(A) Treatment of polluted wastes required. It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any sewage, industrial wastes, or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided, in accordance with provisions of this subchapter.
(B) Compliance with subchapter. Except as provided in this subchapter, it is unlawful to construct or maintain within the city any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
(C) When permitted; sanitation. Where a public sanitary or combined sewer is not available within the city or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, the building sewer shall be connected to a private sewage disposal system, which complies with the provisions, recommendations, and regulations of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and the sanitary code of the county health department. Such installations must be approved in writing by the City Engineer prior to requesting a permit from the county. The private sewage disposal system shall be constructed, maintained, and operated at all times in a sanitary manner.
(D) (1) Discontinuance. Within 180 days after a public sewer becomes available within 300 feet of and directly adjacent to any property served by a private sewage disposal system, a direct connection shall be made to the public sewer, at the property owner’s expense, and in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter, and any septic tanks, cesspools, and similar private sewage facilities shall be abandoned and filled with suitable material.
(2) Notwithstanding division (D)(1) above and within 60 days of receiving an official notice from the city of noncompliance with division (D(1), the property owner may petition the City Engineer to continue operating and maintaining the private system upon providing the City Engineer with a recent (no older than five years) inspection report conducted at the property owner's expense, by a qualified firm or the County Health Department, establishing the private system is operating properly and poses no environmental problems or hazards. The inspection report shall include an expiration date or a recommended date for re-inspection, at which time the City Engineer may request a new inspection report. At any time the City Engineer determines an inspection report to be inadequate, the property owner will be given 180 days within which to connect to the public sewer and to abandon the private system.
(3) At any time a private system, in an area serviced by public sewer, (1) requires repairs or is modified and such repair or modification requires a permit by the county or (2) creates an environmental problem or hazard which is not repaired or which cannot be repaired without a permit issued by the county, the property owner shall immediately make modifications to connect to the public sewer and abandon the existing private system(s) servicing the property.
(4) Any septic tank, cesspool or similar private sewage disposal facilities abandoned pursuant to this section shall be filled with suitable material in accordance with all applicable state and county regulations.
(Prior Code, § 16-4-5) (Ord. O11-01-03, passed 1-13-2011; Ord. O13-06-08, passed 6-4-2013) Penalty, see § 51.999