(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
BOD (DENOTING BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING DRAIN. The part of the lowest piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipe inside the walls of the building and conveys it to a building sewer and which extends five feet beyond the outside of building footings.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the outer end of the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. Any liquid, or water borne wastes resulting from any process of industry, or manufacturing, trade or business.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet to a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
PERSON. Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTION. The contamination of any waters so as to create a nuisance or render such waters unclean, noxious or impure so as to be actually or potentially harmful or detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare; to domestic, commercial, industrial or recreational use, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish or other aquatic life.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. Garbage that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles thereof will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers.
PUBLIC SEWER. Any sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER. Any sewer which carries sewage or industrial wastes and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. Any liquid wastes containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution and may include liquids containing chemicals in solution.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT. Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage and industrial wastes.
SEWAGE WORKS. All facilities and equipment for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing sewage and industrial wastes.
SEWER. Any pipe or conduit for carrying sewage or industrial wastes.
SLUG. Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24 hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
STORM DRAIN. Any building drain which conveys storm water but not sewage.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
WATERCOURSE. Any channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(b) Use of public sewers. Public sewers shall be utilized so as to comply with the following provisions.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property within the jurisdiction of the city any sewage, industrial wastes, garbage or other polluted waters or wastes.
(2) It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the jurisdiction of the city any sewage, industrial wastes, garbage or other polluted waters or wastes.
(3) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any storm water, ground water, roof runoff, surface water, unpolluted drainage, unpolluted industrial cooling water or unpolluted industrial process water to any public sanitary sewer.
(4) Storm water, ground water, roof runoff, surface water, or unpolluted drainage shall be discharged only to specifically designated storm drains or to a natural outlet approved by the City Engineer. Unpolluted industrial cooling water or unpolluted industrial process water may be discharged, on written approval of the City Engineer, to a storm drain or natural outlet.
(5) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewer:
(A) Any gasoline, benzene, naptha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases;
(B) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other waters or wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, to create a nuisance or to create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of two milligrams per liter as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer;
(C) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works or the sewage treatment plant;
(D) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works or sewage treatment plant such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, garbage, whole blood, manure, hair and fleshings, entrails and any paper dishes, cups or other paper containers or paper products, whether whole or ground by garbage grinders; and
(E) Water from residential or commercial pools. Swimming pool water drained onto the yard area must be a minimum of 15 feet from any property line.
(6) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewer unless such person has obtained a permit from the City Engineer specifically authorizing the discharge of such water or waste and unless the conditions, if any, set forth in the permit have been and are complied with by such person:
(A) Any waters or other liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150°F;
(B) Any waters or wastes containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°F and 150°F;
(C) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded;
(D) Any waters or wastes containing pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions;
(E) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar substances in such concentrations so as to cause the waters or wastes to be objectionable or toxic;
(F) Any waters or wastes exerting a chlorine requirement or demand such that when the waters or wastes are received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment plant, the chlorine requirement or demand of the composite sewage exceeds reasonable limits;
(G) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances in concentrations which exceed reasonable limits in view of the applicable requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies having jurisdiction over effluent discharge to the receiving waters;
(H) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed reasonable limits in view of the applicable state or federal regulations;
(I) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5;
(J) Materials which exert or cause:
(i) Concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as, but not limited to, Fullers earth, sand, lime, slurries and lime residues, or of dissolved solids, such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate, which are likely to be harmful to the sewer, sewer works or sewage treatment plant;
(ii) Excessive discoloration, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions;
(iii) Unusual BOD or chemical oxygen demand in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment plant; and/or
(iv) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of waters or wastes constituting slugs as defined herein.
(K) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes utilized by sewage treatment plants, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies having jurisdiction over effluent discharge to the effluent discharge to the receiving waters.
(7) Where pretreatment or flow-equalization facilities and/or where grease, oil or sand interceptors are provided for any waters or wastes, such facilities and/or interceptors shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the user thereof and at no expense to the city.
(8) The owner of any property having a building sewer into which industrial wastes are discharged or caused to be discharged, shall install a suitable control structure together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the industrial wastes. Such structure, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the city. The structure shall be installed by the owner at the owner’s expense, and shall be maintained by the owner so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
(9) All measurements, tests and analyses of the waters and wastes discharged or caused to be discharged to a public sewer shall be reviewed and subject to permit in accordance with the latest edition of Water Discharge Rules for the Metropolitan Disposal System, issued by the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, or by the successor agency directed by the Minnesota State Legislature to regulate waste water discharge pursuant to M.S. Chapter 473, as it may be amended from time to time. Upon receipt of a permit by the state or regional authority, the applicant must apply for a permit from the city. The city may deny the permit if the discharge will harm the city’s sewer, sewage works, sewage treatment plant, or is a threat to public health, safety or welfare.
(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article II, the city may enter into a valid agreement with any person whereby industrial wastes and/or sewage of unusual strength or character may be discharged to a public sewer and accepted by the sewage treatment plant, subject to the payment of special charges to the city therefor by the person; and provided that the city shall give its prior, written approval to the special agreement.
(c) Building sewers and connections. The following provisions shall apply to building sewers and connections.
(1) No 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 Sewer Utility Division.
(2) All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of a building sewer shall be borne by the person making the installation and connection. The person shall indemnify and hold harmless the city from any loss, claim, damage or expense that may, directly or indirectly, be occasioned by the installation and connection of a building sewer.
(3) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found to meet all of the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code and the utility regulations of the city.
(4) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirement of the Building and Plumbing Code and the utility regulations of the city.
(5) No person shall connect directly or indirectly roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of storm water, ground water, roof runoff, surface water and unpolluted drainage to a building drain which, in turn, is connected, directly or indirectly, to a public sanitary sewer.
(6) The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code and the utility regulations of the city. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved in writing by the Utilities Supervisor or City Engineer before installation and connection.
(7) All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights by the person making the installation 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 by the person making the installation.
(d) Right to enter. The duly authorized employees or representatives of the city bearing proper credentials and identification shall have the right to enter all properties served by the city’s sewer system for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with and for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this section. The employees or representatives shall have the power and authority to obtain a warrant to secure entry onto a property and shall obtain a warrant to enter any property upon which entry is or has been refused. The employees or representatives shall have no authority to inquire into any industrial processes beyond that point in the process having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or facilities for treatment.
(e) Violations.
(1) Any person who intentionally violates a provision or provisions of subsections (b) and (c) inclusive above, shall upon conviction thereof be punishable in accordance with § 11.37 of this chapter.
(2) Each person who connects with a public sewer located in the city shall be deemed to have agreed to and shall indemnify and hold harmless the city with respect to all costs, damages and expenses, including penalties and special charges assessed by the sewage treatment authority against the city resulting, directly or indirectly, from a violation of a provision or provisions of subsections (b) and (c) inclusive above, and shall be deemed to have agreed that all such costs, damages and expenses may be charged as an addition to the regular charge for the sewage services provided for the property from which the waters or wastes violating these provisions were discharged.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, the city shall have the right to institute an action to seek injunctive relief from a continuing violation of the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) inclusive above and/or shall have the right to institute an action for all costs, damages and expenses resulting, directly or indirectly, from a violation of these provisions.
(1958 Code, § 30.36) (Ord. 70-14, passed 4-20-1970; Ord. 2005-28, passed 7-18-2005; Ord. 2011-24, passed 12-5-2011; Ord. 2012-2, passed 1-23-2012)