(A) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one 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 sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer, but the city does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from any single connection aforementioned.
(B) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and testing by the General Superintendent or his designee, to meet all requirements of this chapter. If the old service is determined to not be suitable for further use, the owner shall pay the cost for a new permit, tap or services as may be required to serve the new building. Permit and inspection fees for new buildings using existing building sewers shall be the same as for new building sewers. If additional sewer customers are added to the old building sewers, additional sewer tap fees shall be charged accordingly even though no new sewer tap is actually made into the city system.
(C) Extension of customer service lines from any point on the customer's side of the tap for delivery of waste from any location other than that of the customer in whose name the tap is registered shall not be permitted.
(D) The building sewer shall be cast iron soil pipe, ASTM A-74, latest revision, PVC (polyvinyl-chloride) sewer pipe, ASTM D-3034, latest revision, unglazed clay sewer pipe, ASTM C-261, latest revision, vitrified clay sewer pipe, ASTM C-700, latest revision, or ductile iron pipe, AWWA Specification C-151 cement lined, and shall meet requirements of the state plumbing code. Joints shall be as set out hereinafter. Any part of the building sewer that is located within five feet of a water service pipe shall be constructed with cast iron soil pipe or ductile iron pipe, unless the building sewer is at least one foot deeper in the ground than the water service line. In the latter case, vitrified clay pipe may be used. Cast iron soil pipe or ductile iron pipe may be required by the city where the building sewer is exposed to damage or stoppage by tree roots. Cast iron soil pipe or ductile iron pipe shall be used in filled or unstable ground, in areas where the cover over the building sewer is less than three feet, or in areas where the sewer is subject to vehicular or other external loads.
(E) The size, slope, alignment, and materials used in the construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the local and state building and plumbing codes and other applicable rules and regulations of the city.
(F) All costs and expenses incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner(s). The owner(s) shall indemnify the city for any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer. Fees for connection shall be as established by the city.
(G) The owner shall ensure that all excavation for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the city.
(H) In all buildings in which any sanitary facility drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the same building sewer. Drain pipe and sump for collection of such sanitary drainage shall be above the basement floor or in separately watertight or drained sump or channel.
(I) The building sewer shall be connected into the public sewer at the easement or property line. Where no properly located service branch is available, an authorized agent of the city shall cut a neat hole into the main line of the public sewer and a suitable wye or tee saddle installed to receive the building sewer. The invert of the building sewer at such point of connection with a saddle shall be in the upper quadrant of the main line of the public sewer. A neat workmanlike connection, not extending past the inner surface of the public sewer, shall be made and the saddle made secure and watertight by encasement in epoxy cement specially prepared for this purpose. A wye and H bend fitting shall be installed at the property line between the public sewer and the building sewer. This fitting shall serve the purpose of a cleanout and for applying the smoke test during inspection of the line. After testing, a cast iron or ductile iron riser will be inserted in this fitting and brought flush with the ground surface. A stopper or plug, outfitted with a type joint applicable to the pipe used, shall seal this riser against the intrusion of ground or surface water.
(J) All building sanitary sewer lines will be installed so as to meet or exceed the most current revision of the State Plumbing Code.
(K) All persons working on city sewers with a cleaning rod must use an approved type rod in cleaning sewer connections to city sewers.
(L) Sewer taps shall not be allowed for structures where the lowest floor to be connected to the sewer is below the surface level of the nearest existing downstream manhole cover.
(M) Property owners shall be responsible for maintaining sewer lines, including sewer taps, from the building connection to the main sewer lines in all instances where a clean out is not provided at the end of the tap at the property line, or to the service branch on the public sewer where such public sewer exists within an easement on private property.
(Ord. 14:95, passed 5-25-95; Am. Ord. 5:96, passed 3-12-96)