HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-2105 REGULATING THE USE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SEWERS & DRAINS. ORDINANCE NO. c02/03
AN ORDINANCE relating to public services and utilities; regulating
the use of public and private sewers and drains, pri-
vate waste water disposal, the installation and con-,
411 nection of building sewers, and the discharge of
waters and wastes into public sewer systems; providing
penalties for violations; and enacting Chapter 7.62,
"Sewer Use Regulations", and the sections thereof,
as a new chapter and new sections of the City of Yakima
Municipal Code.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF YAKIMA:
Section 1. Chapter 7.62, "Sewer Use Regulations", and the
following various sections thereof, are hereby enacted as a new
chapter and new sections of the City of Yakima Municipal Code to
read as follows:
"Chapter 7,62
SEWER USE REGULATIONS
7.62.010 Definitions. Unless the context specifically
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this ordi-
nance shall be as follows:
1. 'Administrative Authority' shall mean the Chief
of Code Administration or his authorized represen-
tative.
2. 'Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)" shall mean the
quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical
oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory
procedure in five (5) days of 20 C, expressed in
milligrams per liter.
3. 'Building drain' shall mean 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 (5) feet
outside the inner face of the building wall.
4. 'Building sewer' shall mean the extension from the
building drain to the public sewer or other place
of disposal, also called house connection.
5. 'Combined sewer° shall mean a sewer intended to
receive both wastewater and storm or surface water.
6. 'Easement' shall mean an acquired legal right for
the specific use of land owned by others.
7. 'Floatable oil' is oil, fat, or grease in a physical
state such that it will separate by gravity from
wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment
facility. A wastewater shall be considered free
of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and
the wastewater does not interfere with the collec-
tion system.
8. 'Garbage' shall mean the animal and vegetable waste
resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking,
and serving of foods.
9. 'Industrial wastes' shall mean the wastewater from
industrial processes, trade, or business as dis-
tinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
10. 'Natural outlet' shall mean any outlet, including
storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a
watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of
surface or groundwater.
11. 'May' is permissive.
12. 'Person' shall mean any individual, firm, company,
association, society, corporation, or group.
13. 'pH' shall mean the logarithm of the reciprocal of
the hydrogen-ion concentration. The concentration
is the weight of hydrogen ions, in gram, per liter
of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a
pH value of 7 and a hydrogen-ion concentration of
10 .
14. 'Properly shredded garbage' shall mean 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 lip
conditions normally prevailing in public sewers,
with no particle greater than k inch in any dimen-
sion.
15. 'Public sewer' shall mean a common sewer controlled
by a governmental agency or public utility.
16. 'Sanitary sewer' shall mean a sewer that carries
liquid and water-carried wastes from residences,
commercial buildings, industrial plants, and in-
stitutions together with minor quantities of ground,
storm, and surface waters that are not admitted
intentionally.
17. 'Sewage' is the spent water of a community. (The
preferred term is 'wastewater').
18. 'Sewer' shall mean a pipe or conduit that carries
wastewater or drainage water.
19. 'Shall' is mandatory.
20. 'Slug' shall mean any discharge of water or waste-
water which in concentration of any given consti-
tuent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period
of duration longer than fifteen (15) minutes more
than five (5) times the average twenty-four (24)
hour concentration or flows during normal operation
and shall adversely affect the collection system
and/or performance of the wastewater treatment
works.
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21. 'Storm drain' (sometimes termed 'storm sewer') shall
mean a drain or sewer for conveying water, ground-
water, subsurface water, or unpolluted water from
any source.
22. 'Superintendent' shall mean the superintendent
of wastewater facilities of the City of Yakima,
or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
23. 'Suspended solids' shall mean total suspended matter
that either floats on the surface of, or is in sus-
pension in, water, wastewater, or other liquids,
and that is removable by laboratory filtering as
prescribed in 'Standard Methods for the Examina-
tion of Water and Wastewater' and referred to as
nonf ilterable residue.
24. 'Unpolluted water' is water of quality equal to
or better than the effluent criteria in effect or
water that would not cause violation of receiving
water quality standards and would not be
by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater
treatment facilities provided.
25. 'Wastewater' shall mean the spent water of a community.
From the standpoint of source, it may be a combina-
tion of the liquid and water - carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants,
• and institutions, together with any groundwater,
surface water, and stormwater that may be present.
26. 'Wastewater facilities' shall mean the structures,
equipment, and processes required to collect, carry
away, and treat domestic and industrial wastes
and dispose of the effluent.
