utility is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the Utility system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance or when the Executive Director finds that the maintenance constitutes a hazard to health, the unit shall be replaced by a backflow prevention device meeting the requirements of this section.
(8)Â
All industrial and commercial establishments attached
to the Lowell water system will be required to install at the service
entrance and immediately downstream of the meter a reduced-pressure
backflow device.
(9)Â
All decisions relating to determination of backflow
devices will be made by the Lowell Regional Water Utility. Failure
to comply with any directive from this office will result in termination
of service.
All testing and/or maintenance performed on
backflow devices by the Lowell Regional Water Utility or its agent
will be charged to the owner of the device.
