(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in 5 days at 20°C, expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING 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 5 feet (1.5 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, also called house connection.
CITY ENGINEER. The registered engineer for the City of Vermillion or his or her authorized deputy, assistant, agent, or representative.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to receive both waste water and storm or surface water.
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat, or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from waste water by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. Waste water shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the waste water does not interfere with the collection system.
GARBAGE. The animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, and serving of foods.
HEARING BOARD. The board appointed according to the provisions of division (H) below.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The waste water from industrial processes, trade, or business as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
MAY. Is permissive. See SHALL.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater.
PERSON. Any individual firm, company, association, society, corporation, or group.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen ions, in grams, per liter of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a pH value of 7 and a hydrogen ion concentration of 10-7.
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 ½ inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER. A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that carries liquid- and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions together with minor quantities of groundwaters, storm waters, and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
SEWAGE. The spent water of a community. The preferred term is WASTE WATER.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit that carries waste water or drainage water.
SHALL. Is mandatory. See MAY.
SLUG. Any discharge of water or waste water which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than 5 times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation and shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance of the waste water treatment works.
STORM DRAIN. Sometimes termed STORM SEWER, shall mean a drain or sewer for conveying water, groundwater, subsurface water, or unpolluted water from any source.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of or is in suspension in water, waste water, or other liquids, and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater and referred to as nonfilterable residue.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the sanitary sewers and waste water treatment facilities provided.
WASTE WATER. The spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid- and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water, and storm water that may be present.
WASTE WATER FACILITIES. The structures, equipment, and processes required to collect, carry away, and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.
WASTE WATER TREATMENT WORKS. An arrangement of devices and structures for treating waste water, industrial wastes, and sludge; sometimes used as synonymous with WASTE TREATMENT PLANT or WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT or WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANT.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. 756, passed 2-20-1979)
(B) Use of public sewer required.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit, or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any human or animal excrement, garbage, or other objectionable waste.
(2) It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any sewage or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this section.
(3) Except as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, or other facility intended or used for the disposal of waste water.
(4) The owner(s) of all houses, buildings, or properties used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purposes, situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public sanitary or combined sewer of the city is hereby required at the owner’s expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein and to connect the facilities directly with the proper public sewer, in accordance with the provisions of this section, within 30 days after the date of official notice to do so, provided that the public sewer is within 200 feet of the home, commercial establishment, business, or institution.
(C) Private waste water disposal.
(1) Where a public sanitary or combined sewer is not available under the provisions of division (B)(4) above, the building sewer shall be connected to a private waste water disposal system complying with the provisions of this subchapter.
(2) Before commencement of construction of a private waste water disposal system, the owner(s) shall first obtain a written permit signed by the City Engineer. The application for the permit shall be made on a form furnished by the city, which the applicant shall supplement by any plans, specifications, and other information as are deemed necessary by the City Engineer. A permit and inspection fee shall be the same as the plumbing fees and shall be paid to the city at the time the application is filed. The cost of any percolation tests required by the City Engineer shall be paid by the owner(s).
(3) A permit for a private waste water disposal system shall not become effective until the installation is completed to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall be allowed to inspect the work at any stage of construction; and, in any event, the applicant for the permit shall notify the City Engineer when the work is ready for final inspection and before any underground portions are covered. The inspection shall be made within 18 hours of the receipt of the notice by the City Engineer.
(4) The type, capacities, location, and layout of a private waste water disposal system shall comply with all recommendations of the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of South Dakota. No permit shall be issued for any private waste water disposal system employing subsurface soil absorption facilities where the area of the lot is less than 20,000 square feet or 1 acre if public water service is not available. No septic tank or cesspool shall be permitted to discharge to any natural outlet.
(5) At such time as a public sewer becomes available to a property served by a private waste water disposal system, as provided in division (C)(4) above, a direct connection shall be made to the public sewer within 60 days in compliance with this section; and any septic tanks, cesspools, and similar private waste water disposal facilities shall be cleaned of sludge and filled with suitable material.
