For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ADMINISTRATOR. The administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
APPROVING AUTHORITY. The city.
BASIC USER CHARGE. The basic assessment levied on all users of the wastewater collection system for the costs of operation, maintenance and replacement.
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 piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of a building and conveys it to the building sewer or other approved point of discharge, beginning five feet (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.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer which is designed and intended to receive wastewater, storm, surface and ground water drainage.
COMMERCIAL USER. A user of the wastewater collection system, including transit lodging, retail and wholesale establishments or places engaged in selling merchandise or rendering services.
CONTROL MANHOLE. A structure located on a site from which industrial wastes are discharged. Where feasible, the manhole shall have an interior drop. The purpose of a CONTROL MANHOLE is to provide access in order to measure and/or sample discharges.
DEBT SERVICE CHARGE. The amount to be paid each billing period for the payment of interest, principal and coverage of outstanding loans, bonds and the like, which are applicable to the sanitary sewer system. This charge shall be computed by dividing the annual debt service by the number of users connected to the wastewater collection system.
DIRECTOR. The Director of the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
EFFLUENT CRITERIA. Defined in the applicable NPDES permits.
FEDERAL ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., as amended by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. 92-500 and Pub. L. 93-243.
FEDERAL GRANT. U.S. government participation in the financing of the construction of treatment works as provided for by Title II — Grants for Construction of Treatment Works of the Act and Implementing Regulations.
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. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A user of the wastewater collection system including establishments engaged in manufacturing activities involving the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials of substance into products.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance discharged, permitted to fox or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing, commercial or business establishment or process or from the development, recovery or processing of any natural resource as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INSTITUTIONAL/GOVERNMENTAL USER. A user of the wastewater collection system including schools, churches, penal institutions and users associated with federal, state and local governments.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTING INDUSTRY. An industrial user of the wastewater collection system that:
(1) Has a flow of 50,000 gallons or more per average work day;
(2) Has a flow greater than 10% of the flow carried by the wastewater collection system receiving the waste;
(3) Has in its waste a toxic pollutant in toxic amounts as defined in standards issued under § 307(a) of the Federal Act; or
(4) Is found by the permit issuant authority, in connection with the issuance of the NPDES permit to the publicly owned treatment works receiving the waste, to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the treatment works or upon the quality of effluent from the treatment works.
MILLIGRAMS PER LITER. A unit of the concentration of water or wastewater constituent. It is 0.001 gram of the constituent in 1,000 milliliters of water. It has replaced the unit formerly used, parts per million, to which it is approximately equivalent, in reporting the results of water and wastewater analyses.
MSDGC. The Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
NPDES PERMIT. Any permit or equivalent document or requirement issued by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or, where appropriated by the Director of the State Environmental Protection Agency, after the enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, to regulate the discharge of pollutants pursuant to § 402 of the Federal Act.
PERSON. Means any PERSON, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm, company, municipal or private corporation, association, society, institution, enterprise, governmental agency or other entity.
pH. The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ion concentration expressed by one of the procedures outlined in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.
POPULATION EQUIVALENT. A term used to evaluate the impact of industrial or other waste on a treatment works or stream.
PPM. Parts per million by weight.
PRETREATMENT. The treatment of wastewater from a source before introduction into the wastewater treatment works.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer provided by or subject to the jurisdiction of the city. It shall also include sewers within or outside the city boundaries that service one or more persons and ultimately discharge into the city sanitary sewerage system, even though the sewers may not have been constructed with city funds.
REPLACEMENT. Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary during the service life of the wastewater collection system to maintain the capacity and performance for which the system was designed and constructed.
RESIDENTIAL USER. A user of the wastewater collection system including all dwelling units such as houses, mobile homes, apartments and permanent multi-family dwellings.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that conveys sewage or industrial waste or a combination of both, and into which storm, surface and ground waters or unpolluted industrial wastes are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. May be used interchangeably with “wastewater.”
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for conveying sewage or any other waste liquid, including storm, surface and ground water drainage.
SEWERAGE FUND. The principal accounting designation for all revenues received in the operation of the wastewater collection system.
SEWERAGE SYSTEM. The system of sewers and appurtenances for the collection, transportation and pumping of sewage.
SLUG. Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds for any period longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration for flows during normal operation.
STANDARD METHODS. The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the most recent edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Waterworks Association and the Water Pollution Control Federation.
STATE ACT. The Illinois Anti-Pollution Bond Act of 1970.
STATE GRANT. The state participation in the financing of the construction of treatment works as provided for by the Illinois Anti-Pollution Bond Act and for making the grants as filed with the Secretary of State of the state.
STORM SEWER. A sewer that carries storm, surface and ground water drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.
STORMWATER RUNOFF. The portion of precipitation that is drained into sewers.
SURCHARGE. An assessment in addition to the basic user charge and debt service charge which is levied on those persons whose wastes are greater in strength than normal concentration values.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Solids that either float on the surface of or are suspended in water, sewage or industrial waste, and which are removable by a laboratory filtration device. Quantitative determination of SUSPENDED SOLIDS shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in the standard methods.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect, or water that would not cause a violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities.
USEFUL LIFE. The period during which the wastewater collection system will be operated.
USER CLASS. The type of user of the wastewater collection system; either residential, commercial or industrial.
WASTEWATER. The spent water of a community. It may be a combination of 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 COLLECTION SYSTEM. The structures, equipment and processes required to collect and transport wastes to the interceptor sewers of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago.
WASTEWATER SERVICE CHARGE. The charge per billing period levied on all users of the wastewater collection system. The service charge shall be computed as outlined in § 52.062.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS. An arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial waste and sludge.
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS. Defined in the water pollution regulations of the state.
WATERCOURSE. A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(2000 Code, § 13.08.020)