Chapter 13.05
SEWERS
Sections:
13.05.020 Use of public sewers required.
13.05.030 Private sewage disposal.
13.05.040 Building sewers and connections.
13.05.050 Use of the public sewers.
13.05.060 Protection from damage.
13.05.070 Powers and authority of inspectors.
13.05.080 Penalties and costs.
13.05.010 Definitions.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
(1) “Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)” means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20 degrees centigrade expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).
(2) “Building drain” means that 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 five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
(3) “Building sewer” means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
(4) “City” means the city of Burns and its officers, agents and employees.
(5) “Combined sewer” means a sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
(6) “Garbage” means solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
(7) “Industrial discharge” means the discharge or the introduction of domestic pollutants from any source. This includes partial domestic and partial nondomestic wastewater, regulated under Section 307(b) or (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1317), into the city’s collection and treatment system (including holding tank waste discharged into the system).
(8) “Natural outlet” means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
(9) “Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
(10) “pH” means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.
(11) “Properly shredded garbage” means 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 one and one-quarter inch in any dimension.
(12) “Public sewer” means a sewer, in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is owned and controlled by the city of Burns, understood to be the lines that carry combined flows of sewage, except those instances where private building sewers are joined, combined or manifolded together, whereby the costs of maintenance and repair are shared jointly by those services that share the line.
(13) “Sanitary sewer” means a sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
(14) “Sewage” means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, and institutions together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.
(15) “Sewage treatment plant” means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
(16) “Sewage works” means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
(17) “Sewer” means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
(18) “Slug” means any discharge of any wastewater 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.
(19) “Storm drain” or “storm sewer” means a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
(20) “Suspended solids” means a total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
(21) “Watercourse” means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently. [Ord. 754 Art. I, 2002]
13.05.020 Use of public sewers required.
(1) No person shall place, deposit, or permit any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable waste to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property within the city, or on any city property outside the city.
(2) No person shall discharge any sewage or other polluted waters into any natural outlet within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with this chapter.
(3) Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
(4) All property used for human occupancy or employment which is within 100 feet of a public sanitary sewer shall be hooked up to the sewer provided the property can be served by the sewer from a public street, alley or right-of-way or a sewer easement. All plumbing fixtures from which sewage is or may be discharged on the property shall be hooked up to the public sanitary sewer within 90 days after the date official notice is given to hook up (unless extended pursuant to city policy). The hookup shall be accomplished in compliance with all applicable federal, state and city laws, regulations and policies.
(5) City water service may be terminated to any property which has not hooked up to the sewer system in compliance with the provisions of this chapter or any other applicable law, rule or regulation. [Ord. 754 Art. II, 2002]
13.05.030 Private sewage disposal.
(1) Where a public sanitary sewer is not available under the provisions of BMC 13.05.020(4), the building sewer shall be connected to a private sewage disposal system complying with the provisions of this chapter and the regulations of ORS 468B.080.
(2) Before commencement of construction of a private sewage disposal system, the owner shall first obtain a written permit from the city of Burns, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality or the Department’s agent.
(3) A private sewage disposal system shall not be used until the installation is completed to the satisfaction of the State Department of Environmental Quality or the Department’s agent.
(4) The type, capacities, location and layout of a private sewage disposal system shall comply with all regulations of the Department of Environmental Quality of the State of Oregon. No septic tank or cesspool shall be permitted to discharge into any natural outlet.
(5) At such time as a public sewer becomes reasonably available to a property served by a private sewage disposal system, a direct connection shall be made to the public sewer in compliance with this chapter, and any septic tanks, cesspools or other private sewage disposal facilities shall be abandoned and filled with suitable material unless otherwise specifically permitted by the city.
(6) The owner shall operate and maintain the private sewage disposal facilities in a sanitary manner at all times so as not to create a public health hazard or water pollution.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with any additional requirements that may be imposed by the state of Oregon or county health officer. [Ord. 754 Art. III, 2002]
13.05.040 Building sewers and connections.
(1) No unauthorized person 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.
(2) The owner or his agent shall make application on a form furnished by the city. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgement of the city.
