§ 19-91. Definitions.

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this article, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

Act means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, as amended.

Approving authority means the board of aldermen.

Authorized representative of industrial user means an individual who may be:

(1)

A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president, if the industrial user is a corporation.

(2)

A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively.

(3)

A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above if such representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originates.

Billable excess biochemical oxygen demand (BOD ₅ ) means a user's loading in pounds of BOD ₅ calculated using the billable flow and concentration of BOD ₅ in the wastewater in excess of three hundred (300) mg/l.

Billable excess chemical oxygen demand (COD) means the user's loading in pounds of COD calculated using the billable flow and concentration of COD in the wastewater in excess of six hundred (600) mg/l.

Billable excess total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) means a user's loading in pounds of TKN calculated using the billable flow and concentration of TKN in the wastewater in excess of fifty (50) mg/l.

Billable excess total suspended solids (TSS) means a user's loading in pounds of TSS calculated using the billable flow and concentration of TSS in the wastewater in excess of three hundred (300) mg/l.

Billable flow means a user's recorded water usage as metered by the appropriate water utility, plus metered water from wells and other sources, and less any sewer-exempt metered data, times the local government approved percentage factor for wastewater entering the wastewater disposal system out of the metered water. Residential users on unmetered wells and users with no history of billable flow shall have their billable flow estimated by averaging the billable flow of other residential users of the same class.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD ₅ ) means the quantity of oxygen, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l) utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Celsius.

Building drain means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives sanitary or industrial wastewater only and is located inside the walls of a building and conveys the wastewater to the building sewer, which begins ten (10) feet outside the building wall.

Building sewer means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal and conveys only sanitary or industrial wastewater.

Categorical standards means National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or pretreatment standard.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) means the total amount of oxygen required to oxidize all of the organic matter in a waste to carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia nitrogen by potassium dichromate under acid conditions as described in Standard Methods.

Classes of users means the division of POTW customers by waste characteristics and process discharge similarities or function, such as residential, commercial, institutional, industrial or governmental.

Collection sewer means a sewer whose primary purpose is to collect wastewaters from individual point source discharges.

Commercial user means a user engaged in the purchase or sale of goods or in a transaction or business or who otherwise renders a service.

Compatible pollutant means biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH and fecal coliform bacteria; plus any additional pollutants identified in the POTW NPDES permit, where the POTW is designed to treat such pollutants and, in fact, does treat such pollutants to the degree required by the NPDES permit.

Cooling water means the water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.

Direct discharge means the discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the state.

Easement means an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

Environmental Protection Agency or EPA means the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or where appropriate the term may also be used as a designation for the administrator or other duly authorized official of the agency.

Floatable oil means oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in a pretreatment facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable oil if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the wastewater disposal system.

Garbage means the animal or vegetable wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the commercial handling, storage and sale of produce.

Health officer means any person designated by the local government to be responsible for maintaining sanitary conditions and reporting violations.

Holding tank waste means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum-pump tank trucks.

Incompatible pollutant means all pollutants other than compatible pollutants as defined.

Indirect discharge means the discharge or the introduction of nondomestic pollutants from any source regulated under section 307(b) or (c) of the act (33 U.S.C. 1317), into the POTW (including holding tank waste).

Industrial user means a manufacturing or processing facility which is engaged in a production or profit making venture. A source of indirect discharge which does not constitute a "discharge of pollutants" under regulations issued pursuant to section 402 of the act (33 U.S.C. 1342).

Infiltration means the water unintentionally entering the public sewer system, including sanitary building drains and sewers, from the ground through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls.

Infiltration/inflow means the total quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow without distinguishing the source.

Inflow means the water discharged into the public sewer system, including building drains and sewers, from such sources as, but not limited to: 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 and/or combined sewers; catch basins; storm waters; surface runoff; street wash waters or drainage.

Interceptor sewer means a sewer whose primary purpose is to transport wastewater to a treatment facility.

Interference means the inhibition or disruption of the POTW treatment processes or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirements of the POTW's NPDES permit. The term includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with section 405 of the act (33 U.S.C. 1345) or any criteria, guidelines, or regulation developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to title IV of SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.

