Chapter 15.26
SEWAGE DISPOSAL
Sections:
15.26.030 Use of public sewers required.
15.26.040 Private sewage disposal – Septic tank.
15.26.050 Building sewers and connections.
15.26.060 Regulations regarding the use of public sewers.
15.26.070 Protection from damage.
15.26.080 Abatement of violations of this chapter.
15.26.090 TRRWA discharge pretreatment regulations – Adopted by reference.
15.26.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health by providing standards for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage within the city. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.020 Definitions.
(1) “B.O.D.” (denoting biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20 degrees centigrade, expressed in parts per million by weight.
(2) “Building drain” means that part of the lowest piping of the building sanitary sewer drainage system that receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other sewer drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer beginning two feet outside the building wall.
(3) “Building sewer” means that part of the horizontal piping of the sanitary sewer drainage system that extends from the end of the building drain and that receives the discharge of the building drain and conveys it to the public sewer.
(4) “Garbage” means solid waste from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
(5) “pH” means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
(6) “Sanitary sewer” means a sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
(7) “Sewage treatment plant” means any arrangement of devices and/or structures used for treating sewage, including the West Longview sewage treatment lagoon.
(8) “Shredded garbage” means the waste from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions nominally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.
(9) “Storm sewer” means a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
(10) “Suspended solids” means solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
(11) “User” means any person, firm, or any corporation who discharges any substance into the sanitary sewer system of the city.
(12) NPDES. The abbreviated term “NPDES” as used in this chapter means National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 3195 § 1, 2012; Ord. 2245 § 2, 1986; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.030 Use of public sewers required.
(1) The owner of any house, building or property used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, business, or where people congregate, situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way, in which there is now or shall hereafter be located a public sanitary sewer of the city, is required at his sole expense to connect all waste drains therein directly to the public sanitary sewer, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 15.16 LMC, within 60 days after the date of official notice to do so; provided, that said public sanitary sewer is within 300 feet of the property line.
Except: any house, building, or property which is connected to an existing and fully operational on-site sewage system. Owners and/or residents of property using any such on-site sewage system shall cooperate with all reasonable requests by the city to inspect said on-site sewage system. Such inspections shall not be more often than once in any 12-month period.
When adequate public sewer services are available within 300 feet of the residence or facility, the director, upon the failure of an existing on-site sewage system may:
(a) Require hookup to a public sewer system; or
(b) Permit the repair or replacement of the on-site sewage system only if a conforming system can be designed and installed.
The owner of an on-site sewage system that has failed shall abandon the on-site sewage system and connect the residence or other facility to a public sewer system when:
(a) The distance between the residence or other facility and an adequate public sewer is 300 feet or less as measured along the usual or most feasible route of access; and
(b) The sewer utility allows the sewer connection.
The owner of a residence or other facility served by a system meeting the requirements of WAC 246- 272a-0280 Table IX shall abandon the on-site system, and connect the residence or other facility to a public sewer system, when:
(a) Connection is deemed necessary to protect public health by the local health officer;
(b) An adequate public sewer becomes available within 300 feet of the residence or other facility as measured along the usual or most economically feasible route of access; and
(c) The sewer utility allows the sewer connection.
(2) Whenever upon inspection any building or premises, or part thereof, is found unfit for human habitation by reason of defective plumbing, lack of sanitary plumbing or toilet facilities, drainage system, building sewer or private sewage disposal system, the director of community and economic development shall require the vacation of such building, premises or part thereof within 10 days after the date of official notice to do so, and a written order shall be conspicuously posted on the building or premises and, where practicable, shall be served upon the owner, agent or occupant of such premises, and it is unlawful for any person to fail, neglect or refuse to comply with such order or fail to vacate such premises when so ordered.
(3) Maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of a building sewer shall be the responsibility of the property owner as follows:
(a) All costs and expenses incident to the routine maintenance of the entire building sewer, from building drain to the public sewer, shall be borne by the owner of the premises served by the building sewer.
(b) All costs and expenses incident to the repair, rehabilitative maintenance, or replacement of that portion of the building sewer from the building drain to the property line, right-of-way line, or public sewer easement line, shall be borne by the owner of the premises served by the building sewer.
(c) All costs and expenses incident to the repair, rehabilitative maintenance, or replacement of that portion of the building sewer from the property line, right-of-way line, or public sewer easement line, to the public sewer shall be borne by the city, except when, as determined by the city, the building sewer damage is directly or indirectly caused by the owner of the premises served by the building sewer or caused by an act or omission of said owner, the cost for such maintenance shall be charged to said owner. Any costs so charged and not paid within 30 days of the date of billing shall constitute a lien against the property served by the building sewer.
(d) For the purposes of this section, “routine maintenance” means operational maintenance of a building sewer, including, but not limited to, cleaning or rodding to clear grease or other internal obstructions or substances that have been discharged or allowed to accumulate in the building sewer that may interfere with the operation of the building sewer.
