For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
APPROVING AUTHORITY. The Mayor, or his or her duly authorized representative.
B.O.D. (BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND). The quantity of oxygen by weight, expressed in mg/l, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for five days at a temperature of 20°C.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal (also called HOUSE LATERAL and HOUSE CONNECTION).
CITY. The City of Willis, Texas, or any authorized person acting in its behalf.
C.O.D. (CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND). Measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in the water or wastewater expressed in mg/l as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific test, but not differentiating between stable and unstable organic matter and thus not necessarily correlating with biochemical oxygen demand.
CONTROL MANHOLE. A manhole giving access to a building sewer at some point before the building sewer discharge mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.
CONTROL POINT. A point of access to a course of discharge before the discharge mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.
GARBAGE. Animal and vegetable wastes and residue from preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food; and from the handling, processing, storage, and sale of food products and produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Waste resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business from the development of any natural resource, or any mixture of the waste with water or normal wastewater, or distinct from normal wastewater.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE CHARGE. The charge made on those persons who discharge industrial wastes into the city's sewerage system.
MILLIGRAMS PER LITER (MG/L). The same as parts per million and is a weight-to-volume ratio; the milligram-per-liter value multiplied by the factor eight and thirty-four hundredths shall be equivalent to pounds per million gallons of water.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater.
NORMAL DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. Wastewater, excluding industrial wastewater, discharged by a person into sanitary sewers and in which the average concentration of total suspended solids is not more than 250 mg/l and B.O.D. is not more than 250 mg/l.
OVERLOAD. The imposition of organic or hydraulic loading on a treatment facility in excess of its engineered design capacity.
PERSON. Includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership association, and any other legal entity.
pH. The logarithm (base ten) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration.
PUBLIC SEWER. Pipe or conduit carrying wastewater or unpolluted drainage in which owners of abutting properties shall have the use, subject to control by the city.
SANITARY SEWER. A public sewer that conveys domestic wastewater or industrial wastes or a combination of both, and into which storm water, surface water, groundwater, and other unpolluted wastes are not intentionally passed.
SLUG. Any discharge of water, wastewater, or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
STANDARD METHODS. The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the latest edition, at the time of analysis, of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, as prepared, approved, and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation.
STORM SEWER. A public sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage and into which domestic wastewater or industrial wastes are not intentionally passed.
STORM WATER. Rainfall or any other forms of precipitation.
SUPERINTENDENT. The City Water and Wastewater Superintendent, or his or her duly authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Solids measured in mg/l that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, wastewater, or other liquids, and which are largely removable by a laboratory filtration device.
TO DISCHARGE. Includes to deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow to seep, or otherwise release or dispose of, or to allow, permit, or suffer, any of these acts or omissions.
TRAP. A device designed to skim, settle, or otherwise remove grease, oil, sand, flammable wastes, or other harmful substances.
UNPOLLUTED WASTEWATER. Water containing:
(1) No free or emulsified grease or oil;
(2) No acids or alkalis;
(3) No phenols or other substances producing taste or odor in receiving water;
(4) No toxic or poisonous substances in suspension, colloidal state, or solution;
(5) No noxious or otherwise obnoxious or odorous gases;
(6) Not more than an insignificant amount in mg/l each of suspended solids and B.O.D., as determined by the State Water Quality Board; and
(7) Color not exceeding 50 units as measured by the Platinum-Cobalt method of determination as specified in Standard Methods.
WASTE. Rejected, unutilized, or superfluous substances in liquid, gaseous, or solid form resulting from domestic, agricultural, or industrial activities.
WASTEWATER. A combination of the water-carried waste from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with any ground, surface, and storm water that may be present.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES. Includes all facilities for collection; pumping, treating, and disposing of wastewater and industrial wastes.
WASTEWATER SERVICE CHARGE. The charge on all users of the public sewer system whose wastes do not exceed in strength the concentration values established as representative of normal wastewater.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. Any city-owned facilities, devices, and structures used for receiving, processing, and treating wastewater, industrial waste, and sludges from the sanitary sewers.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or human-made channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. 75-717A, passed 7-17-1975)