For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C, expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING DRAIN. The part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage system inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (one and one and one-half meters) 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. Also called HOUSE CONNECTION.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm or surface water.
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection system.
GARBAGE. The animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The wastewater from industrial processes, trades or businesses as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
NONRESIDENTIAL CONNECTION. Any water meter connection longer than three-quarters inch.
pH. The reciprocal of the logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration; the concentration in the weight of hydrogen ions, in grams per liter of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a pH value of seven and a hydrogen ion concentration of 10.7.
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 (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER. A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility.
RESIDENTIAL CONNECTION. Any water meter connection which is three-quarter inch or smaller.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with minor quantities of ground, storm and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
SEWAGE. The spent water of a community. The preferred term is WASTEWATER.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water.
SLUDGE. Any discharge of water or wastewater 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 normal operation and shall adversely affect the collection system or performance of the wastewater treatment works.
STORM DRAIN. A drain or sewer for conveying water, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.
SUPERINTENDENT. The Superintendent of Wastewater Facilities or of Wastewater Treatment Works or of Water Pollution Control of the town, or his or her authorized deputy, agent or representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of or is in suspension in water, wastewater or other liquids and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, and referred to as NONFILTERABLE RESIDUE.
TOWN COUNCIL GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE. The Town Council, or a committee appointed by it, to hear and decide the differences between the approving authority and permittee or sewer users on matters concerning interpretation and execution of this chapter by the approving authority.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of a quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
WASTEWATER. The spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES. The structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS. An arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial wastes and sludge, sometimes used as synonymous with WASTE TREATMENT PLANT or WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANT.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.
(1996 Code, § 128-1)