(a) Connection Permit Required. No person, not otherwise authorized by the Board or Superintendent, 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 Superintendent.
(b) Classification; Application; Fees; Easement Granted.
(1) There shall be two classes of building sewer permits, one for residential and commercial service, and the other for service to establishments producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner or his agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the Board. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Superintendent. A permit and inspection fee of twenty-five dollars shall be paid to the City Recorder at the time the application is filed.
(2) Such application shall be made on forms prescribed and furnished by the Board, and shall constitute an agreement by the applicant with the Board to abide by all provisions of this article and rules and regulations as are in force regarding use of the sewer system. Such application for service by firms, partnerships, associations and corporations shall be submitted only by their duly authorized agent, and the official title of such agent shall be signed to the application.
(3) The application shall grant or cause to be granted to the Board, without cost, all rights, easements, permits and privileges which are necessary for the rendering of sewer service; and shall constitute permission by the applicant to permit duly authorized employees of the Board to have access at all reasonable hours to the premises of the applicant for the purpose of installing or removing any of the Board's property, examining pipes or fixtures or for any other purpose incidental to the rendering of sewer service.
(c) Owner to Bear Installation and Connection Costs. All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the Board and its employees from any loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, by the installation of the building sewer.
(d) Separate Building Sewer Required. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except, that where one building stands at the rear of another or 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 rear building may be extended to the front building and the whole considered as one building sewer. As respects such connection, the Board assumes no obligation or responsibility for the maintenance of, or damage caused by or resulting from, such single connection.
(e) Use of Old Building Sewers. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Superintendent, to meet all requirements of this article.
(f) Building Sewer Construction.
(1) The size, slope, alignment and materials of construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench, shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Board. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the material and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
(2) The building sewer shall be cast iron soil pipe, ASTM specification A74-42 or equal; vitrified clay sewer pipe, ASTM specification C13-44T or equal; or other suitable material approved by the Superintendent. Joints shall be gastight and watertight, and verified by proper testing. Any part of the building sewer that is located within ten feet of a water service pipe shall be constructed of cast iron soil pipe with leaded joints. Cast iron pipe with leaded joints may be required by the Superintendent where the building sewer is exposed to damage by tree roots. If installed in filled or unstable ground, the building sewer shall be of cast iron soil pipe; except, that nonmetallic material may be accepted if laid on a suitable concrete bed or cradle as approved by the director.
(g) Size and Slope. The size and slope of the building sewer shall be subject to the approval of the Superintendent, but in no event shall the diameter thereof be less than four inches. The slope of such four inch pipe shall be not less than one-eighth inch per foot.
(h) Depth, Grade and Alignment. Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. No building sewer shall be laid parallel to or within three feet of any bearing wall which wall might thereby be weakened. The depth of the building sewer shall be sufficient to afford protection from frost. Insofar as is possible, the building sewer shall be laid at uniform grade and in straight alignment. Changes in direction shall be made only with properly curved pipe and fittings.
(i) Buildings Where Drain Too Low to Permit Gravity Flow. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by means approved by the Superintendent and discharged to the building sewer.
(j) Excavations.
(1) All excavations required for the installation of a building sewer shall be open trench work unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent. Pipe laying and backfill shall be performed in accordance with ASTM specification C12-19; except, that no backfill shall be placed until the work has been inspected.
(2) All excavations 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 or the Board.
(k) Jointing Materials and Methods.
(1) All joints and connections shall be made gastight and watertight.
(2) Cast iron pipe joints shall be firmly packed with oakum or hemp and filled with molten lead, federal specification QC-L-156, not less than one inch deep. Lead shall be run in one pouring and caulked tight. No paint, varnish or other coatings shall be permitted on the jointing material until after the joint has been tested and approved.
(3) All joints in vitrified clay pipe, or between such pipe and metals, shall be made with approved hot-poured jointing material or cement mortar as specified below.
(4) Material for hot-poured joints shall not soften sufficiently to destroy the effectiveness of the joint when subjected to a temperature of one hundred sixty degrees Fahrenheit, nor be soluble in any of the wastes carried by the drainage system. The joint shall first be caulked tight with jute, hemp or similar approved material.
(5) Cement joints shall be made by packing a closely twisted jute or oakum gasket, of suitable size to fill partly the annular space between the pipes. The remaining space shall be filled and firmly compacted with mortar composed of one part portland cement and three parts mortar sand. The material shall be mixed dry and only sufficient water shall be added to make the mixture workable. Mortar which has begun to set shall not be used or retempered. Lime putty or hydrated lime may be substituted to the extent of not more than twenty-five percent of the volume of the portland cement that may be added.
(6) Other jointing materials and methods may be used only by approval of the Superintendent.
(l) Method of Connecting. The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall be made by the “Y" branch, if such branch is available at a suitable location. If the public sewer is twelve inches in diameter or less and no properly located “Y" branch is available, the owner shall, at his expense, install a "Y” branch in the public sewer at the location specified by the Superintendent. When the public sewer is greater than twelve inches in diameter and no properly located “Y” branch is available, a neat hole may be cut into the public sewer to receive the building sewer, with entry in the downstream direction at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees. A forty-five degree all may be used to make such connection, with the spigot and cut so as not to extend past the inner surface of the public sewer. The invert of the building sewer at the point of connection shall be at the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the public sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made, and the connection made secure and watertight by encasement in concrete. Special fittings may be used for the connection only when approved by the Superintendent.
(m) Notification of Superintendent. The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Superintendent when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Superintendent or his representative.
(n) Approval of Connections; Unauthorized Connections Prohibited.
(1) No sewer service shall be connected until the plumbing and connections incident thereto shall have been inspected and approved by the Superintendent or his designee.
(2) No person shall connect to or turn on any sewer service, or cut in, interconnect, tap or make any alterations to any main or distribution or collection pipe of the City's sewer system on his premises or the premises occupied by him, or knowingly use the sewer service from connections in violation of any of the provisions of this article or any rules or regulations adopted by the Board with respect thereto.
(3-3-97.)
(3-3-97.)