CHAPTER 2
SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL

SECTION:

13-2-1: Definitions

13-2-2: Certain Disposal Methods Prohibited

13-2-3: Connection To Public Sewer

13-2-4: Connections Prior To Improving Streets

13-2-5: Conformance With City Plumbing Rules And Regulations

13-2-6: Construction, Maintenance And Operation Costs

13-2-7: Sanitary Sewer Connection Fees

13-2-8: Destruction Of Sewage Works Property

13-2-9: Notice Of Violation; Time Limit For Correction

13-2-1: DEFINITIONS:

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:

BOD(c) (Denoting Biochemical Oxygen Demand): The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at twenty degrees Celsius (20°C) expressed in milligrams per liter.

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 (5') 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.

CITY MANAGER: The city manager, or the city manager's designee, of the city of Dubuque, Iowa.

COMBINED SEWER: A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

CONTRIBUTOR: Refers to any person, firm or corporation responsible for the production of domestic, commercial or industrial waste which is directly or indirectly discharged into the city's sewer system.

GARBAGE: Wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.

INDUSTRIAL WASTES: The wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business, as distinct from sanitary sewage.

NATURAL OUTLET: Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or ground water.

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.

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 (1/2") in any direction.

PUBLIC SEWER: A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and which is controlled by public authority.

SANITARY SEWER: A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface, and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.

SEWAGE: A combination of the water carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface waters, and stormwaters as may be presented.

SEWAGE WORKS: All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage.

SEWER: A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

SHALL; MAY: Shall is mandatory; may is permissive.

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 fifteen (15) minutes more than five (5) times the average twenty four (24) hour concentration or flows during normal operation.

STORM DRAIN: A sewer which carries stormwater and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.

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.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY: Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.

WATERCOURSE: A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently. (2007 Code § 44-11)

13-2-2: CERTAIN DISPOSAL METHODS PROHIBITED:

   A.   Deposits On Public Or Private Property: 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 city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable waste, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

   B.   Discharges To Natural Outlets: It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of said city, any sewage or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

   C.   Privies, Privy Vaults, Septic Tanks: It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. (2007 Code § 44-13)

13-2-3: CONNECTION TO PUBLIC SEWER:

   A.   Connection Required: The owner of any house, building, or property used for occupancy, employment, recreation or other purposes, situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley, right of way or easement in which there is now located, or may in the future be located, within two hundred feet (200') of the nearest property line thereof, a public sanitary sewer of the city, is hereby required at the owner's expense to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer, in accordance with city standards as adopted by the city manager and the provisions of title 14, chapter 1, article H of this code requiring the making of connections with sanitary sewers and providing for the manner of making such connections. (2007 Code § 44-14)

   B.   Exception: Where a public sanitary sewer is not available under the provisions of this chapter, the building sewer shall be connected to a private on site sewage treatment and disposal system complying with the provisions of this chapter. (2007 Code § 44-15)

   C.   Costs Borne By Owner: All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer. (2007 Code § 44-16)