(e) The term “rehabilitative maintenance” means repair or major maintenance of a building sewer, including but not limited to construction, reconstruction, lining, or excavation and repair of damage to the building sewer caused by external forces or failure of the pipe or pipe material. Cutting or removal of roots from the building sewer shall be considered rehabilitative maintenance; responsibility for such maintenance shall be determined by the location at which the roots enter the building sewer.
(4) Whenever upon inspection the building sewer, from building drain to property line, right-of-way line, or public sewer easement line, is found to be defective, a written notice shall be mailed to the owner of record and the owner shall be required within 60 days to make the necessary repairs to meet the city code.
(5) 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 sewage. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 3195 § 2, 2012; Ord. 2774 § 1, 2000; Ord. 2288 § 1, 1981; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.040 Private sewage disposal – Septic tank.
(1) Where a public sanitary sewer is not available, the building sewer shall be connected to a private sewage disposal system complying with the provisions of this section. Such private sewage disposal systems shall only be approved septic tanks and must receive written approval from the director of field services (public works) and the city’s health officer. Cesspools may be permitted for temporary use where plans are underway for the installation of public sanitary sewers. Any use of cesspools must also have written approval of the director of field services (public works) and the city’s health officer.
(2) Before starting any construction of a private sewage disposal system, the owner or his contractor shall first obtain a written permit from the department of community and economic development with concurrence of the director of field services (public works). The application for such permit shall be made on a form furnished by the city. The applicant shall also supply plans, specifications, and other information as may be deemed necessary by the city.
(3) No permit shall be issued for any private sewage disposal system employing subsurface soil absorption facilities where the area of the lot is less than 6,000 square feet. No septic tank or cesspool shall be permitted to discharge to any public sewer, natural outlet or to the ground surface.
(4) At such times as a public sanitary sewer becomes available to a property served by a private sewage disposal system, a direct connection shall be made to the public sanitary sewer in compliance with the terms of this article, and any septic tanks, cesspools and similar private sewage disposal facilities shall be abandoned and filled with sand, gravel or soil or any combination thereof.
(5) The owner shall operate and maintain private sewage disposal facilities in a sanitary manner at all times at his own expense.
(6) No statement contained in this section shall be construed to interfere with any additional requirements that may be imposed by the State of Washington Health Department. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 2774 § 1, 2000; Ord. 2288 § 2, 1987; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.050 Building sewers and connections.
(1) No person shall install, uncover, make connections with or openings into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer, building sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the department of community and economic development and written concurrence from the director of public works. All connections to the public sewers shall be installed according to city standard plans and specifications in effect at the time of plan submittal.
(2) There shall be two classes of building sewer permits: (a) for residential and commercial service, and (b) for service to establishments producing industrial wastes as approved by the Washington State Department of Ecology. For either class, the owner or his contractor shall make application on the form furnished by the department of community and economic development. The permit application shall be supplemented by such plans, specifications, or other information considered necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
(3) All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner of the property provided with sewage service. The property owner or his contractor, whoever does the actual sewer installation, shall reimburse the city for any loss or damage that may be caused to city property by the installation of the building sewer.
(4) Where the property owner or his contractor is required to excavate within a street or other public right-of-way, a performance bond, cash deposit or certified check shall be placed with the city in an amount established by resolution of the city council. Such bond, deposit or check shall be returned to the owner or his contractor when such completed installation has received final written approval from the director of public works.
(5) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building, except where one building stands at the rear of another building on the same lot and under the same ownership. No building sewer, however, may extend under another building. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 3195 § 3, 2012; Ord. 2774 § 1, 2000; Ord. 2288 §§ 3, 4, 1987; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.060 Regulations regarding the use of public sewers.
(1) Sanitary Sewer – Restricted Use. No user shall discharge or cause to be discharged any storm water, surface water, ground water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters into any sanitary sewer, except refrigeration water as permitted by other ordinances of the city.
(2) Storm Water. Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged into such sewers as may be specifically designated as storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the director of public works. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged into a storm sewer or natural outlet with the approval of the director of public works.
(3) General Discharge Prohibitions. In this text no user shall contribute or cause to be contributed directly or indirectly any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the sewage treatment plant. These prohibitions apply to all users of the sewage treatment plant, whether or not the user is subject to “national categorical pretreatment standards” or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements. A user may not contribute any pollutant or wastewater to the sewage treatment plant that is prohibited by Section 2.1 of the “Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority Discharge Pretreatment Policy,” as adopted by LMC 15.26.090.
(4) Monitoring Facilities.
(a) The city may require to be provided and operated, at the user’s own expense, monitoring facilities to allow inspection, sampling and flow measurement of the building sewer and/or internal drainage systems. The monitoring facility should nominally be located on the user’s premises, but the city may, when such a location would be impractical or cause undue hardship on the user, allow the facility to be constructed in the public street or sidewalk area and located so that it will not be obstructed by landscaping or parked vehicles.
