The following rules and regulations for the government of water users, licensing of plumbers and others, are hereby adopted and established:
A. Application For Connection Permit:
1. Every person desiring a supply of water must make application therefor to the city clerk upon such form as may be prescribed by the city council and provided for that purpose. The application must state fully and truly all the uses to which the water is to be applied, and no different or additional use will be allowed, except by written permission issued by the waterworks committee upon application being made therefor. The permit for the connection to the water mains shall be issued by the city clerk or waterworks committee of the city council to some licensed plumber employed by the applicant to make the connection to the water mains.
2. Not more than one house or premises shall be supplied from one tap, except by written permission of the majority members of the waterworks committee and not then in any case unless provision is made so that each house or premises can be shut off independently of every house or premises.
B. Supervision Of Connections: The director of public works shall make or supervise the making of all connections with the water mains and shall lay or supervise the laying of all service pipes from the mains to the stop box of the consumer.
C. Cost Of Connection; Applicant Liable: Each applicant for a water connection to the mains shall pay the estimated cost of such connection to the middle of the street. (Ord. 41)
D. Payment Of Service Bills: All bills must be paid promptly when due. City officials are positively prohibited from allowing credit to anyone.
E. Authority To Turn On Water: Water will not be turned on in any house or private service except by order of the city clerk or the director of public works. This rule shall not be construed to prohibit plumbers from turning water into any pipes to test same for that purpose only. (Ord. 41; amd. 2015 Code)
F. Consumer Supplying Water To Others: No consumer shall supply water to other families nor suffer them to take water off their premises, or after water is introduced into any building, or upon their premises, shall any person make or employ any plumber or other person to make any taps or connections with the pipes upon the premises from alterations, extensions or attachments without filing a regular application therefor and issuing a permit by the city clerk or waterworks committee of the city council.
G. Fixtures Closed; Improper Use Prohibited: All persons using water shall keep the hydrants, tap, hose, water closets, urinals, bath or other fixtures allotted to their use, closed except when obtaining water for use, and shall be responsible for any damage or injury that may result to others from the improper use of water.
H. Meters:
1. Placement; Easy Access: All meters shall be so placed as to be easy of access and convenient to read and inspect. They shall also be protected from frost in such a manner as to prevent freezing.
2. Testing And Repair Of Meters: All meters shall be tested when deemed necessary by the director or when ordered by the waterworks committee of the city council, and all defective meters shall be repaired by the director of public works under his supervision. (Ord. 41)
3. Faulty Meter; Estimate Of Use: Should a meter get out of order or repair, or fail to register properly, the consumer will be charged with the average monthly consumption as shown by the meter, when in order, for the two (2) monthly periods previous thereto or any fraction thereof if the same has not been used that long.
4. Approval Required To Remove Meter: In no case shall licensed plumbers or others remove a meter from its setting or interfere with its reading for any cause, without first obtaining approval from the director of public works. (Ord. 41; amd. 2015 Code)
I. House Boilers; Vacuum Valve: All house boilers shall be constructed with a vacuum valve at the top of the inlet pipe, and be sufficiently strong to bear the pressure of the atmosphere when under a vacuum. The stopcocks and other appurtenances must be sufficiently strong to bear the pressure and ram of the water in the mains.
J. Maintain Pipes And Apparatus; City Right To Shut Off Water For Repairs: All persons taking water shall keep their own service pipe, stopcocks, and apparatus in good repair and protected from frost at their own risk and expense, and shall prevent all unnecessary waste of water, and it is expressly stipulated that no claim shall be made against it by reason of the breaking of any service pipe or service cock, or if for any cause the supply of water should fail or from damage arising from shutting off the water to repair mains, making connections or extensions, or for any other purpose that may be deemed necessary, the right is hereby reserved to cut off the supply of water at any time, any permit granted or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding. (Ord. 41)
K. City Officials; Right Of Entry: Every person taking water supplied through the waterworks system shall permit the director of public works and employees of the department, at all reasonable hours of the day to enter their premises or buildings to examine the pipes and fixtures and the manner in which the water is used or to read meters, and they must frankly and without concealment answer questions put to them relative to the use of water on such premises. (Ord. 41; amd. 2015 Code)
L. Limit Water Use During Fire: The use of hose for sprinkling yards, gardens and streets, or for washing windows and sidewalks is prohibited in case of fire or when there is an alarm of fire. (Ord. 41)
M. Service Pipe Regulations And Requirements:
1. All water service pipes from the street line to the mains shall be of extra strong pipe material connected by brass couplings, and one-eighth inch (1/8") larger than the taps that supply them. (Ord. 41; amd. 2015 Code)
2. Every service pipe must be sufficiently waving and laid in such a manner as to prevent rupture by settlement.
3. Mains must be tapped on the top and not in any case within six inches (6") of the hub.
4. All service pipes must be laid as much underground as the main pipe in the street, and in all cases shall be deep enough to prevent rupture by freezing.
5. Stopcocks shall be placed in every service pipe at the inside of the sidewalk line and protected by stopcock box of a pattern approved by the City Council, reaching from the stopcock to the surface of the ground, of a suitable size to admit of a stop key for turning on and off the stopcock and with heavy metal cover, have the letter "W" marked thereon, visible and even with the pavement or ground. Where one service pipe is intended to supply two (2) or more consumers, there shall be separate service cocks for each.
6. There shall be a stop and waste cock of a pattern and weight approved by the City Council, attached to every service pipe, at a point where it enters the building, inside the same easily accessible point and so situated that the water can be conveniently shut off and drained from the pipes.
7. Service pipes must be thoroughly flushed before a meter is attached. No meter shall be placed on a straight run but shall be placed at least six inches (6") above the service pipe on a loop.
8. In making excavations in streets or highways for the laying of service pipes or making repairs, the planks or paving stones or earth shall be deposited in such a manner as to occasion the least inconvenience to the public and provide for the passage of water along the gutter.
9. After the service pipes are laid, in refilling the excavation, the earth must be laid in layers and each layer thoroughly tamped and packed to prevent settlement, and this work, together with the replacement of the sidewalk, ballast and paving, must be done so as to make the street at least as good as it was before the excavation was made and to the satisfaction of the Director of Public Works.
N. Placement Of Hydrants And Drinking Fountains: No hydrant or fountain, except public drinking fountains, shall be placed within the limits of any street unless the hydrant or drinking fountain are securely closed and protected against general use; and no drinking fountain shall be erected for public use which has openings by which it can be used as a source of domestic supply. (Ord. 41)
O. Discontinuance Of Service; Reconnection Charge: Water service may be severed upon notice to the Director of Public Works whenever the premises are to be unoccupied and reconnected upon a payment of ten dollars ($10.00) for cutting off and turning on the water, and if the premises are unoccupied for more than one month, a proportionate reduction on the minimum charge for water service will be allowed. (Ord. 41; amd. 2015 Code)