Barstow Municipal Code Ch. 13.04 General Provisions

Footnotes:

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Prior ordinance history—Ord. Nos. 276 and 374.

State Law reference— Authority of city to construct, establish, and maintain drains and sewers, Government Code § 38900 et seq.; Community Facilities Law of 1911, Health and Safety Code § 4600 et seq.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the maximum beneficial public use of the city's wastewater collection and treatment facilities through adequate regulation and permit requirements governing wastewater discharge; and to provide guidelines for complying with requirements placed upon the city by other regulatory agencies. This chapter shall be known as the "Wastewater Ordinance" and may be cited as such.

(Code 1969, § 13.04.010; Ord. No. 573, § 1(part), 1987)

For the purposes of his chapter, unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used shall be as follows:

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 (Celsius), expressed in milligrams per liter.

Building drain means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a plumbing system which receives the discharges from water-carried wastes within a building and conveys it to the building lateral, beginning five feet outside the building wall.

Building lateral means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or another place of disposal.

Contamination means allowing the quality of the waters to become impure by contact or admixture with wastewaters to a degree which becomes a hazard to the public health through poisoning or spread of disease.

Garbage means solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.

Industrial waste means nondomestic liquid or semisolid waste from industrial, manufacturing, or processing operations.

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

Nuisance means discharge of wastewater in violation of city regulations or orders, which is or could be harmful to or unreasonably affect the wastewater collection, treatment facilities of the city, or groundwater.

Person means any individual, partnership, firm, association, society, company, corporation, or agency, including the state and the United States of America.

pH is a measure of the concentration of free hydrogen ions in water or wastewater.

Pollutant means any type of waste material discharged in the water.

Pollution means an alteration of the quality of the waters by pollutants to a degree which unreasonably affects such waters for beneficial use or affects facilities which serve such beneficial uses.

Premises means any real property, place, or parcel of land including buildings or other structures used or useful for human habitation or gathering or for carrying on a business or occupation.

Pretreatment means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the city's wastewater system or groundwater. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, or through process changes or other means.

Private disposal system means a facility intended to be used for the disposal of sewage on private property, including privy, septic tank, cesspool, and leach lines.

Properly shredded garbage means the wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that has been shredded so that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.

Public sewer means a sewer within a public right-of-way or easement. Laterals connecting building drain to a sewer main are not public sewers although they may be partially located in a public right-of-way or easement.

Public utility facility means a public sewer or utility pipe or facility and other laterals, pipes, buildings, or appurtenances, for the provision of water, light, heat, communications, power or garbage services, for flood control, drainage or sanitary purposes, or sewage collection, treatment, or disposal.

Regional board means the State of California Regional Water Quality Control Board—Lahontan Region, which has control over the entire city area.

Secondary treatment means the treatment process of the wastewater effluent received from the primary process and involves more mechanical, chemical, or biological treatment, such as filtration, aeration, and chlorination.

Septic tank means a tank in which sewage is allowed to remain until purified by the action of anaerobic bacteria.

Sewage means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, businesses, institutions, commercial and industrial establishments.

Sewer or sanitary sewer means a pipe or conduit system for carrying sewage.

Slug means any discharge of water, sewage, or industrial wastes in concentration, or any given constituent in quantity of flow exceeding a period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.

Wastewater capital improvement fund means the funding established by the city to finance the improvements and replacements of the public sewer system and wastewater reclamation or treatment plant.

Wastewater reclamation fund means the funding established by the city to finance the public sewer service and the operation of the wastewater reclamation or treatment plant.

(Code 1969, § 13.04.020; Ord. No. 573, § 1(part), 1987; Ord. No. 990-2022, § 2, 6-6-2022)