National Categorical Pretreatment Standard or pretreatment standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307(b) and (c) of the act (33 U.S.C. 1347) which applies to a specific category of industrial users.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit means a permit issued under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for discharge of wastewaters to the navigable waters of the United States.

National Prohibitive Discharge Standard or prohibitive discharge standard means any regulation developed under the authority of section 307(b) of the act and 40 CFR 403.5.

Natural outlet means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other surface water or groundwater.

pH means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution. A stabilized pH will be considered as pH which does not change beyond the specified limits when the waste is subjected to aeration. A pH value indicates the degree of acidity or alkalinity.

Properly shredded garbage means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such 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 means a sewer which is owned and controlled by the city, and is separate from and does not include sewers owned by other governmental units.

Publicly owned treatment works (POTW) means a treatment works as defined by section 212 of the act (33 U.S.C. 1292) which is owned by the city. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this article, POTW shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters from persons outside the city who are, by contract or agreement with the local government users of the POTW.

Replacement costs means the capital expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances necessary during the service life of the POTW to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.

Sanitary sewer means a sewer which carries sanitary and/or industrial wastewaters from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions. Sanitary sewers are separate and distinct from storm sewers and are not intended to carry surface runoff or groundwater.

Significant industrial user means any industrial user of the POTW who:

(1)

Has a discharge flow of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons or more per average work day;

(2)

Has a flow greater than five (5) percent of the flow in the POTW;

(3)

Has in his wastes toxic substances as defined pursuant to section 307 of the act or state statutes and rules; or

(4)

Is found by the city, state division of environmental management (DEM), or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater disposal system, the quality of sludge, the system's effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the system.

Slug means any discharge of water or wastewater which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period duration longer than fifteen (15) minutes more than five (5) times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flow during normal operation and shall adversely affect the wastewater disposal system so as to prevent attainment of effluent limitations or to substantially increase operation and maintenance requirements.

Standard industrial classification (SIC) means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972.

Standard Methods means the laboratory procedures set forth in the following sources: Standard Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 14th Edition, as amended, prepared and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Pollution Control Federation; Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes, 1971, prepared and published by the Analytical Quality Control Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency; "Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants," enumerated in 40 CFR 136.1 et seq. (1975), as amended; and/or any other procedures recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the state division of environmental management.

Storm sewer means a sewer that carries only storm waters, surface runoff, street wash, and drainage, and to which sanitary and/or industrial wastewater is not intentionally admitted.

Superintendent means the director of public works or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.

Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) means the organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen content of a wastewater as determined by standard methods.

Total suspended solids (TSS) means total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is in suspension with, water, wastewater or other liquids and is removable by laboratory filtration as prescribed in Standard Methods.

Toxic substances means any substances, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which when discharged into the wastewater disposal system in sufficient quantities may tend to interfere with any wastewater treatment process, or to constitute a hazard to recreation in the receiving waters of the effluent from the POTW. These substances include but are not limited to those listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under the provisions of CWA 307(a) or other acts.

Unpolluted water means water of a quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect, or water that is of sufficient water quality standards if such water were discharged into navigable waters of the state.

Useful life means the anticipated term in years of physical and/or functional productivity of elements and/or the whole of the wastewater disposal system.

User means any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the POTW.

User charge system means the system of charges levied on users for the cost of operation and maintenance, including replacement reserve requirements on new and old wastewater collection and treatment facilities.

Wastewater means the combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, including polluted cooling water and unintentionally admitted infiltration/inflow.

(1)

Sanitary wastewater means the combination of liquid and water-carried wastes discharged from toilet and other sanitary plumbing facilities.

(2)

Industrial wastewater means a combination of liquid and water-carried wastes discharged from any industrial establishment and resulting from any trade or process carried on in that establishment and shall include the wastes from pretreatment facilities and polluted cooling water.

Wastewater disposal system means the structures, equipment and processes owned and controlled by the city (unless specified otherwise) required to collect, transport and treat domestic and industrial wastes and to dispose of the effluent and accumulated residual solids.

Waters of the state means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, water courses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.

(Ord. of 4-14-88(2), § 1.2)

Cross reference

Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.