(3) All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection and future repair of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall pay the cost of and indemnify the city from any cost, claim, loss or damage that may arise out of the installation of the building sewer.
(4) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for each building.
(5) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and any required test by the city, to meet all requirements of this chapter.
(6) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench, shall conform to the requirements of the State of Oregon Building and Plumbing Codes and applicable rules and regulations of the city. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the “Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction” 1990, Oregon Chapter American Public Works Association shall apply.
(7) No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or ground water to a building sewer or building drain, which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
(8) The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the State of Oregon Building and Plumbing Codes and applicable rules and regulations of the city. All such connections shall be made gas tight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and material must be approved by the city before installation.
(9) The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the city when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to a public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the city.
(10) 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 permanently repaired and restored in accordance with construction standards used by or adopted by the city. [Ord. 754 Art. IV, 2002]
13.05.050 Use of the public sewers.
(1) No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any storm water, surface water, ground water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, unreasonably large amounts of uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted process waters into any sanitary sewer.
(2) Storm water and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the city. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged, on approval of the city and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, to a storm sewer or natural outlet.
(3) No person shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:
(a) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.
(b) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes 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 effluent disposal system of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of 0.5 mg/l as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.
(c) Any water or wastes having a pH lower than 5.0, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.
(d) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction of the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works including, 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, entrails and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
(4) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if it appears likely in the opinion of the city that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the effluent disposal system, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In review of the acceptability of these wastes, the city will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:
(a) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius).
(b) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment facilities such as, but not limited to, grease, garbage with particles greater than one-quarter inch in any dimension, animal guts or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble, dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, waste paper, wood, plastics, gas tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating oil, mud or glass grinding, or polishing wastes.
(c) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, lead and similar objectionable or toxic substances, or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the city for such materials.
(d) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the city as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state or federal government.
(e) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the state or federal regulations.
(f) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 11.0.
(g) Materials which exert or cause:
(i) Unusual concentrations or inert suspended solids, (including, but not limited to, fullers earth, lime slurries, and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (including, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).
(ii) Excessive discoloration (including, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).
(iii) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.
(iv) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting “slugs” as defined herein.
(h) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of the state and federal agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving water.
(5) 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 subsection (4) of this section, and which, in the judgment of the city, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment, or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the city may:
(a) Reject the wastes;
(b) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge into the public sewers;
(c) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; or
(d) Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges.
If the city permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the city and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.
(6) Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the city, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients; except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be located and the capacity sized to the approval of the city.
(7) Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.
(8) All measurement, tests and analysis of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this chapter 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, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. [Ord. 754 Art. V, 2002]
13.05.060 Protection from damage.
No unauthorized person shall break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment that is a part of the sewage works. [Ord. 754 Art. VI, 2002]
13.05.070 Powers and authority of inspectors.
(1) The city shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(2) While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in subsection (1) of this section, the city shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the entity or person in charge of the property.
(3) The city shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the city holds an existing easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspections, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewage works lying within said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement, shall be done in a manner that is not inconsistent with the terms of the existing easement pertaining to the private property involved, and shall cause minimal disturbance of property. [Ord. 754 Art. VII, 2002]
13.05.080 Penalties and costs.
(1) Penalties. Wilful or intentional violation of this chapter is a Class B misdemeanor. Negligent failure to comply with any provision of this chapter, and the orders, rules, regulations and permits issued hereunder, is a violation punishable by a fine up to $1,000 per day. Each day on which either category of a violation or offense shall occur or continue shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.
(2) Costs. In addition to the penalties provided herein, the city may recover reasonable attorney fees, court costs, court reporters’ fees and other costs and expenses of litigation by appropriate civil suit at law against the person found to have violated this chapter or the orders, rules, and regulations, and permits issued hereunder and fees.
(3) Falsifying Information. Any person or entity that knowingly makes any false statements, representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter, or industrial discharge permit, or who falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this chapter, shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of and punished for a Class B Misdemeanor. [Ord. 754 Art. VIII, 2002]