[Adopted 1-9-1979 as Ord. No. 134]
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five (5) days at twenty degrees centigrade (20° C.), expressed in milligrams per liter.
DWELLING
A building or part of a building which contains living, sleeping and housekeeping accommodations.
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
A building or buildings designated or occupied solely for dwelling by two (2) or more families living independently of each other.
DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY
A building designated or occupied solely as a dwelling by one (1) family.
DWELLING UNIT
A building or portion thereof providing housekeeping facilities for one (1) family.
FAMILY
A single person keeping house separately or any number of individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption living together as a single housekeeping unit or a group of not more than seven (7) persons keeping house together but not related by blood.
INFILTRATION
Water, other than wastewater, that enters a sewerage system, including sewer service connections, from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manholes. "Infiltration" does not include and is distinguished from inflow.
INFILTRATION/INFLOW
The total quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow without distinguishing the source.
INFLOW
Water, other than wastewater, that enters a sewerage system, including sewer service connections, from sources such as roof leaders, cellar drains, area drains, foundation drains, manhole covers, cross-connections between storm and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, stormwater and surface water runoff. "Inflow" does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.
NEW HAVEN WATER COMPANY
A utility corporation having its principal place of business at 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven, Connecticut (after June 20, 1978), its successors or assigns.
NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDING
Any commercial, industrial, institutional, public or other building not used solely as a dwelling, including boardinghouses, hotels and motels.
NORMAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE
Sewage for which analyses show by weight, under standard laboratory conditions, a daily average of not more than three hundred (300) milligrams relative to dischargers to the Branford system, three hundred fifty (350) milligrams to the North Haven system and two hundred (200) milligrams to the East Haven system of suspended solids per liter of waste; not more than two hundred forty (240) milligrams relative to dischargers to the Branford system, three hundred (300) milligrams to the North Haven system and two hundred (200) milligrams to the East Haven system of BOD per liter of waste; and not more than fifty (50) milligrams of either soluble matter (grease or oil), each, per liter of waste.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS
All costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the sewer system. The term "operation and maintenance" includes replacement.
REPLACEMENT
Sewer system expenditures involving obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary to maintain the capacity and performance during the period for which such system was designed and constructed.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities of the Town of North Branford plus those common facilities as defined in the intertown contracts with Branford, North Haven and/or East Haven for collecting, pumping, metering, treating and/or disposing of sewage from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments.
SEWER USER CHARGE
The amount of money paid by owners of real property using the sewer system for the cost of operation and maintenance of the sewer system.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS)
Solids that either float or are in suspension in water or sewage and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
TREATABLE POLLUTANTS
Components in sanitary sewage which are amenable to the sewage treatment process.
A. 
Unit charges.
(1) 
A unit user charge applicable to single- and multiple-family dwellings is established. The unit charge shall take into account proportionality based on sewer system operation and maintenance costs. The unit charge shall include proportional costs for extraneous flows handled by the system. Unit charges shall be levied as follows:
(a) 
Owners of single-family dwellings shall be assessed the unit charge.
(b) 
Owners of multifamily dwellings shall be charged a single unit charge for each dwelling unit.
(2) 
Final determination of single- or multifamily status shall be made by the Sewer Authority.
(3) 
The unit charge is computed as follows:
Where:
UC
=
Annual unit charge.
OMC
=
Total annual operation and maintenance costs for sewer system as defined by the Sewer Authority.
DF
=
Dwelling unit flow rate in gallons per unit per day, including infiltration, to be established by the Sewer Authority and used for all units.
QMS
=
Total average daily flow of all buildings of sewage works, as determined by sewage flow readings or estimates of flow to connecting towns, in gallons per day.
B. 
User charges based on flow.
(1) 
A nonresidential user charge applicable to nonresidential buildings is established. Under this system, owners shall be assessed an amount based upon sewage flow for the structure so owned as follows:
Where:
NRC
=
Annual nonresidential user charge to owner.
BWC
=
Annual average daily flow for the owned structure, in gallons per day.
QMS
=
Total annual average daily sewage flow of all buildings of sewage works, as determined by sewage flow meter station readings or estimates of flow to connecting towns, in gallons or cubic feet.
OMC
=
Total annual operation and maintenance costs for sewer system, as defined by the Sewer Authority.
K
=
Factor to account for extraneous flows.
(2) 
The user charge NRC shall be computed at the same time, on a subsystem basis, and for the same periods as for unit charges in Subsection A.
(3) 
The sewage flow value BWC shall represent the water meter readings for the structure owned if the building is metered and served by the New Haven Water Company (NHW). If the structure is not served by the NHW, water consumption shall be determined by the Sewer Authority or its designated agents based upon water consumption records of similar buildings and uses. If necessary, the Sewer Authority or its designated agents may require the owner of a structure not served or metered by NHW to install and maintain a water meter at the owner's expense.
