(A) (1) No person, company or corporation, unless duly authorized by the Water Board, shall, except in the time of fire, take water from any public hydrant, or remove the cover from any hydrant, or place or deposit any earth or material on or around any hydrant or in, on or around the box or appendage thereto, or turn any public stop cock, or commit any act injuring or tending to obstruct the use thereof, or injure in any manner any building, machinery, apparatus, pipe or fixture of the water works.
(2) If fire hydrants are placed on public or private grounds by companies or individuals, the use of the same, except in the case of fire, is prohibited. Payments of $113.88 per private hydrant shall be charged yearly.
(B) A backflow preventer shall be used on all fire hydrants that are being used for purposes other than fighting a fire.
(C) Anyone requesting use of a fire hydrant shall obtain a City Waterworks Hydrant Usage Report from the City Clerk's office.
(D) Anyone taking water from fire hydrants without city authorization shall be subject to a fine up to $500 per instance.
(E) Persons taking water must keep their service connection pipes and all fixtures connected therewith, in good repair and protected from frost, at his or her own expense.
(F) Persons taking water shall prevent all unnecessary waste of water by repairing leaking pipes, valves and fixtures.
(G) No addition to, or alteration whatsoever of any tap, pipe, water cock or other fixtures shall be made or caused to be made by persons taking water, except through a duly licensed plumber and a permit first obtained from the City Clerk-Treasurer.
(H) Plumbers must have a state license.
(I) The members of the Water Board, Water Department employees and department head shall have free access at all reasonable hours of the day to all parts of the premises to which water is supplied, to make necessary examinations.
(J) All private fountains shall not be used longer than ten hours per day, and not earlier than 6:00 a.m. nor after 10:00 p.m., during the summer season, unless specially permitted, and the right is reserved to suspend their use whenever the public exigency may require it. Fountains or private hose(s) shall not be used in time of fire, except the use of the hose for protection from fire. All persons using fountains are required to immediately shut off the water upon an alarm of fire.
(K) The Water Board reserves the right to limit the use of the water for the sprinkling or watering of alleys, streets, lawns and other places at any and all times when the supply of water is deemed by the Board insufficient for those purposes.
(1) In the event the Board shall at any time deem the supply of water insufficient for the purpose of sprinkling or watering of alleys, streets, lawns, gardens or other places, it shall at a regular or special meeting of the Board enter a finding to that effect and prescribe the manner in which the water may be used for either of any like purposes, if at all, and shall immediately thereafter cause notice of the finding and the rules prescribed for the use of water, to be published one time in the local newspapers published in the city.
(2) Any person, firm or corporation, who shall after the entering of the finding by the Board and the service of the notice, upon him or her either in person or by the publication thereof as hereinabove provided use the water in violation of the finding and notice, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than $1 or more than $100 for each and every offense so committed.
(L) Feed pumps for supplying water to steam boilers will not be permitted to take water directly from the service pipe but must draw from a suitable receptacle into which water has been previously discharged, and any parties using water to supply steam boilers are cautioned against collapse or damage that may be caused by the whole or partial stoppage of the water. The city will not be liable or responsible for any accident or damage to which boilers, gas engines, pipes, fixtures and all other apparatus are subject.
(M) House boilers for domestic use must in all cases be provided with necessary valves and apparatus to prevent collapsing when the water is cut off from the distributing pipes, and the city will in no case be liable or responsible for any accident or damage resulting from imperfect action of any such valves or apparatus.
(N) No plumber, finding the water cut off at the curb of any premises, shall turn on or off the water until he or she shall first have obtained approval from the City Water Department.
(O) No person or persons shall in any manner obstruct the access to any stop cock connected with any water pipe within any street or alley or place in the city by means of any lumber, building material, fencing, buildings or other articles or hindrances whatsoever.
(P) When a person builds a new sidewalk or raises an old one to a higher grade, care must be taken to keep the stop-box cover above the ground in plain sight. If same cannot be done with old cover, report same to City Clerk-Treasurer who will notify waterworks employees.
(Q) When an alarm of fire is given, all hydrants not supplying the fire must be immediately closed; street sprinklers are prohibited from taking water; elevators and motors run by city water must be stopped. All water takers at that time are expected to use no water, except when absolutely necessary.
(R) It is expressly understood that the city reserves the right at any time to shut off the water in their mains, for the purpose of repairing, making connections, extensions or for the purpose of cleaning same, and to make further rules and regulations as may be necessary for the preservation and protection of their works.
(S) The city requires 48-hour notice prior to making water taps.
(1998 Code, § 9-145) (Ord. 584, passed - -1996) Penalty, see § 10.99