Beaumont Municipal Code Ch. 8.46 Prohibition on the Installation of Certain Water Softening Appliances

The purpose of this Chapter is to protect the quality of the waters of the State including, but not limited to, protecting the beneficial uses of the Beaumont Groundwater Basin, which Basin provides most of the potable water drinking supply for the residents of the City of Beaumont.

(Ord. No. 912, § 1, 7-3-07)

The following definitions shall apply to the terms used in this Chapter:

"City" shall mean the City of Beaumont.

"Person" includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, company, district, county, town, the state, the federal government and any of the agencies and political subdivisions of such entities.

"Regional Board" means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, created and exercising its powers pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, California Water Code, Section 13000 et seq.

"Residence" means a structure which is or is intended to be, in whole or in part, a place of dwelling, whether occupied or not, whether fully constructed or not, and includes without limitation, homes, whether attached to another structure or not, apartments, condominiums and mobile homes.

"Residential self-regenerating water softening appliance" means a water softening device located within or adjacent to a residence located within the City or which discharges to a community sewer system that is tributary to the sewer system owned and operated by the City, whereby the capability of the appliance to remove hardness from water is renewed by the on-site application of a chloride salt-containing brine solution to the active softening or conditioning material contained therein, followed by a subsequent rinsing of the active softening or conditioning material.

(Ord. No. 912, § 1, 7-3-07)

A. The State Legislature has found and declared that pollution prevention should be the first step in a hierarchy for reducing pollution and managing wastes, and to achieve environmental stewardship for society.

B. The Santa Ana River Basin Plan adopted by the Regional Board, and the waste discharge requirements issued by the Regional Board to the City for the City's publicly-owned wastewater treatment plant obligate the City to protect the pristine quality of the Beaumont Basin water supply by reducing and eliminating saline discharges to the Beaumont Basin.

C. The City Council has been informed and advised that residential self-generating water softening appliances individually generate and discharge salt to the Beaumont Basin, which salt cannot be removed from the drinking water supply by traditional water treatment and disposal methods. The City Council has been further advised that new residential development in the City has the potential for creating a proliferation of such appliances thereby potentially impairing the quality of the drinking water supply and undermining the City's ability to comply with the Regional Board's Wastewater Discharge requirements for its wastewater treatment plant.

D. Requiring a permit prior to the installation of self-regenerating water softening appliances is a useful means of quantifying the number of such installations and determining the impact on water quality achieving compliance with the waste discharge requirements issued by the Regional Board.

(Ord. No. 912, § 1, 7-3-07)

No person shall install or in any manner assist in the installation of a residential self-regenerating water softening appliance that discharges into the community sewer system owned and operated by the City or that discharges into a community sewer system that is tributary to the sewer system owned and operated by the City unless that person has first obtained a permit therefor from the City Manager or his/her designee.

(Ord. No. 912, § 1, 7-3-07)

In the discretion of the Enforcement Officer, any person violating the provisions of this Chapter shall be issued an Administrative Citation pursuant to Beaumont Municipal Code Chapter 1.17 or shall be guilty of an infraction pursuant to Beaumont Municipal Code Chapter 1.16. In either case, the amount of the fine shall be the appropriate amount set forth in Section 1.16.030 of this Code. Each such violation shall be deemed a separate offense as specified in Section 1.16.040.

Notwithstanding the above, a first offense may be charged and prosecuted as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $1,000.00, or six months in jail, or both.

(Ord. 997, 5-3-11)

The Director of Public Works and the City Manager shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this Ordinance. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the Public Works Director and the City Manager may be delegated to persons acting in the beneficial interest of or in the employ of the City.

(Ord. No. 912, § 1, 7-3-07)

If any provision of this ordinance or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid portion or application, and to that end the provisions of this ordinance as severable.

(Ord. 912, 7-3-07)