For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall be as given in M.S. Chs. 115 and 116, as they may be amended from time to time.
ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the “Clean Water Act”, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or BOD5. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C, expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).
BUILDING DRAIN. 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 outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the municipal sewer or other place of disposal.
COMMERCIAL USER. A commercial business discharging wastewater or users not categorized as residential or industrial.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or during which the only constituent added to the water is heat.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A person who discharges to the wastewater disposal system liquid wastes resulting from the processes employed in industrial or manufacturing, or from the development of any natural resource.
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER. The liquid, solid or gaseous wastes from industrial processes.
LOT. A plot of land containing no more than one connection to the wastewater disposal system.
MUNICIPAL SEWER. A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT or NPDES PERMIT. Any permit or requirements issued by the state’s Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), for the purpose of regulating the discharge of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes under the authority of § 402 of the Act.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
PARCEL OF LAND. Any piece of real estate not being a part of any regular subdivision or addition, but containing one or more connections to the wastewater disposal system.
PERSON. The state or any agency or institution thereof, any municipality, governmental subdivision, public or private corporation, individual, partnership or other entity, including, but not limited to, association, commission or any interstate body and including any officer of a governmental subdivision or public or private corporation or other entity.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
PREMISES. Any piece of real estate having one or more sewers which may be connected either individually or through a common sewer and directly or indirectly to the wastewater disposal system.
PRETREATMENT.
(1) The process of reducing the amount of pollutants, eliminating pollutants or altering the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing the pollutants into the wastewater disposal system.
(2) The reduction, elimination or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or other means, except as prohibited by § 53.25(E) of this chapter.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to a degree that all particles will be carried freely, under the flow conditions normally prevailing in municipal sewers, with no particle greater than a half-inch in any dimension.
RESIDENTIAL USER. A user discharging only sanitary wastewater.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries wastewater and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. Any user of the wastewater disposal system which:
(1) Has a disposal flow of 25,000 gallons or more per average work day;
(2) Has a flow greater than 5% of the flow in the wastewater disposal system;
(3) Has in its wastes toxic pollutants as defined pursuant to § 307(a) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317(a)); or
(4) Has a significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater disposal system, the quality of sludge, the system’s effluent quality or air emissions generated by the system.
SLUG. Any discharge of water, wastewater or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during a normal operation.
STATE DISPOSAL SYSTEM PERMIT. Any permit (including any terms, conditions and requirements thereof), issued by the MPCA pursuant to M.S. § 115.07, as it may be amended from time to time, for a disposal system, as defined by M.S. § 115.01, subd. 8, as it may be amended from time to time.
STORM DRAIN or STORM SEWER. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes wastewater and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which is removable by a standard glass fiber filter.
USER. Any person who discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into the wastewater disposal system.
WASTEWATER. The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and storm water that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is discharged into or permitted to enter the wastewater disposal system.
WASTEWATER DISPOSAL SYSTEM or SYSTEM. Any devices, facilities, structures, equipment or works owned or used by the city for the purpose of the transmission, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of industrial and domestic wastewater or necessary to recycle or reuse water, including intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection system, pumping, power and other equipment and their appurtenances, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof, elements essential to provide a reliable recycled water supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities, and any works, including land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from the treatment.
WATERCOURSE. A channel in which a flow of water occurs, whether continuously or intermittently.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon the state or any portion thereof.
(2002 Code, § 3.91) (Ord. 120, Third Series, effective 7-1-1986; Ord. 157, Third Series, effective 12-1-1987; Ord. 107, Sixth Series, effective 5-22-2009; Ord. 25, Seventh Series, effective 6-5-2015)