When used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings herein ascribed to them:
APARTMENTS: Multiple-family structures, including mobile home parks, containing two (2) or more dwelling units intended for residential use located on any parcel of real property or lot.
BASE CHARGE: The minimum bimonthly charge for consumption from one to seven hundred fifty (750) cubic feet.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD): An estimate of the amount of organic material in a sample of water that can be oxidized by microorganisms under standard conditions. It is used to determine the strength of a wastewater, the efficiency of the wastewater treatment plant processes and to determine the oxygen load that the effluent from the plant has on the receiving water. A sample is incubated for five (5) days at twenty degrees Celsius (20°C). The reduction in dissolved oxygen concentration during the incubation period yields a measure of biochemical oxygen demand.
CCF: A unit of one hundred (100) cubic feet of water delivered to the user as a measure of the estimated volume of wastewater discharged by the user into the wastewater system.
CESSPOOL: An excavation into the earth which is used for the reception of sewage or drainage from plumbing fixtures, effluent from septic tanks, together with the water used in carriage of the sewage or drainage but which does not have watertight walls and bottom.
CITY: The city of Placerville, a municipal corporation of the state of California.
CITY SEWER: Any sewer pipeline or other system appurtenance which is under the jurisdiction of the city, also termed "public sewer".
COSTS OF SERVICES: All costs incurred to construct, operate, maintain, and finance the wastewater system, including fixed and variable operations and maintenance costs, debt service, capital costs, and inflow and infiltration costs.
DIRECTOR: The city of Placerville, director of public works or authorized representatives.
FAST FOOD RESTAURANT: An establishment that prepares and serves food for consumption but one that does not have a commercial type dishwasher or a commercial type garbage disposal that processes solid waste.
HEALTH OFFICER: The health officer of El Dorado County.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES: The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
LIFELINE: A rate discounted for low income users who qualify for AT&T's Lifeline program and/or Pacific Gas And Electric's CARE program.
LOWER LATERAL: The portion of a sewer lateral located within the public right of way connecting an upper lateral to the city's sewer system.
pH: The logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration in grams per liter of solution. A pH test determines the strength of the acid or alkali in the sewage.
PRIVY: A structure used as a toilet under a part or all of which is a vault or pit intended for the reception of human waste material.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE: The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that have 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 (1/2") (1.27cm) in any dimension.
RATE: The total or component amount of an individual wastewater service charge.
REST HOMES/HOUSING FACILITIES: Any facility, place or building which is maintained and operated to provide nonmedical residential care, daycare or house finding agency services for children, adults, or children and adults, including, but not limited to, the developmentally disabled, physically handicapped, mentally disordered, or incompetent persons. A community care facility may provide incidental medical services.
REVENUE PROGRAM GUIDELINES: The state water resources control board published guidelines for establishing wastewater rates.
SEPTIC TANK: A watertight receptacle which receives the discharge of a drainage system or part thereof, designed and constructed so as to retain solids, digest organic matter through a period of detention, and allow the liquids to discharge into the soil outside the tank through a subsurface drainage system.
SEWAGE: Domestic or industrial waste substances, liquid or solid, associated with human habitation, or which contains or may be contaminated with human or animal excrement, offal or any feculent matter, or combination thereof, collected by the city's sewer system and treated at the city's wastewater treatment plant.
SEWER LATERAL: The sewer line beginning at the foundation wall of any building and terminating at the sewer main and shall include the upper and lower lateral.
SEWER MAIN: A public sewer pipeline designed to receive the flow from more than one sewer lateral.
SINGLE-FAMILY: A structure containing a single dwelling unit intended for occupancy by one family and located on a parcel or real property or lot.
STRENGTH: Refers to state water resources control board published characteristics for commercial and industrial users, and is a measure of BOD (ppm) and SS (ppm) concentration of discharge to the system.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS) OR SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS): Those solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in sewage or other liquids, and which are removable by filtration under standard laboratory procedures and expressed in milligrams per liter. A well mixed sample is filtered through a weighed standard glass fiber filter and the residue retained on the filter is dried to a constant weight at one hundred three (103) to one hundred five degrees Celsius (105°C). The increase in weight of the filter represents the total suspended solids.
UPPER LATERAL: That portion of a sewer lateral beginning at the foundation wall of any building or industrial facility and running to the property line.
USER CATEGORY: The various categories used for determining the various rates for wastewater service charges.
UTILITY SERVICE ACCOUNT: An account established for either water service, wastewater service, or both, for a residential or nonresidential user. (Ord. 1646, 5-8-2012)