For the purpose of this chapter the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BOARD. The Board of Public Works and Safety of the city or any duly authorized officials acting in its behalf.
B.O.D. or 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 parts per million by weight.
BUILDING DRAIN. 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 outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
EXCESSIVE STRENGTH SURCHARGES. An additional charge which is billed to users for treating sewage wastes with an average strength in excess of normal domestic sewage.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE. Any discharge to a conveyance (or to the sanitary sewer) that is not composed entirely of sewage.
ILLICIT CONNECTION.
(1) Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows an illegal discharge to enter the sanitary sewer including, but not limited to, any conveyances which allow any storm water, surface water, ground water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water, or unpolluted process water to enter the sanitary sewer;
(2) Any connections to the sanitary sewer from floor drains, perimeter drains, sump pumps, or any storm water connection (as “storm water” is defined in Chapter 56), installed or connected after the effective date of Ord. 2013-16; or
(3) Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the sanitary sewer which has not been documented in plans, maps or equivalent records and approved by the city.
(4) For purposes of this definition, in the event a connection otherwise grand-fathered in under this chapter shall be disconnected for any reason and by anyone and then reconnected, such reconnection shall not relate back to the prior connection and shall instead be deemed to have occurred after the effective date of Ord. 2013-16.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The wastewater discharges from industrial, trade, or business processes as distinct from employees-wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences.
INSPECTOR. The person or persons duly authorized by the city, through its Board of Public Works and Safety, to inspect and approve the installation of building sewers and their connection to the public sewer system.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or ground water.
NORMAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE.
(1)
For the purpose of determining surcharges, wastewater or sewage having an average daily concentration as follows:
(a) B.O.D. not more than 250 mg/l.
(b) T.S.S. not more than 250 mg/l.
(c) Phosphorus not more than 1.0 mg/l.
(d) Nitrogen, ammonia not more than 25 mg/l.
(e) Hexane-soluble matter (oil and grease), not more than 25 mg/l total soluble and insoluble oil, and grease not more than 100 mg/l.
(2) As defined by origin, wastewater from segregated domestic or sanitary conveniences as distinct from wastes from industrial processes.
OTHER SERVICE CHARGES. Tap charges, connection charges, area charges, and other identifiable charges, other than user charges, debt service charges, and excessive strength surcharges.
PERSON. Any and all persons, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm, company, municipal or private corporation, association, society, institution, enterprise, governmental agency, or other entity.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. 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 in any dimension.
PUBLIC OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). A treatment works which is owned by a municipality as defined by § 502(4) of the Clean Water Act. This definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes all sewers, pipes and other conveyances that transfer wastewater to a POTW. The term also means the municipality as defined in § 502(4) of the Act which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from a treatment works.
PUBLIC SEWER. Any sanitary sewer facility owned, operated, and maintained by the city.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface, and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. A combination of the water- carried waste from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface, and storm waters as may be present.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SHALL is mandatory; MAY is permissive.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
SUPERINTENDENT. The Superintendent of the Municipal POTW of the city, or his or her authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
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.
TAP OR LATERAL CONNECTION. A connection from a private pipe or conduit to the city’s POTW.
WATERCOURSE. A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(1980 Code, § 51.01) (Ord. 441, passed 9-24-1959; Am. Ord. 681, passed 5-10-1977; Am. Ord. 2010-37, passed 12-28-2010; Am. Ord. 2013-16, passed 6-11-2013; Am. Ord. 2014-22, passed 1-13-2015; Am. Ord. 2020-34, passed 11-24-2020)