(A) Water utility services are subject to the following conditions and requirements:
(1) Availability. Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, water service is contingent upon the availability of system capacity and location of main distribution lines or facilities relative to any property to be served.
(2) Point of delivery. The point of delivery is where the consumer’s service line connects to the downstream side of the curb stop at the water service connection. Unless authorized by the City in writing, water supplies from one water service connection may not be used to provide or deliver water to another person or subject property otherwise eligible to receive water service.
(3) Service connection procedures. The City will provide materials for and install or supervise the installation of service lines from the main line to the point of delivery at the property line including the key box. The owner shall install and maintain the service line from the key box to the point of use. Any work at the point of delivery must be inspected by the City prior to activating and burying the connection to the City’s water delivery system. The owner will be charged for all work completed and materials provided by the City according to the City's fee and rate schedule. The following provisions apply specifically to metered connections:
(a) Meters required. Water service to industrial, commercial, and multi-family residential buildings having three or more units will be metered and charged for actual usage. Duplex and single family dwellings may be metered at the consumer’s request.
(b) Meters provided by City. Where a meter is required by this Chapter, the City will provide at its expense, but not install, a suitable meter for each consumer's water service connection. The City will determine the size, type, and placement of the meter. The City will withhold service pending the proper location and installation of the meter by the owner. The meter will remain the sole property of the City; provided, however, that the consumer shall pay for any damages to the meter or other City property arising from the consumer's negligence.
(c) Plumbing apparatus. The owner shall cause to be placed, at the owner's expense, the necessary plumbing apparatus for meter placement as indicated by the City's standard specifications.
(d) Removal and reinstallation. The charges for removal and reinstallation of a meter due to the negligence of the consumer will be based upon time and materials as set by the City's fee and rate ordinance.
(e) Meter replacement. The City reserves the right to remove and test any meter at any time and to install another meter in the place of the one it removed.
(4) Extended water service connections. In cases where mains have not been installed within three hundred (300) feet of the subject property, the owner of the subject property may be eligible for an extended service connection by signing an extended water service connection agreement and agreeing to, among other terms, the following:
(a) Location and charges. A standard connection and key box installation shall be installed by the City at a point on the water main designated by the City. The owner shall pay the standard time and materials charges as provided in the fee and rate ordinance.
(b) Expense. The service line shall be extended by the owner at the owner's expense.
(c) Maintenance. The owner shall own and be responsible for maintenance of the service line from the point where the line connects to the City's curb stop.
(d) Future connection. At such time as mains are extended or installed to a point within three hundred (300) feet of the property being served, the property owner must connect to the extended main and abandon the old service at the main and pay the time and materials costs and charges for continuation of service. Any work at the point of delivery must be inspected by the City prior to activating connection to the City’s water delivery system.
(5) Condition for receiving water service. Where sewer service is available within three hundred (300) feet of any property line of the property to be served, no person shall receive water service who has not previously made application for a wastewater service connection.
(B) Consumer/owner responsibilities.
(1) Responsibility and ownership. The owner shall retain ownership of and be responsible for maintenance of the water service line downstream from and including the connection with the curb stop.
(2) Compliance with City specifications. The consumer shall comply with all applicable standard specifications of the City. Specifications, known as Installation Guidelines, are available at the Department of Public Utilities. No person shall be permitted to connect to the City's water system while still physically connected to any other source of water supply, unless the provisions of backflow/cross-connection regulations as provided in this Chapter and the City's standard specifications are met. The City reserves the right to refuse or to disconnect service whenever the City receives notice or has reasonable cause to believe that the consumer's service is in hazardous condition or does not conform with the City’s Installation Guidelines and/or any other applicable laws or regulations.
(3) Access. By accepting water service, the consumer agrees to allow the City’s designated representative, upon presentation of proper identification, to enter upon the consumer's premises at all reasonable hours for the purposes of service inspection and/or to set up devices as are necessary to control, sample, monitor, or measure water flow.
(4) Maintenance and use requirements.
(a) Service line. The consumer’s service line located between the key box and the subject property of the consumer shall be kept in repair by the owner or occupant of the subject property, who shall be responsible for all damages other than those caused by acts of the City. In the case of a frozen water service, the consumer shall be responsible for thawing the service line from the main to the building, unless the freezing condition can be demonstrated to have been the result of the City's negligence.
(b) Meter protection. The owner or consumer shall provide, at the owner's or consumer's expense, a clean, dry, safe place for the meter which place is not subject to a great variation in temperature, so that the meter will be protected from freezing and other hazards and is so located as to control the entire supply and so as to be easily accessible for installation, maintenance, reading, and disconnection.
(c) Electrical grounding systems. The City will not be liable for the adequacy of any electrical grounding electrodes for electrical circuits and devices as may be attached by the owner to the owner's service pipe and plumbing system. This method of grounding involves an element of danger, and the City will not be liable for the safety of any person who makes contact with the owner's service pipe and plumbing system that is used as an electrical grounding system. The City reserves the right to make any structural or material changes it so desires in the installation of the City's water mains and water service connections without regard to the effect the changes may have on the overall adequacy of an electrical grounding system utilizing the owner's service pipe and plumbing system.
(d) Connections and alterations. Approval from the City shall be required to make any connections to or alterations in any conduit, pipe, or other fitting connecting directly to the key box, or to turn water service off or on at the key box.
(e) Separate shut-off valve. All consumers receiving service from the City shall provide a separate shut-off valve inside the building for which service is being requested or provided. The valve shall be located on the service line entering the structure, ahead of any branch lines, where it is readily accessible in the event of emergency.
(Ord. No. 2001-05, passed 5-8-01; Am. Ord. 2005-18, passed 10-5-05) Penalty, see §10.04.080