All materials and workmanship in the installation of building sewers and service connections shall conform to the following regulations:
A. Permit Required: No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the city. The permit shall not be issued until all sewer availability fees and other fees have been paid in full.
B. Classes Of Permits: There shall be two (2) classes of building sewer permits: 1) a general permit for residential and commercial sewer service, and 2) industrial user permits for sewer service to establishments producing industrial wastes.
1. General Permits: General permits shall be applied for by the owner or his agent on a form provided by the city clerk. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the city at the time the application is filed. Also, the owner or his agent shall pay to the city, at the time the application is filed, a sewer availability fee, which shall be established by resolution of the city council; and
2. Industrial Permits: Industrial user permits shall be applied for by the owner or his agent by letter to the city council accompanied by an executed copy of the industrial user agreement together with any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the city. Industrial user permits shall be approved by the city council based on recommendation by the engineer for the city. Approval shall be contingent upon the availability of excess capacity in the wastewater treatment plant, the provisions of this chapter and any other considerations the city council deems appropriate. The amount of the permit, inspection fee and sewer availability fee for an industrial wastes sewer service will vary with each permit and shall be established by the city at the time of application.
C. Costs Borne By Owner; Liability: All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer and service connection shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify and hold harmless the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer and the marking of the service connection for same to the public sewer.
D. Separate Connections For Each Building: A separate and independent building sewer and service connection shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no separate sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.
E. Old Building Sewers: Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and being tested as required by the city, to meet all requirements of this chapter.
F. Conformance With Building And Plumbing Codes: The materials of construction of the building sewer and service connections, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes as have been or may be adopted by the city.
G. Pipe Size; Building Sewer Grade And Slope: The building sewer from the building drain to the public sewer and the service connection thereto shall not be smaller than four inch (4") diameter sewer pipe.
1. Grade And Slope: The minimum grade or slope of the building sewer shall be as follows:
a. Four inch (4") diameter sewer pipe shall be laid on a grade of not less than one-fourth inch (1/4") per foot;
b. Six inch (6") diameter sewer pipe shall be laid on a grade of not less than one-eighth inch (1/8") per foot; and
c. Eight inch (8") diameter sewer pipe shall be laid on a grade of not less than four feet (4') per one thousand feet (1,000').
2. Alignment: The alignment of the building sewer from the outlet of the building drain to the public sewer connection shall be straight, with no bends, warps or sags permitted except with the permission of the city. The trench bottom shall be cut to proper grade so that when the pipe is laid the body or barrel of the pipe shall be on solid material. Bell holes are to be excavated in the trench bottom at all pipe joints.
H. Connecting Surface Water Drainage To Building Sewer: No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain that in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
I. Service Connection Requirements: The service connection to the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes as adopted by the city. In addition, the materials and workmanship of the service connection shall meet the following requirements:
1. Precast Fittings: A precast service connection fitting shall be installed as an increment of the sewer pipeline or installed as an external fabrication to the sewer pipeline; said fabrication to be installed within the center one-third (1/3) of an individual laying length of the public sewer pipe, as a precaution in preventing the breaking of the bell or the spigot end of the sewer pipe. The service connection fitting shall be installed as a watertight connection to the public sewer, care being taken not to extend the building sewer line into the public sewer line, therefore, creating a possible restriction. The invert of the building sewer line at the service connection fitting shall be at an elevation above the invert of the public sewer at least equal to two-thirds (2/3) of the diameter of the public sewer. All foreign material shall be removed from the sewer pipe and there shall be a permanent connection which is airtight and watertight between the public sewer line and the building sewer line.
2. Connection Tee:
a. The building sewer service connection fitting to reinforced sewer pipelines shall be made as specified under subsection I1 of this section, except that in cutting a hole in reinforced pipe for installation of the service connection tee, extreme care shall be exercised to avoid damage to the pipe. The hole for the tee shall be carefully chipped first to expose the reinforcing steel and the steel cut by torch or saw. No chisel cutting of the reinforcing steel of any character will be permitted.
b. In lieu of a standard service connection fitting, a riser service connection may be made to sewer lines that are deep below ground surface. The branch or riser shall be connected the same as a tee, except that it shall be set vertically over the public sewer pipe, and extended vertically upward such that the top of the riser is not to be less than five feet (5') below the surface of the ground.
J. Notify City For Inspection: The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the city when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer.
K. Guarding Excavations; Restoration: All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the city. (Ord. 2122, 5-6-2014)
L. Backwater Devices Required On New Service Connections:
1. Purpose: To prevent sanitary sewer overflows, from blockages or sewer jetting of mainlines, for municipal sewer customers.
2. Installation:
a. Installation of a backwater valve, to prevent sewage from the main sewer backing up into the private sewer lines due to cleaning or plugs in the main, is required for all fixtures installed on a floor lower than the next upstream manhole cover of the public or private sewer, serving such drainage piping, shall be protected from backflow of sewage by installing an approved type of blackwater valve. Fixtures on floor levels above such elevation shall not discharge through the backwater valve. Cleanouts for drains that pass through a backwater valve shall be clearly identified with a permanent label stating “Backwater Valve Downstream.” In all:
(1) New construction,
(2) Replacements or repairs made to an existing sanitary sewer lateral,
(3) Building permit applicants who are remodeling more than twenty five percent (25%) of the structure area or where plumbing fixtures are added to the property,
(4) Properties that have been damaged by the blockage of the city sanitary sewer main or the private lateral,
on all new structures where a pump is used to lift sewage to the sanitary sewer system main line, the tie in to the building sewer shall be downstream of the backwater valve.
b. Installation shall be completed in accordance with current Idaho Statutes, administrative rules and plumbing code.
(Ord. 2122, 5-6-2014; amd. Ord. 2143, 5-3-2016, eff. 5-3-2016; Ord. 2188, 10-1-2019)