27. 'Wastewater treatment works' shall mean an arrange-
ment of devices and structures for treating waste -
water, industrial wastes, and sludge. Sometimes
used as synonymous with 'waste treatment plant'
or 'wastewater treatment plant' or 'water pollution
control plant'.
28. 'Watercourse' shall mean a natural or artificial
channel for the passage of water either continuously
or intermittently."
7.62.020 Use of public sewers required.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit,
• or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public
or private property any human or animal excrement, garbage,
or objectionable waste.
B. It shall be unlawful to discharge into any
public storm drain or ditch any wastewater or other
polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been
provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this
ordinance.
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C. 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 wastewater.
D. The owners of all houses, buildings, or properties
used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other
purposes, situated within the City of Yakima and abutting on
any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there is now
located or may in the future be located a public sanitary
sewer of the City of Yakima, are hereby required at the
owners' expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein,
and to connect such facilities directly with the proper
public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this
ordinance, within ninety (90) days after date of official
notice to do so, provided that said public sewer is within
two hundred (200) feet of the property line.
7.62.030 Private wastewater disposal. Before commence-
ment of construction of a private wastewater dispo.sal system
the owner shall first obtain a written permit from the
Yakima County Health District as set forth in Chapter 10
of said District's 'Rules and Regulations providing for the
regulation of on-site sewage disposal systems'.
7.62.040 Building sewers and connections.
A. No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any con-
111
nections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any
public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining
a written permit from the Division of Code Administration.
B. There shall be two (2) classes of building sewer
permits: (a) for residential and commercial service, and
(b) for service to establishments producing industrial
wastes. In either case, the owner or his agent shall make
application on a special form furnished by the City. The
permit application shall be supplemented by any plans,
specifications, or other information considered pertinent
in the judgment of the administrative authority. Permit
and inspection fees shall be paid as required by applicable
provisions of the City of Yakima Municipal Code,
C. All costs and expenses incidental to the instal-
lation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne
by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the City from
any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be
occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
D. A separate and independent building sewer shall
be provided for every building; except where one building
stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no
private sewer is available or can be constructed to the
rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard, or
driveway, the front building may be extended to the rear
building and the whole considered as one building sewer,
but the City does not and will not assume any obligation
or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from
any such single connection aforementioned.
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E. Old building sewers may be used in connection
with new buildings only when they are found, on examina-
tion and test by the administrative authority, to meet
all requirements of this ordinance.
411 F. The size, slope, alignment, materials of construc-
tion of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in
excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and
backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the require-
ments of the building and plumbing code or othr applicable
rules and regulations of the City. In the absence of code
provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and
procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the
ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
G. Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be
brought to the building at an elevation below the basement
floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is
too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary
sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by
an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
H. No person shall make connection of roof downspouts,
foundation drains, areaway drains, or other sources of
surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or build
ing drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly
to a public sanitary sewer unless such connection is
approved by the superintendent for purposes of disposal
of polluted surface drainage.
I. The connection of the building sewer into the
public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the build-
ing and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regula-
tions of the City, or the procedures set forth in appropriate
specifications of the ASTM and the WPCF Manual of Practice
No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and
watertight and verified by proper testing. Any deviation
from the prescribed procedures and materials must be appro-
ved by the administrative authority before installation.
J. The applicant for the building sewer permit shall
notify the administrative authority when the building sewer
is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer.
The connection and testing shall be made under the super-
vision of the administrative authority or his representa-
tive.
K. 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 restored in a manner satisfactory to
the City.
7.62.050 Use of public sewers.
A. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any unpolluted waters such as stormwater, groundwater,
roof runoff, subsurface drainage, or cooling water to any
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sewer, except stormwater runoff from limited areas, which
stormwater may be polluted at times, may be discharged to
the sanitary sewer by permission of the Director of Public
Works.
B. Stormwater other than that exempted under Subsec
tion A of this section, 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 Director of Public Works and other regulatory
agencies. Unpolluted industrial cooling water or process
waters may be discharged, on approval of the superintendent,
• to a storm sewer or natural outlet.
C. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any of the following described waters or wastes to any
public sewers, storm drains or ditches:
1. Any gasoline, benzene, naptha, fuel oil, or
other flammable or explosive liquid, solid,
or gas.
