Chapter 13.02
DEFINITIONS

Sections:

13.02.010    Definitions generally.

13.02.010 Definitions generally.

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in the utility code are as follows:

“Air gap” means the unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet supplying water to a tank, plumbing fixture or other device, and the flood level rim of such vessel. All approved air gaps shall be at least double the diameter of the supply pipe, measured vertically, above the top of the rim of the vessel, and in no case less than one inch. When an air gap is used at the service connection to prevent the contamination or pollution of the public potable water system, an emergency bypass shall be installed around the air gap system, and an approved reduced pressure principle device shall be installed in the bypass system.

“Alternative sewage disposal system” means alternative wastewater treatment process(es) and technique(s) which are proven methods providing for the reclaiming and reuse of water and productively recycled wastewater constituents, or otherwise eliminate the discharge of pollutants. (See Appendix E of the Innovative and Alternative Technology Guidelines, EPA Innovative and Alternative Technology Assessment Manual, MCD53.)

“ASTM” means the standard specifications or methods of the American Society for Testing Materials of the serial designation indicated by the number, and, unless otherwise stated, all references refer to the latest adopted revision of such specification or method.

“Auxiliary water supply” means any water supply on or available to the premises, other than the city’s approved public potable water supply. These auxiliary waters may include water from another provider’s public potable water supply, or any natural source(s) such as a well, spring, river, stream, harbor, etc., or “used waters” or “industrial fluids.” These waters may be polluted or contaminated, or they may be objectionable and constitute an unacceptable water source over which the city does not have sanitary control.

“Back-siphonage” means the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances into the distributing pipes of a potable water supply system, from any source other than its intended source, caused by the sudden reduction of pressure in the potable water supply system.

“Backflow” means the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances under pressure into the distributing pipes of a potable water supply from any source or sources other than its intended source.

“Backflow preventer” means a device or means designed to prevent backflow or back-siphonage.

“BOD (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 milligrams/liter (mg/l). (EPA Standard Methods 5210(B) shall be used for any tests of BOD.)

“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 sewers, beginning five feet (one and one-half meters) outside the inner face of the building walls.

“Building service line” means all water service piping on the customer’s side of the main service meter where the meter is within the public right-of-way or easement. Also, all other service connection piping between the meter and the main located on private property (excluding water meters) where the city does not have existing agreements to maintain and replace such piping.

“Building sewer” means that part of the horizontal piping of a drainage system which extends from the end of the building drain and which receives the discharge of the building drain and conveys it to a public sewer, private sewer, individual sewage disposal system, or other point of disposal.

“Business day” or “working day” means Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding any city-recognized holidays.

“COD (chemical oxygen demand)” means the quantity of oxygen, expressed in milligram per liter, utilized by decomposition of organic and inorganic contaminants, dissolved or suspended in water, during a two-hour oxidation test. (EPA Standard Methods 5220(D) shall be used for any tests of COD.)

“Commercial business” means a business establishment which furnishes goods or services to either the general public or other commercial operations.

“Controlled cross-connections” means a connection between a potable water system and a nonpotable water system, with an approved backflow-prevention device properly installed that will continuously afford the protection commensurate with the degree of hazard.

“Cross-connection” means any physical connection or arrangement of piping or fixtures between two otherwise separate piping systems, one of which contains potable water and the other nonpotable water or industrial fluids of questionable safety, through which, or because of which, backflow or back-siphonage may occur into the potable water system. Other types of cross-connections include but are not limited to connectors such as swing connections, removable sections, four-way plug valves, spools, dummy sections of pipe, swivel or changeover devices, sliding multiport tube, and solid connections.

“Customer” means the owner, agent, tenant or other authorized representative responsible for occupancy of the premises that is served by a city utility system. A person, corporation, association or agency which rents or leases premises shall be considered an agent of the property owner; also a “user.”

“Developer” means any person, company or corporation who purchases or holds an interest in real property with the intent to increase the value thereof by the installation of utilities, construction of a building or buildings, grading, ditching, improving or enhancing the ground or structures for the purpose of resale.

“Domestic flow” means volume used during peak-hour usage at a minimum residual gauge pressure of 20 psi.

“Domestic wastewater” means wastewater of the type commonly introduced into a treatment works by residential users.

“Double-check valve assembly” means an assembly of two independently operating approved check valves with tightly closing shutoff valves on each side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of each check valve. The entire assembly shall meet the design and performance specifications and approval of a recognized and city-approved testing agency for backflow-prevention devices. To be approved, these devices must be readily accessible for the in-line maintenance and testing.

“Garbage” means the solid animal and vegetable waste from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from handling, storage and sale of produce.

“Industrial facility” means an establishment primarily engaged in manufacturing, processing or fabrication of goods.

