For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT. The Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., as amended).
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD).
(1) The quality of oxygen, expressed in mg/l, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20°C; and
(2) The standard test used in assessing wastewater strength.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal (also called a house connection or service connection).
CAPITAL COSTS. All costs and expenses incurred in planning, designing, financing, and constructing wastewater collection, conveyance, and treatment facilities.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to serve as both a sanitary sewer and a storm sewer or as an industrial sewer and a storm sewer.
COMMERCIAL USER. Any transient lodging, retail or wholesale establishments, or places engaged in selling merchandise for personal, household, or industrial consumption and/or rendering service to others.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT.
(1) Biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH, and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the NPDES permit if the treatment facilities are designed to treat such pollutants and, in fact, do remove such pollutants to a degree which complies with effluent concentration limits imposed by the permit.
(2) Examples of additional pollutants which may be considered compatible are:
(a) Chemical oxygen demand;
(b) Total organic carbon;
(c) Phosphorus and phosphorus compounds;
(d) Nitrogen and nitrogen compounds; and
(e) Fats, oils, and greases of animal and vegetable origin (except as prohibited where these materials would interfere with the operation of the facilities).
CONSTRUCTION. Any one or more of the following: preliminary planning; engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, or economic investigations, studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, or procedures; erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement, or extension of facilities; or the inspection or supervision of any of the foregoing.
DEBT RETIREMENT COSTS. The combined principal and interest payments necessary to pay bonded indebtedness.
DOMESTIC USER. Dwelling units such as detached or semi-detached, and row houses, mobile homes, apartments, and permanent multi-family dwellings (transient lodging facilities excluded).
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER.
(1) Wastewater generated principally by domestic activities, and shall, by definition, have the following characteristics.
BOD-5 | 245 mg/l or less |
Suspended solids | 230 mg/l or less |
(2) It may or may not contain groundwater, surface water, or stormwater.
FLOW. The quality of wastewater, expressed in gallons or cubic feet, per period of time.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the commercial handling, storage, and sale of produce.
GENERAL MUNICIPAL USER. Any user discharging wastewater to the municipal system other than industrial users. This term includes DOMESTIC, COMMERCIAL, GOVERNMENTAL, and INSTITUTIONAL USERS.
GOVERNMENTAL USER. Those establishments whose function is the administration and/or execution of governmental programs as well as the offices of executives, legislative bodies, and agencies which provide general support services for government.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant that is not defined as a compatible pollutant, including non-biodegradable solids.
INDUSTRIAL USER. Manufacturing establishments whose activity involve the chemical or mechanical transformation of materials or substances into other products. These activities occur in installations usually described as plants, mills, and factories.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Wastewater generated by an industry that includes solids, liquid, or gaseous waste resulting from an industrial or manufacturing process, trade, or business or from the development, recovery, or processing of any natural resources.
INFILTRATION. The water entering the sewerage system, including building drains, from the ground through such means as defective pipe, joints, connections, and manhole walls.
INFILTRATION/INFLOW. The total quality of water from infiltration and inflow sources, without distinguishing the source.
INFLOW. The water discharged into the sewage system, including building drains, from such sources as roof leaders; cellar, yard, and area drains; foundation drains; unpolluted cooling water discharges; drains from springs and swampy areas; manhole covers; cross-connections from storm sewers; catch basins, surface runoff; street wash water; or drainage.
INSTITUTIONAL USER. Establishments such as social, charitable, religious, and educational facilities, including schools, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, and penal institutions.
LOAD. Quantities of wastewater characteristics, such as BOD, suspended solids and other constituents, expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/l) or pounds per 24 hours (pounds/24 hours).
MONITORING. The measurement, sometimes continuous, of water or wastewater quality.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT or NPDES PERMIT. The instrument issued for the discharge of pollutants from point sources into manageable waters pursuant to §§ 402 and 405 of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1342 and 1345.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or ground water.
OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPLACEMENT COSTS or OM&R COSTS. All costs, direct or indirect, (except debt retirement costs) necessary to insure the continued operation, maintenance, replacement, and management of the total sewage system.
PH. The reciprocal of the logarithm of the hydrogenation concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
PRETREATMENT. The application of physical, chemical, and biological processes to reduce the amount of pollutants in, or alter the nature of the pollutant properties in, the wastewater prior to discharging the wastewater into the sewage system.
PUBLIC SEWER. Any sewer, pumping station, or forcemain owned or operated by a unit or agency of government.
(1) COLLECTOR SEWER or LATERAL SEWER. A sewer whose primary purpose is the collection of wastewater from individual users.
(2) FORCEMAIN. A pipe in which wastewater is conveyed under pressure.
(3) INTERCEPTOR SEWER. A sewer whose primary purpose is the conveyance of the collected wastewater to the treatment facility.
(4) PUMPING STATION or LIFT STATION. A facility provided in the public sewer system to pump wastewater to a higher elevation.
REPLACEMENT. Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories, or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer intended to convey only sanitary or sanitary and industrial wastewater, and to which the introduction of infiltration and inflow is intentionally limited.
SANITARY WASTEWATER or SANITARY SEWAGE. A combination of liquid- and water-carried wastes discharged from toilets and other sanitary plumbing facilities.
SEWAGE or WASTEWATER. The water-carried waste products from residences, commercial buildings, industrial establishments, and institutions, including the excrementitious or other discharges from the bodies of humans or animals, together with such infiltration and inflow as may be present.
SEWAGE SYSTEM. The overall system of public sewers and the wastewater treatment facility, provided for the means of collecting, conveying, treating, and disposing of wastewater and the system of pipelines, conduits, pumping stations, forcemains, and all other devices and appliances appurtenant thereto for the purpose of collecting or conveying sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to a point of treatment and disposal.
SEWER SERVICE CHARGE. The method of cost recovery whereby the city derives the funds to meet debt retirement costs and operation, maintenance, and replacement costs for the sewerage system and treatment facility.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. Any industrial user of the wastewater treatment facility whose flow:
(1) Exceeds 25,000 gallons per average work day;
(2) Has exceeded 5% of the total flow received at the treatment plant during any day in the previous year;
(3) Whose waste contains a toxic pollutant in toxic amounts, as defined by § 307(a) of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317; or
(4) Whose discharge has a significant effect, either individually or in combination with other contributing industries, on the city’s sewage system or the quality of the effluent.
SLUG. Any discharge of wastewater which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds, for any period longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average 24-hour concentration, quantity, or flows during normal concentration.
STORM SEWER. A sewer which carries stormwater or surface water but from which sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water, is excluded.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS or SS. Solids that float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, sewage, or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtration conducted in accordance with standard procedures.
TREATMENT FACILITY or TREATMENT PLANT. The structures, equipment, devices, and processes required for the reduction, storage, treatment, separation, and disposal of sewage and industrial wastes and the handling and disposal of accumulated residual solids.
USEFUL LIFE. The estimated period during which a treatment facility, or portions thereof, will be operated.
USER. Any person, whether municipal or otherwise, discharging into the sewage system.
USER CHARGE. A charge levied on users of a treatment facility to recover the user’s proportionate share of the costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement of such facility.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.
(2006 Code, § 3.30) (Ord. 88, 3rd Series, passed 11-28-1991)