2. Any waters 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 waste treatment
process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals,
create a public nuisance, or create any hazard
in the receiving waters of the wastewater treat-
ment plant.
3. Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than
5.5, or having any other corrosive property
capable of causing damage or hazard to structures,
equipment, and personnel of the wastewater
works.
4. Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of
such size capable of causing obstruction to the
flow in sewers, or other interference with the
proper operation of the wastewater facilities
such as, but not limited to, ashes, bones, cin-
ders, 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 gar-
bage grinders.
D. The following described substances, materials,
waters, or waste shall be limited in discharges to muni-
cipal systems to concentrations or quantities which will 411
not harm either the sewers, wastewater treatment process
or equipment, will not have an adverse effect on the
receiving stream, or will not otherwise endanger lives,
limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. The
Director of Public Works may set limitations lower than
the limitations established in the regulations below if
in his opinion such more severe limitations are necessary
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to meet the above objectives. In forming his opinion as
to the acceptability, the Director of Public Works will
give consideration to such factors as the quantity of
subject waste in relation to flows and velocities in
the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers,
the wastewater treatment process employed, capacity
of the wastewater treatment plant, degree of treatability
of the waste in the wastewater treatment plant, and
other pertinent factors. The limitations or restrictions
on materials or characteristics of waste or wastewaters
discharged to the sanitary sewer which shall not be
violated without approval of the Director of Public
Works are as follows:
1. Wastewater having a temperature higher than
150 Fahrenheit (65 Celsius).
2. Wastewater containing more than 25 milligrams
per liter of petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable
cutting oils, or product of mineral oil ori-
gin.
3. Wastewater from industrial plants containing
floatable oils, fat, or grease.
4. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded
(see Section 7.62.010, 14). Garbage grinders
may be connected to sanitary sewers from homes,
hotels, institutions, restaurants, hospitals,
catering establishments, or similar places
where garbage originates from the preparation
of food in kitchens for the purpose of consump-
tion on the premises or when served by caterers.
5. Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium,
copper, zinc, and similar objectionable or
toxic substances to such degree that any such
material received in the composite wastewater
at the wastewater treatment works exceeds the
limits established by the Director of Public
Works for such materials.
6. Any waters or wastes containing odor-producing
substances exceeding limits which may be esta-
blished by the Director of Public Works.
7. Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such
111 half-life or concentration as may exceed limits
established by the Director of Public Works
in compliance with applicable state or federal
regulations.
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8. Quantities of flow, concentrations or both
which constitute a 'slug' as defined herein.
9. Waters or wastes containing substances which
are not amenable to treatment or reduction by
the wastewater treatment processes employed,
or are amenable to treatment only to such
degree that the wastewater treatment plant
effluent cannot meet the requirements of
other agencies having jurisdiction over dis-
charge to the receiving waters.
10. Any water or wastes which, by interaction
with other water or wastes in the public
sewer system, release obnoxious gases, form
suspended solids which interfere with the
collection system, or create a condition
deleterious to structures and treatment
processes.
E. If any waters or wastes are discharged or are
proposed to be discharged to the public sewer, which
waters contain the substances or possess the characteris-
tics enumerated in Subsection D of this section and
which in the judgment of the Director of Public Works
may have a deleterious effect upon the wastewater
facilities, processes, equipment, or receiving waters,
or which otherwise create a hazard to life or consti-
tute a public nuisance, the Director of Public Works
may:
1. Reject the wastes,
2. Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition
for discharge to the public sewers,
3. Require control over the quantities and rates
of discharge, and/or
4. Require payment to cover added costs of handling
and treating the wastes not covered by existing
taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of
Subsection J of this section.
When considering the above alternatives, the Director
of Public Works shall give consideration to the 'economic
impact of each alternative on the discharger. If the
Director of Public Works 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 Director of Public Works.
F. Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be pro-
vided when, in the opinion of the Director of Public Works,
they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes
containing floatable grease in excessive amounts, as
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specified in Subsection D, 3, 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 of a type and capacity approved by the Director of
Public Works, and shall be located as to be readily
accessible for cleaning and inspection. In the main-
taining of these interceptors the owner shall be
responsible for the proper removal and disposal by
appropriate means of the captured material and shall
maintain records of the dates, and means of disposal
which are subject to review by the Director of Public
Works. Any removal and hauling of the collected
materials not performed by owner's personnel must
be performed by currently licensed waste disposal firms.
G. Where pretreatment or flow-equalizing facili-
ties are provided or required for any waters or wastes,
they shall be maintained continuously in satisfadtory
and effective operation by the owner at his expense.
