For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C, expressed in parts per million by weight.
BUILDING OR HOUSE DRAIN. The part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING OR HOUSE SEWER. The extension from the building drain to its connection with the main sewer.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer that receives both surface runoff and sewage.
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
LOCAL VENTILATING PIPE. Any pipe through which foul air is removed from a room or fixture.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
PLUMBING FIXTURES. Receptacles intended to receive and discharge water or water-carried wastes into the sewer system with which they are connected.
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 in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and stormwaters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT. Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWER SYSTEM or SEWERAGE FACILITIES. All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SLUG. Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes.
SOIL PIPE. Any pipe which conveys the discharge of water closets with or without the discharge from other fixtures to the house or building drain.
STORM SEWER. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension, in water, sewage or other liquids, and are removable by laboratory filtering.
TRAP. A fitting or device so constructed as to prevent the passage of air or gas through a pipe without materially affecting the flow of sewage or waste through it.
TRAP SEAL. The vertical distance between the crown weir and the dip of the trap.
VENT PIPE. Any pipe provided to ventilate a house or building drainage system and to prevent trap siphonage and back pressure.
WASTE PIPE. Any pipe which receives the discharge of any fixture, except water closets and conveys the same to the house drain, soil pipe or waste stack.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously or intermittently.
(Prior Code, § 6-302)