(4) 
The Sewer Authority or its designated agents shall annually determine the value of factor K to account for extraneous flows (i.e., infiltration/inflow). The factor value shall apply to all users and shall be used to achieve equality between total estimated flows from structures and measured flow at the metering stations.
(5) 
If the Sewer Authority determines that the water consumption of a structure is greatly disproportionate to sewage flow discharged to the sewer system, the Sewer Authority, upon the advice of the Town Engineer, may make appropriate modifications to the sewage flow.
C. 
Surcharges for sewer use.
(1) 
Treatable pollutants. A surcharge for treatable pollutants is established. In any instance in which the Sewer Authority or its designated agents determine that biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids or other treatable pollutant concentrations from a building exceed the range of concentration of those pollutants in normal domestic sewage, the Sewer Authority shall increase the building's user charge by a surcharge computed in accordance with the formula:
CSNH
=
Surcharge for user connected to North Haven system, dollars per year.
CSB
=
Surcharge for user connected to Branford system, dollars per year.
CSEH
=
Surcharge for user connected to East Haven system, dollars per year.
OM
=
Total treatment plant, only, operation and maintenance cost for the year.
QA
=
Total flow from industry A, million gallons per year.
K
=
Factor to account for extraneous flows.
QSTP
=
Total flow treated at plant, million gallons per year.
CAB
=
Average BOD from industry A, milligrams per liter.
CIB
=
Average BOD, plant influent, milligrams per liter.
COB
=
Average BOD, plant effluent, milligrams per liter.
CAS
=
Average SS from industry A, milligrams per liter.
CIS
=
Average SS, plant influent, milligrams per liter.
COS
=
Average SS, plant effluent, milligrams per liter.
CAP
=
Average treatable pollutant from industry A, milligrams per liter.
X
=
Average concentration of treatable pollutant p in normal domestic waste, milligrams per liter.
CIP
=
Average plant influent concentration of treatable pollutant p in normal domestic waste, milligrams per liter.
COP
=
Average plant influent concentration of treatable pollutant p, milligrams per liter.
Input values OM, QSTP, CIB, COB, CIS, COS, CIP, COP, K and X would be provided by the connecting towns pursuant to the intertown contracts. Average concentrations are annual averages determined from plant operating records. Input values QA, CAB, CAS and CAP shall be determined by the Sewer Authority or its designated agents.
(2) 
Toxic pollutants. A surcharge for toxic pollutants is established. Where it is determined that materials are being discharged to the sewer system which are harmful to the treatment process or contaminate the sludge of a municipal system, a surcharge to be determined by the Sewer Authority will be made. Toxic pollutants are disallowed from entering the sewer system, except as authorized by the sewer use ordinances and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program administered by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
D. 
In no case shall the sewer use charge for any nonresidential building be less than the annual charge for one-family residential units.
[Amended 6-4-1991 by Ord. No. 172; 6-20-1995 by Ord. No. 182]
The user charge and surcharges shall be fixed by the Water Pollution Control Authority on an annual basis no later than September 30 of each year following a public hearing. Such charges shall be for the town's fiscal year and shall be due and payable annually on October 1. Charges for the first year of the town's user charge system shall be on a prorated basis. If any annual bill exceeds fifty dollars ($50.), such bill shall be due and payable one-half (1/2) on October 1 and one-half (1/2) on the following April 1 on an annual basis. Charges for the first year and succeeding years will be levied in advance and calculated on the basis of estimated values. In the case of a property which has connected during the annual period, such charges shall be prorated for the actual number of months within the stated period that the property was connected. A period of less than fifteen (15) days shall be disregarded, and a period in excess of fifteen (15) days shall be deemed a full month.
The owner of real property subject to the user charge and surcharges shall be liable for and shall be billed for payment of such charges. Such charges, together with interest thereon, as defined by state statute, shall constitute a lien upon the property upon which the building is located, and such lien may be foreclosed, and such charges may be collected in the manner provided in § 7-258 of the Connecticut General Statutes and such other statutes which are applicable.
The user charge and surcharge shall be collected by the Town Tax Collector and turned over periodically as directed by the Town Manager to the Town Treasurer and deposited in a special account separate from other town funds, designated the "Sewage Works Operating Fund" and used solely for operation, maintenance and replacement of the sewage works and for any other use allowed by law.
This Article may be amended by the North Branford Town Council from time to time and at any time as it deems necessary subject to the Charter of the Town of North Branford, its ordinances and the statutes of the State of Connecticut.