(A) Authorization required to make sewer connection. No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connection with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining written approval from the Director. All costs and expenses incidental 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; however, such indemnification shall not extend to loss or damage due solely to willful misconduct or negligence on the part of local government personnel. Excluding industrial plant sites or other sites which have written approval from the Director for single discharge points, a separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, courtyard or driveway, the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer, but the local government does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from any such single connection aforementioned. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Director, to meet all requirements of this subchapter. Existing building sewers may be kept in service if, in the opinion of the Director, they are in acceptable structural condition and operate satisfactorily. All new building sewers, including any necessary replacement of existing building sewers, must comply with the North Carolina State Building Code, Volume II, Plumbing. The connection of the building sewer into the public sanitary sewer shall be made at the “Y” branch, if such branch is available, the owner shall, at his expense, install a “Y” branch in the public sewer at the location specified by the Director. Where the public sewer is greater than 12 inches in diameter, and no properly located “Y” branch is available, a neat hole may be cut into the public sewer to receive the building sewer, with entry in the downstream direction at an angle of about 45 degrees. A 45-degree ell may be used to make such connection, with the spigot end cut so as not to extend past the inner surface of the public sewer. The invert of the building sewer at the point of connection shall be at the same or at a higher elevation than the invert of the public sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection made secure and water-tight by encasement in concrete. Special fittings may be used for the connection only with approval by the Director. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to keep and maintain the building sewer connected to the public sewer in good repair. The owner shall, at his or her own expense, be responsible for making necessary repairs, to the building sewer within five days after receiving written notification by the local government that such repairs are necessary.
(B) Grease removal.
(1) Grease and oil traps or other interceptors shall be required at the user’s expense, when such user operates an establishment that deals in all food preparation, or serving facilities and all vehicle maintenance facilities. Grease interceptors can be required in other industrial or commercial establishments when they are necessary in the opinion of the Director of Public Utilities for proper handling of liquid wastes containing oil and/or grease. All such traps, tanks, chambers or other interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Director or his designee and shall be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. All such interceptors shall be serviced and emptied of the waste content as required for their efficient operation, but not less often than every 30 days, in order to maintain their minimum design capacity to intercept oils and grease from the wastewater discharged to the publicly owned sanitary sewer. Failure to comply can result in the implementation of § 52.99 of this chapter.
(2) Wastes removed from grease interceptors shall not be discharged into the publicly owned sanitary sewer. The owner shall be responsible for the sanitary disposal of such wastes.
(3) A faculty must keep interceptor-cleaning records on file a minimum of three years. The following information must be maintained: receipt for job performed signed by contractor and cost; clean out date; person responsible for cleaning; name of firm performing the clean out; disposal method for and destination of material removed.
(C) Sand and grit removal.
(1) Sand and grit traps or other interceptors shall be provided at the owner’s expense when they are necessary for the proper handling and control of liquid wastes containing sand and grit in excessive amounts. All such interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Director of Public Utilities or his or her designee and shall be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. All such interceptors shall be serviced and emptied of their solid contents as required for their operation, but not less often than every 30 days, in order to maintain their minimum design capacity to incept grit and sand prior to the discharge of wastewaters to the public sanitary sewers. Failure to comply can result in the implementation of § 52.99 of this chapter.
(2) Wastes removed from sand and grit interceptors shall not be discharged into the publicly owned sanitary sewer. The owner shall be responsible for the sanitary disposal of such wastes.
(3) A facility must keep interceptor-cleaning records on file a minimum of three years. The following information must be maintained: receipt for job performed signed by contractor and cost; clean out date; person responsible for cleaning; name of firm performing the clean out; disposal method for and destination of material removed.
(D) Preliminary treatment devices. Where preliminary treatment, pretreatment, flow-equalizing faculties or grease, oil, grit and sand traps or other interceptors are provided for any wastewater, they shall be continuously maintained in satisfactory condition and effective operation by the owner at his or her expense.
(E) Additional pretreatment measures.
(1) Whenever deemed necessary, the Director of Public Utilities may require users to restrict their discharge during peak flow periods, designate that certain wastewater be discharged only into specific sewers, relocate and/or consolidate points of discharge, separate sewage wastestreams from industrial wastestreams, and such other conditions as may be necessary to protect the POTW and determine the user’s compliance with the requirements of this department.
(2) Except as provided herein, for a period of one year following adoption of the ordinance from which this section is derived, although installation of grease and sand interceptors will be required to be installed, no enforcement actions will be taken under this subchapter. If, during this one-year period, an obstruction of a city sewer main occurs that causes a sewer overflow to the extent that an impact on the environment is realized and that such overflow or failure of the sanitary sewer collection system to convey sewage can be attributed in part or in whole to an accumulation of grease and/or sand in the city’s sewer main, the city will take appropriate enforcement actions, as stipulated in § 52.99 of this chapter against the generator or contributor of such grease and/or sand.
(2005 Code, § 90-133) (Ord. passed 9-10-1984; Motion passed 2-1-1993; Ord. 02095, passed 9-9-2002; Ord. passed - -) Penalty, see § 52.99