H. When required by the Director of Public
Works, the owner of any property serviced by a building
sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suit-
able structure together with such necessary meters
and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facili-
tate observation, sampling, and measurement of the
wastes. Such structure, when required, shall be
accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed
in accordance with plans approved by the Director of
Public Works. The structure shall be installed by
the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by
him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
I. The Director of Public Works may require a
user of sewer services to provide information needed
to determine compliance with this chapter. These
requirements may include:
1. Wastewaters discharge peak rate and volume
over a specified time period.
2. Chemical analyses of wastewaters. •
3. Information on raw materials, processes,
and products affecting wastewater volume
and quality.
411 4. Quantity and disposition of specific liquid,
sludge, oil, solvent, or other materials
important to sewer use control.
5. A plot plan of sewers of the user's property
showing sewer and pretreatment facility
location.
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6. Details of wastewater pretreatment facili-
ties.
7. Details of systems to prevent and control •
the losses of materials through spills to
the municipal sewer.
J. All measurements, tests, and analyses 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. Sampling methods,
location, times, durations, and frequencies are to be
determined on an individual basis subject to approval
by the Director of Public Works.
K. No statement contained in this article shall
be construed as preventing any special agreement or
arrangement between the City of Yakima and any indus-
trial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual
strength or character may be accepted by the City for
treatment.
7.62.060 Unlawful conduct. It shall be unlawful
for any person to maliciously, willfully, or negligently •
break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper
with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is
a part of the wastewater facilities.
7.62.070 Powers and authorit of ins.ectors.
A. The administrative authority and other duly
authorized employees of the City bearing proper creden-
tials and identification shall be permitted to enter
all properties for the purposes of inspection, observa-
tion, measurement, sampling, and testing pertinent
to discharge to the community system in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
B. The Director of Public Works or other duly authorized
employees are authorized to obtain information concerning
industrial processes which have a direct bearing on the kind
and source of discharge to the wastewater collection system.
The industry may withhold information considered confidential.
The industry must establish that the revelation to the public
of the information in question might result in an advantage
to competitors. •
C. While performing the necessary work on private proper-
ties referred to in Subsection A of this section, the adminis-
trative authority or duly authorized employees of the City
shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises
established by the company, and the company shall be held
harmless for injury or death to the City employees, and the
City shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to
its property by City employees and against liability claims
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and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted
against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling
operations, except as such may be caused by negligence or
failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required
in Subsection 7.62.050 H of this chapter.
D. The superintendent and other duly authorized employees
of the City bearing proper credentials and identification
shall be permitted to enter all private properties through
which the City holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes
of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement,
sampling, repair, and maintenance of any portion of the waste-
water facilities lying within said easement. All entry and
subsequent work, if any, on said easement, shall be done in
full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated ease-
ment pertaining to the private property involved.
7.62.080 Board of Appeals. In order to determine the
suitability of alternate materials and methods of construc-
tion and to provide for reasonable interpretations of the
provisions of this chapter, the Plumbing Board orAppeals
of the City of Yakima shall exercise its authority to con-
duct such hearings and make such determinations concerning
the provisions of this chapter as that Board may exercise
concerning the provisions of the Uniform Plumbing Code of
the City of Yakima.
7.62.090 Penalties.
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A. Any person found to be violating any provision of
this chapter, except Section 7.62.060, shall be served by
the City with written notice stating the nature of the viola-
tion and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfac-
tory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period
of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all viola-
tions. Any person who shall continue any violation beyond
the time limit specified in such notice shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in
the amount not exceeding $250.00 for each violation. Each
day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed
a separate offense.
B. Any person violating any of the provisions of this
chapter shall become liable to the City for any expense,
loss, or damage occasioned the City by reason of such viola-
tion.
• C. Any person convicted of violating Section 7.62.060
of this chapter shall be fined in an amount not exceeding
$250.00.
110 7.62.090 Effect of partial invalidity. The invalidity
of any section, clause, sentence, or provision of this chap-
ter shall not affect the validity of any other part of this
chapter which can be given effect without such invalid part
or parts." •
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Section 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect
thirty days after its passage, approval and publication as provided
by law and by the City Charter.
Alw
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, signed and approved this LA day
of Sept, , 1977.
1 ' &ThD247V
Mayor
ATTEST:
— mid—
i ty Clerk
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