For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.



(a) “BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (B.O.D.)” - The quantity of dissolved oxygen in milligrams per liter required during stabilization of the decomposable organic matter by aerobic biochemical action under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20°C. The laboratory determinations shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in “STANDARD METHODS.”

(b) “BOARD” - The Board of Sanitary Commissioners of the city, or their authorized representative.

(c) “BUILDING OR HOUSE DRAIN” - That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a building drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to a point approximately three feet outside the foundation wall of the building.

(d) “BUILDING OR HOUSE SEWER” - The pipe which is connected to the building or house drain at a point approximately three feet outside the foundation wall of the building and conveys discharge from the building to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

(e) “CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (C.O.D.)” - A measure of the oxygen equivalent to that portion of the organic matter in a sample that is susceptible to oxidation by a strong chemical oxidant. The laboratory determination shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in “STANDARD METHODS.”

(f) “EFFLUENT” - The water, together with any wastes that may be present, flowing out of a drain, sewer, receptacle, or outlet.

(g) “GARBAGE” - Those putrescible wastes resulting form the growing, handling, storage, preparation, cooking, and consumption of food.

(h) “GROUND GARBAGE” - Garbage that is shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely in suspension under the conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle to exceed 1/2 inch in size.

(i) “INDUSTRIAL WASTES” - Any solid, liquid, or gaseous substance or form of energy discharge, permitted to flow or escaping from an industrial, manufacturing, commercial, or business process or from the development, recovery, or processing of any natural resource.

(j) “INFLUENT” - The water, together with any wastes that may be present, flowing into a drain, sewer, receptacle, or outlet.

(k) “NORMAL SEWAGE” - The loading based on B.O.D. and S.S. for which the sewage treatment plant is capable of attaining desired levels of removal within its design limitations. The following levels of concentration shall serve as a basis determining excessive loading as measured at the sewage treatment plant.

(1) B.O.D. - 200 mg/l

(2) S.S. - 225 mg/l

(l) “OUTLET” - Any outlet, natural or constructed, which becomes the point of final discharge of sewage or of treatment plant effluent into any water course, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or subsurface water.

(m) “pH” - The logarithm to the base 10 of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution expressed in gram-atoms per liter of solution.

(n) “RECEIVING STREAM” - The water course, stream, or body of water receiving the waters finally discharged from the sewage treatment plant.

(o) “RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY UNIT” - A building under one roof designed, arranged, and used primarily for dwelling purposes by a single family.

(p) “SANITARY SEWAGE” - Sewage discharged from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings including apartment houses, hotels, and motels, office buildings, factories, or institutions and free from storm water, surface water, and industrial wastes.

(q) “SEWAGE” - The water-carried wastes from residences, businesses, institutions, and industrial establishments, singular or in any combination, together with such ground, surface, and storm waters as may be present.

(r) “SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT” or “WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT” - The arrangement of devices, structures, and equipment used for treating and disposing of sewage and sludge.

(s) “SEWAGE UTILITY” or “WATER POLLUTION CONTROL UTILITY” - All facilities for collecting, transporting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage and sludge, namely the sewerage system and the sewage treatment plant.

(t) “SEWER” - A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage or other liquid wastes.

(1) “COMBINED SEWER” - A sewer which carries both storm and ground-water runoff and sewage.

(2) “PUBLIC SEWER” - A sewer in which all owners of a building property have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.

(3) “SANITARY SEWER” - A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface, and ground waters and unpolluted industrial Wastewater are not intentionally admitted.

(4) “STORM SEWER” - A sewer carries storm surface and ground-water drainage but excludes sewage.

(u) “SEWER ENGINEER” or “WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ENGINEER” - The Chief Engineer of the city Sanitary District or his duly authorized representative.

(v) “SEWERAGE SYSTEM” - The network of sewers and appurtenances used for collecting, transporting, and pumping sewage to the sewage treatment plant.

(w) “STANDARD METHODS” - The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the most recent edition of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,” published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation.

(x) “STRENGTH-OF-WASTES SURCHARGE” - The extra charges for sewerage service assessed customers whose sewage is of such a nature that it imposes upon the sewage utility a burden greater than can be anticipated under normal conditions.

(y) “SUPERINTENDENT” - The Superintendent of the sewage treatment plant or Wastewater Treatment Plant of the city Sanitary District or his duly authorized representatives.

(z) “SUSPENDED SOLIDS (S.S.)” - Solids which either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquid and which are removable by laboratory filtration. Their concentration shall be expressed in milligrams per liter. Quantitative determination shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in “STANDARD METHODS.”

(aa) “WATER COURSE” - A channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously or intermittently. (Ord. 2858-1973)