(6) The owner(s) shall operate and maintain the private waste water disposal facilities in a sanitary manner at all times, at no expense to the city. Sludge removal from private disposal systems shall be performed by licensed operators.
(7) No statement contained in this subchapter shall be construed to interfere with any additional requirements that may be imposed by the Health Officer.
(D) Sanitary sewers; building sewers; connections.
(1) No unauthorized person(s) shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the City Engineer.
(2) There shall be 2 classes of building sewer permits: For residential and commercial service, and for service to establishments producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner(s) or his or her agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the city. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the City Engineer. A permit and inspection fee shall be according to this code for a residential or commercial building sewer permit and for an industrial building sewer permit and shall be paid to the city at the time the application is filed.
(3) All costs and expense incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner(s). The owner(s) shall indemnify the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
(4) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where 1 building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as 1 building sewer, but the city does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from any such single connection aforementioned.
(5) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the City Engineer, to meet all requirements of this section.
(6) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of all sanitary sewers, including building sewers, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city. In the absence of suitable code provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the A.S.T.M. and W.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
(7) Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by the building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
(8) No person (s) shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer unless the connection is approved by the City Engineer for purposes of disposal of polluted surface drainage.
(9) The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the A.S.T.M. and the W.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9. All the connections shall be made gastight and watertight and verified by proper testing. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the City Engineer before installation.
(10) The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the City Engineer when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of the City Engineer or his or her representative.
(11) All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the city.
(E) Use of the public sewers.
(1) No person(s) shall discharge or cause to be discharged any unpolluted waters such as storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, or cooling water to any sewer; except storm water runoff from limited areas, which storm water may be polluted at times, may be discharged to the sanitary sewer by permission of the City Engineer.
(2) Storm water, other than that exempted under division (E)(1) above, and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to the sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the City Engineer and other regulatory agencies. Unpolluted industrial cooling water or process waters may be discharged, on approval of the City Engineer, to a storm sewer, combined sewer, or natural outlet.
(3) No person(s) shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described water or wastes to any public sewers:
(a) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquids, solid or gas;
(b) Any waters containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to contaminate the sludge of any municipal system, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance, or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the waste water treatment plant;
(c) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the waste water works;
(d) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the waste water facilities, such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings and entrails, and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, and the like, either whole or ground by garbage grinders; and/or
(e) Liquid ammonia, paint, and fertilizer.
(4) The following described substances, materials, waters, or waste shall be limited in discharges to municipal systems to concentrations or quantities which will not harm either the sewers, waste water treatment process, or equipment; will not have an adverse effect on the receiving stream; or will not otherwise endanger lives, limb, or public property, or constitute a nuisance. The City Engineer may set limitations lower than the limitations established in the regulations below if in his or her opinion the more severe limitations are necessary to meet the above objectives. In forming his or her opinion as to the acceptability, the City Engineer will give consideration to the factors as the quantity of subject waste in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, the waste water treatment process employed, capacity of the waste water treatment plant, degree of treatability of the waste in the waste water treatment plant, and other pertinent factors. The limitations or restrictions on materials or characteristics of waste or waste waters discharged to the sanitary sewer which shall not be violated without approval of the City Engineer are as follows:
(a) Waste water having a temperature higher than 150°F (65°C);
(b) Waste water containing more than 25 milligrams per liter of petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oils, or product of mineral oil origin;
(c) Waste water from industrial plants containing floatable oils, fat, or grease;
(d) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded (see division (A) above). Garbage grinders may be connected to sanitary sewers from homes, hotels, institutions, restaurants, hospitals, catering establishments, or similar places where garbage originates from the preparation of food in kitchens for the purpose of consumption on the premises or when served by caterers;
(e) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and similar objectionable or toxic substances to the degree that any such material received in the composite waste water at the waste water treatment works exceeds the limits established by the City Engineer for the materials;
(f) Any waters or wastes containing odor-producing substances exceeding limits which may be established by the City Engineer;
(g) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of the half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the City Engineer in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;
(h) Quantities of flow, concentrations or both which constitute a slug as defined herein;
(i) Water or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the waste water treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to the degree that the waste water treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters; and
(j) Any water or wastes which, by interaction with other water or wastes in the public sewer system, release obnoxious gases, form suspended solids which interfere with the collection system, or create a condition deleterious to structures and treatment processes.
