Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
(a) "Biochemical oxygen demand" (BOD) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at twenty degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter.
(b) "Building drain" means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
(c) "Building sewer" means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, also called house connection.
(d) "Combined sewer" means a sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm or surface water.
(e) "Easement" means an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
(f) "Floatable oil" means oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection system.
(g) "Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of food.
(h) "Industrial wastes" means the wastewater from industrial processes, trade or business as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
(i) "Natural outlet" means any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
(j) "May" is permissive. See "shall" in subsection (r) hereof.
(k) "Person" means any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
(l) "pH" means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ions concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen-ion, in grams, per liter of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a pH value of 7 and a hydrogen-ion concentration of 10.
(m) "Properly shredded garbage" means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
(n) "Public sewer" means a common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility.
(o) "Sanitary sewer" means a sewer that carries liquid and water-carried
wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions together with minor quantities of ground, storm and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
(p) "Sewage" means the spent water of a community. The preferred term is "wastewater", subsection (x) hereof.
(q) "Sewer" means a pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water.
(r) "Shall" is mandatory. See "may" subsection (j) hereof.
(s) "Slug" means any discharge of water or wastewater which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than fifteen minutes more than five times the average twenty-four hour concentration or flows during normal operation and shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance of the wastewater treatment works.
(t) "Storm drain" or "storm sewer" means a drain or sewer for conveying water, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.
(u) "Superintendent" means the Superintendent of Public Works of the City, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
(v) "Suspended solids" means total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is in suspension in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" and referred to as nonfilterable residue.
(w) "Unpolluted water" means water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
(x) "Wastewater" means the spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.
(y) "Wastewater facilities" means the structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.
(z) "Wastewater treatment works" means an arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial wastes and sludge. Sometimes used as synonymous with "waste treatment plant" or "wastewater treatment plant" or "water pollution control plant."
(aa) "Watercourse" means a natural or artificial channel for the passage of water either continuously or intermittently. (3-14-1978)