(A) Connections generally; permit requirement. No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Manager.
(B) Costs and expenses. All costs and expenses incidental to the installation, connection and inspection of a building sewer shall be borne by the building’s 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.
(C) Separate building sewers. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building, except where on 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 building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.
(D) Old building sewers. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, upon examination and testing by the Manager, to meet all requirements of this article. All others must be sealed to the satisfaction of the Manager.
(E) Building sewer requirements. Building sewers shall conform to the following requirements.
(1) The minimum size of a building sewer shall be four inches.
(2) The minimum depth of a building sewer shall be 18 inches.
(3) Four-inch building sewers shall be laid on a grade greater than one-eighth inch per foot. Larger building sewers shall be laid on a grade that will produce a velocity when flowing full of at least two feet per second.
(4) Slope and alignment of all building sewers shall be neat and regular.
(5) Building sewers shall be constructed only of:
(a) Neoprene compression joints of approved type;
(b) Cast iron soil pipe with leaded or compression joints;
(c) Polyvinyl chloride pipe with solvent welded or rubber compression joints;
(d) ABS composite sewer pipe with solvent welded or rubber compression joints of approved type; or
(e) Other materials of equal or superior quality as may be approved by the Manager.
(f) Under no circumstances will cement mortar joints be acceptable.
(6) A cleanout shall be located five feet outside of the building, one as it taps on to the utility lateral and one at each change of direction of the building sewer which is greater than 45 degrees. Additional cleanouts shall be placed not more than 75 feet apart in horizontal building sewers of four-inch nominal diameter and not more than 100 feet apart for larger pipes. Cleanouts shall be extended to or above the finished grade level directly above the place where the cleanout is installed. A “Y” (wye) and one-eighth bend shall be used for the cleanout base. Cleanouts shall not be smaller than four inches on a four-inch pipe.
(7) Connections of building sewers to the public sewer system shall be made at the appropriate existing wye or tee branch using compression type couplings or collar type rubber joint with corrosion resisting or stainless steel bands. Where existing wye or tee branches are not available, connections of building services shall be made by either removing a length of pipe and replacing it with a wye or tee fitting, or cutting a clean opening in the existing public sewer and installing a tee-saddle or tee-insert of a type approved by the Manager. All connections shall be made gas-tight and water-tight.
(8) The building sewer may be brought into the building below the basement floor when gravity flow from the building into the sanitary sewer is at a grade of one-eighth-inch per foot or more if possible. In cases where the basement or floor levels are lower than the ground elevation at the point of connection to the sewer, adequate precautions by installation of checkvalves or other backflow prevention devices to protect against flooding shall be provided by the owner. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by the building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer at the expense of the owner.
(9) The methods to be used in excavation, placing of pipe, jointing, testing, backfilling the trench or other activities in the construction of a building sewer which have not been described in this subsection (E) shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes or other applicable rules and regulations of the city or to the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and Water Pollution Control Federation Manual of Practice No. 9. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Manager before installation.
(10) An installed building sewer shall be gas-tight and water-tight.
(F) Responsibility for making taps. The city shall be responsible for making taps to existing public sewers and for extending service lines to the property line of a customer who desires to receive sewer service. The customer will be responsible for connecting to the city’s sewer at the property line and extending the building sewer into the building.
(G) Grease traps. All cafés, restaurants, motels, hotels or other commercial food preparation establishments shall install a grease trap on the kitchen waste line; provided, however, all existing cafés, restaurants, motels, hotels or other commercial food preparation establishments shall be required to construct a grease trap, at the owner’s expense, within 90 days after notification by the city, if and when the Manager determines that a grease problem exists, which is capable of causing damage or operational problems to structures or equipment in the city’s sewer system, or if such is otherwise required by city ordinance, state or federal law. The city shall retain the right to inspect and approve installation of the grease trap facility. The grease trap must precede the septic tank on the kitchen waste line if a septic tank is used. The grease trap must be designed in accordance with current engineering standards and shall be easily accessible for cleaning. Grease traps shall be maintained by the owner or operator of the facility so as to prevent a stoppage of the city sewer. If the city employees are required to clean out the city sewer lines as a result of a stoppage resulting from a clogged grease trap, the property owner or operator shall be required to pay the costs of the city labor and materials required to clean out the sewer lines.
(1977 Code, § 22-27.1) (Ord. 94-12, passed 8-22-1994)