(5) (a) If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in division (E)(4) above, and which in the judgment of the City Engineer may have a deleterious effect upon the waste water facilities, processes, equipment or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the City Engineer may:
1. Reject the wastes;
2. Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;
3. Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or
4. Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of division (E)(10) below.
(b) When considering the above alternative, the City Engineer shall give consideration to the economic impact of each alternative on the discharger. If the City Engineer permits the pretreatment of equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plans and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Engineer.
(6) Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the City Engineer, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing floatable grease in excessive amounts as specified in division (E)(4)(c) above, or any flammable wastes, sand, or other harmful ingredients; except that the interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the City Engineer and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. In the maintaining of these interceptors, the owner(s) shall be responsible for the proper removal and disposal by appropriate means of the captivated material and shall maintain records of the dates and means of disposal, which are subject to review by the City Engineer. Any removal and hauling of the collected materials not performed by owners’ personnel must be performed by currently licensed waste disposal firms.
(7) Where pretreatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided or required for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner(s) at his or her expense.
(8) When required by the City Engineer, the owner(s) of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable structure, together with the necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer, to facilitate observation, sampling, and measurement of the wastes. The structures, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the City Engineer. The structure shall be installed by the owner at his or her expense and shall be maintained by him or her so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
(9) The City Engineer may require a user of sewer services to provide information needed to determine compliance with this section. These requirements may include:
(a) Waste waters discharge peak rate and volume over a specified time period;
(b) Chemical analysis of waste waters;
(c) Information on raw materials, processes, and products affecting waste water volume and quality;
(d) Quantity and disposition of specific liquid, sludge, oil, solvent, or other materials important to sewer use control;
(e) A plot plan of sewers of the user’s property, showing sewer and pretreatment facility location;
(f) Details of waste water pretreatment facilities; and/or
(g) Details of systems to prevent and control the losses of materials through spills to the municipal sewer.
(10) All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this section shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association. Sampling methods, location, times, durations, and frequencies are to be determined on an individual basis, subject to approval by the City Engineer.
(11) No statement contained in this subchapter shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment.
(F) Damage to sewers prohibited. No person(s) shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the waste water facilities. Any person(s) violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct.
(G) Power and authority of inspectors.
(1) The City Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the city bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing pertinent to discharge to the community system in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) The City Engineer or other duly authorized employees are authorized to obtain information concerning industrial processes which have a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the waste water collection system. The industry may withhold information considered confidential. The industry must establish that the revelation to the public of the information in question might result in an advantage to the competitors.
(3) While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in division (G)(1) above, the City Engineer or duly authorized employees of the city shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company; and the company shall be held harmless for injury or death to the city employees, and the city shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by city employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in division (E)(8) above.
(4) The City Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the city bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the city holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair, and maintenance of any portion of the waste water facilities lying within the easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on the easement shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.
(H) Hearing Board.
(1) A Hearing Board shall be appointed as needed for arbitration of differences between the City Engineer and sewer users on matters concerning interpretation and execution of the provisions of this section by the City Engineer. The cost of the arbitration will be divided equally between the municipality and the sewer user.
(2) One member of the Board shall be a registered professional engineer, 1 member shall be a practicing sanitary engineer, 1 member shall be a representative of industry or manufacturing enterprise, 1 member shall be a lawyer, and 1 member shall be selected at large for his or her interest in accomplishing the objectives of this section.
(I) Violations.
(1) Any person found to be violating any provision of this section, except division (G) above, shall be served by the city with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in the notice, permanently cease all violations.
(2) Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall become liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage occasioned the city by reason of the violation.
(1975 Code, § 25-16) (Ord. 756, passed 2-20-1979; Am. Ord. 759, passed 5-8-1979) Penalty, see § 53.999