(b) There shall be ample room in or near such sampling manhole or facility to allow accurate sampling and preparation of samples for analysis. The facility, sampling and measuring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition at the expense of the user.
(c) Whether constructed on public or private property, the sampling and monitoring facilities shall be provided in accordance with the city’s requirements and all applicable local construction standards and specifications. Construction shall be completed within 90 days following written notification by the city.
(5) Inspection and Sampling. The city may inspect the facilities of any user to ascertain whether the purpose of this section is being met and all requirements are being complied with. Persons or occupants of premises where wastewater is created or discharged shall allow the city or its representative ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, records examination or in the performance of any of their duties. Federal, state and local authorities shall have the right to set up on the user’s property such devices as are necessary to conduct a sampling inspection, compliance monitoring and/or metering operations. Where a user has security measures in force which would require proper identification and clearance before entry into their premises, the user shall make necessary arrangements with their security guards so that upon presentation of suitable identification, federal, state and/or local agents will be permitted to enter without delay, for the purpose of performing their specific responsibilities.
(6) Pretreatment. Users shall provide necessary wastewater treatment as required to comply with this section and LMC 15.26.090. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the city shall be provided, operated and maintained at the user’s expense. Detailed plans showing the pretreatment facilities and operating procedures shall be submitted to the city for review, and shall be acceptable to the city before construction of the facility. The review of such plans and operating procedures will in no way relieve the user from the responsibility of modifying the facility as necessary to produce an effluent acceptable to the city under the provisions of this section and LMC 15.26.090. Any subsequent changes in the pretreatment facilities or method of operation shall be reported to and be acceptable to the city prior to the user’s initiation of the changes.
(7) Grease, Oil and Sand Interceptors.
(a) Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided, installed, and properly maintained by the owner in all hospitals, all restaurants or places where food is processed for consumption, garages, gasoline stations, car washes, repair shops and all areas where automobiles, trucks, buses and other vehicles are washed or otherwise cleaned. Such interceptors shall also be provided in all other business establishments when it becomes apparent, due to any damage or obstruction of the sewer system, that such interceptors are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, or any flammable wastes, sand and other harmful ingredients; except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the director of public works and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
(b) Grease and oil interceptors shall be constructed of impervious materials capable of withstanding abrupt and extreme changes in temperature. They shall be of substantial construction, watertight and equipped with easily removable covers which, when bolted in place, shall be gastight and watertight, and shall be maintained by the owner in continuously efficient operation at all times, at the owner’s expense.
(8) Harmful Contributions.
(a) The city may suspend the wastewater service when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of the city, in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons or to the environment, causes interference to the sewage treatment plant, or causes the city to violate any condition of its NPDES permit or the NPDES permit of the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority.
(b) Any person notified of a suspension of the wastewater treatment service shall immediately stop or eliminate the contribution. In the event of a failure of the person to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the city shall take such steps as are deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the sewage treatment plant or endangerment to any individuals. The city shall reinstate the wastewater treatment service upon proof of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge. A detailed written statement submitted by the user describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to the city within 15 days of the date of occurrence.
(9) Special Agreements. No provision of this section shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any commercial or industrial concern or business whereby a sanitary sewer discharge of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the commercial or industrial concern or business. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 3204 § 1, 2012; Ord. 2413 § 1, 1990; Ord. 2245 § 3, 1986; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.070 Protection from damage.
(1) In the event any person shall, through accident or neglect, break, destroy or in any way damage any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the city’s sewage facilities, such person shall pay the cost of repairing or replacing such damaged or destroyed property. It shall be duty of the director of field services (public works) to determine the extent of the damage and to have the property so damaged either replaced or repaired according to the city’s specifications and at the sole cost and expense of the person causing such damage.
(2) No person shall maliciously or willfully break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the city’s sewage facilities. Any person violating this provision shall be liable for damages to such facility or portion thereof in addition to penalties as provided in LMC 1.26.010. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.080 Abatement of violations of this chapter.
The imposition of the penalties herein prescribed shall not preclude the city’s corporation counsel from instituting an appropriate action to restrain, correct or abate any violation of the terms of this chapter. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 1794 § 8, 1976).
15.26.090 TRRWA discharge pretreatment regulations – Adopted by reference.
That certain document titled “Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority Discharge Pretreatment Policy” adopted on May 9, 2012, the effective date of which is June 27, 2012, is hereby adopted as official rules and regulations of the city of Longview setting forth industrial pretreatment requirements and regulations for discharges into the city’s wastewater system. For purposes of this adoption, “Member Entity,” as used in that policy, shall mean the city of Longview. Further, subsequent editions of the policy shall become official rules and regulations of the city of Longview as the same are adopted by the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority; provided, however, the subsequent editions shall only become effective upon the new edition being filed with the city clerk. (Ord. 3489 § 2, 2023; Ord. 3204 § 2, 2012).