“Industrial user” means any nongovernmental, nonresidential user of a publicly owned treatment works which is identified in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, Office of Management and Budget, as amended and supplemented, under one of the following divisions:

Division A – Agricultural, Forestry and Fishing.

Division B – Mining.

Division D – Manufacturing.

Division E – Transportation, Communication, Electric, Gas and Sanitary Services.

Division I – Services.

“Living unit” means any of the following:

A. A single-family dwelling;

B. A habitable unit of multifamily dwelling(s), including an apartment; or

C. A condominium.

“Mains” means distribution pipelines that are part of the city water system.

“Multi-user” means a customer supplied with water service to more than one living unit, commercial business or industrial facility, or combination thereof, from one water service connection.

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

“Nonpotable water” means water that is not safe for human consumption, or which is of questionable potability.

“Operation and maintenance” means activities required to assure the dependable and economical function of the treatment works.

A. “Operation” means control of the unit processes and equipment which make up the treatment works. This includes financial and personnel management, records, laboratory control, process control, safety and emergency operation planning.

B. “Maintenance” means preservation of functional integrity and efficiency of equipment and structures. This includes preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance and replacement of equipment as needed.

“Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, society, group or corporation.

“pH” means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

“Potable water” means any water which, according to recognized standards, is safe for human consumption.

“Premises” means the integral property or area, including improvements thereon, to which water service is or will be provided.

“Private sewer” means a privately owned and maintained lateral sewer system normally six or eight inches in diameter, installed to serve multi-unit structures on single-ownership properties, which cannot legally be further divided, such as apartments, mobile home parks, schools and condominiums.

“Properly shredded garbage” means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and disposing of food that has 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-half inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.

“Property owner” means the owner of the premises who is also the ultimate responsible party for all customer charges and fees. The property owner may also be the customer for any given premises.

“Public sewer” means a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and which is controlled by public authority.

“Reduced pressure principle device” means an assembly of two independently operating approved check valves with an automatically operating differential relief valve between the two check valves, tightly closing shutoff valves on either side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of the check and relief valves. The entire assembly shall meet the design and performance specifications and approval of a recognized and city-approved testing agency for backflow-prevention assemblies. The device shall operate to maintain the pressure in the zone between the two check valves at a level less than the pressure on the public water supply side of the device. These devices must be readily accessible for in-line maintenance and testing, and be installed in a location where no part of the device will be submerged.

“Replacement” means 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. The term “operation and maintenance” includes replacement.

“Sanitary sewer” means a conduit intended to carry liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with minor quantities of groundwater, stormwater and surface water that are not admitted intentionally.

“Service connection” means a water connection or sewer connection as the context indicates.

“Service connection charge” means the fee levied to pay for the cost of labor, materials and any inspection required during the construction of a utility service line from the water or sewer main to the property that is to be served, with the charges to be itemized on a standard city billing form.

Sewage, Sewerage, or Sewer Water. See “wastewater.”

“Sewage treatment plant” means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treatment of sewage.

“Sewage works” means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposition of sewage.

“Sewer” means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

“Sewer connection” means a public sewer that has been constructed to the property line or right-of-way line from a public main for the sole purpose of providing a connection for the building sewer.

“Slug” means any discharge of water, sewage 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 of flows during normal operation.

“Stormwater” means a sewer designed to carry only stormwaters, surface runoff and street wash waters, and drainage.

“Surface water” means all natural water whose surface is exposed to the atmosphere, including natural drainage ways, stream corridors, rivers, ponds, wetlands, and impoundments.

“System development charge” means the fee or charge assessed to each commercial business, industry or living unit for the right to connect to the city’s sewer or water system, and which is used for expansion of those systems.

“Temporary service” means service of limited duration.

“TSS (total suspended solids)” means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and that is removable by laboratory filtering. (EPA Standard Methods 2450(D) shall be used for any tests for TSS.)

“Useful life” means the period during which a treatment works is planned and designed to be operated.

User. See “customer.”

“User service charge” means a charge levied on customers that may be a combination of a base fee, a usage fee and a fixed fee as set by resolution and/or ordinance.

“Utility” or “utility system” means sewer, water and stormwater management services provided by the city of Silverton.

“Utility rate” is the rate established by city council to cover the cost of providing utility system services.

“Utility service” means services provided for water, stormwater and sewer.

“Wastewater” means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such incidental groundwater, surface water and stormwater as may be present.

“Water connection” means the pipe, valves, fittings and meter by means of which the city conducts water from its main to and through a meter(s), but not including piping from the meter to the premises served.

“Water main” means water pipe and all necessary valves, fittings, hydrant connections and other appurtenances used for the distribution of water.

“Water system” means all municipally owned facilities of the city used to supply, process and distribute drinking-quality water to each customer service connection or temporary service.

“Watercourse” means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently. (Ord. 15-05 § 2, 2015)