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 expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l), utilized in the biochemical oxidation or organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20° Celsius.
BUILDING DRAIN. That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, wastes and other drainage pipes inside the walls of a building and conveys it to the building sewer beginning three feet outside the building wall.
BUILDING DRAIN, SANITARY. A building drain which conveys sanitary or industrial sewage only.
BUILDING DRAIN, STORM. A building drain which conveys storm water or other clear water drainage, but no waste water.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal. (Also called HOUSE CONNECTION.)
BUILDING SEWER, SANITARY. A building sewer which conveys sanitary or industrial sewage only.
BUILDING SEWER, STORM. A building sewer which conveys storm water or other clear water drainage, but no sanitary or industrial sewage.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to receive both waste water and storm or surface water.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. BOD, suspended solids, pH, and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the NPDES permit if the treatment works was designed to treat such pollutants, and in fact does remove such pollutants to a substantial degree. The term SUBSTANTIAL DEGREE is not subject to precise definition, but generally contemplates removals in the order of 80% or greater. Minor incidental removals in the order of ten to 30% are not considered substantial. Examples of the additional pollutants which may be considered compatible include:
(1) Chemical oxygen demand;
(2) Total organic carbon;
(3) Phosphorus and phosphorus compounds;
(4) Nitrogen and nitrogen compounds; and
(5) Fats, oils and greases of animal or vegetable origin (except as prohibited where these materials would interfere with the operation of the treatment works).
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
FECAL COLIFORM. Any of a number of organisms common to the intestinal tract of man and animals, whose presence in sanitary sewage is an indicator of pollution.
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat or grease in a physical state, such that will separate by gravity from waste water by treatment in a pretreatment facility approved by the superintendent.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant that is not defined as a compatible pollutant, including nonbiodegradable dissolved solids.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INFILTRATION. The water entering a sewer system, including building drains and sewers, from the ground through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls. INFILTRATION does not include and is distinguished from inflow.
INFILTRATION/INFLOW. The total quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow without distinguishing the source.
INFLOW. The water discharged into a sewer system, including building drains and sewers, from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders; cellar, yard and area drains; foundation drains; unpolluted cooling water discharges; drains from springs and swampy areas; manhole covers; cross- connections from storm sewers and combined sewers; catch basins; storm waters; surface run-off; and street wash waters or drainage. INFLOW does not include, and is distinguished from, infiltration.
INSPECTOR. The person or persons duly authorized by the city, through its Common Council, to inspect and approve the installation of building sewers and their connection to the public sewer system.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTING INDUSTRY. An industry that:
(1) Has a flow of 50,000 gallons or more per average workday;
(2) Has a flow greater than 5% of the flow carried by the municipal system receiving the waste;
(3) Has in its waste a toxic pollutant in toxic amounts as defined in standards issued under Section 307(a) of PL 92-500; or
(4) Has a significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on a treatment works or on the quality of effluent from that treatment works.
NPDES PERMIT. A permit issued under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharge of waste waters to the navigable waters of the United States pursuant to section 402 of PL 92-500.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.
NORMAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE. The same meaning as defined in the Sewer Rate Subchapter.
pH. The reciprocal of the logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen ions, in grams per liter of solution.
PERSON. Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group discharging any waste water to the waste water treatment works.
PRETREATMENT. The treatment of industrial sewage from privately owned industrial sources prior to introduction into a public treatment works.
PRIVATE SEWER. A sewer which is not owned by a public authority.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that has 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 in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer which is owned and controlled by the public authority, including the following elements:
(1) COLLECTOR SEWER. A sewer whose primary purpose is to collect waste waters from individual point source discharges.
(2) INTERCEPTOR SEWER. A sewer whose primary purpose is to transport waste water from collector sewers to a treatment facility.
(3) FORCE MAIN. A pipe in which waste water is carried under pressure.
(4) PUMPING STATION. A station positioned in the public sewer system at which waste water is pumped to a higher level.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sanitary and industrial wastes, and to which storm water, surface water and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. The combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions (including polluted cooling water). The three most common types of sewage are:
(1) SANITARY SEWAGE. The combination of liquid and water-carried wastes discharged from toilets and other sanitary plumbing facilities.
(2) INDUSTRIAL SEWAGE. A combination of liquid and water-carried wastes, discharged from any industrial establishment, and resulting from any trade or process carried on in that establishment (this shall include the wastes from pretreatment facilities and polluted cooling water).
(3) COMBINED SEWAGE. Wastes including sanitary sewage, industrial sewage, storm water, infiltration and inflow carried to the waste water treatment facilities by a combined sewer.
SEWAGE WORKS. The structures, equipment and processes to collect, transport and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent and accumulated residual solids.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SHALL is mandatory; MAY is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. As used in this subchapter, the city hereby adopts the same definition of a SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER as defined by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
SLUG. Any discharge of water or waste water which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than ten minutes more than three times the average 24 hours' concentration or flows during normal operation and shall adversely affect the collection system.
STANDARD METHODS. The laboratory procedures set forth in the latest edition, at the time of analysis, of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,” prepared and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, The American Water Works Association, and The Water Pollution Control Federation.
STORM SEWER. A sewer for conveying water, groundwater or unpolluted water from any source and to which sanitary and/or industrial wastes are not intentionally admitted.
SUPERINTENDENT. The Superintendent of the Municipal Sewage Works of the city, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS). Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
TOTAL SOLIDS. The sum of suspended and dissolved solids.
TOXIC AMOUNT. Concentrations of any pollutant or combination of pollutants which, upon exposure to or assimilation into any organism, will cause adverse effects such as cancer, genetic mutations and physiological manifestations, as defined in standards issued pursuant to section 307(a) of PL 92-500.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of 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 benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers and waste water treatment facilities provided.
VOLATILE ORGANIC MATTER. The material in the sewage solids transformed to gases or vapors when heated at 550° Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water either continuously or intermittently.
('77 Code, § 20-43) (Ord. 374, passed 4-3-78; Am. Ord. 98-6, passed 2-17-98
; Am. Ord. 2006-17, passed 12-4-06
)