Colfax Municipal Code Art. VII Sewer Construction and Sewer Use

A. With the exception of duly authorized city employees, no person shall uncover, make any connection with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a permit from the city.

B. There are established two classes of building sewer permits, as follows:

1. For residential and commercial service; and

2. For service to establishments producing industrial wastes (i.e. "industrial users"). An application for either class of permit shall be made by the property owner or his or her agent on a form furnished by the city. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information, which the city may require.

C. All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify and hold harmless the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly result from the installation of the building sewer.

D. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building.

E. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and through testing by the city, to meet all the requirements of this chapter.

F. The size, slope, alignment and materials of construction 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 requirements of this code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city.

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 connections of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, area drains or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain, which, in turn, is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.

I. The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes and other applicable rules and regulations of the city. All connections shall be made gastight and watertight. A cleanout shall be installed at the point of connection with the public sewer. The cleanout shall be an approved box and shall be easily accessible. The building sewer and cleanout shall be maintained by the owner.

J. The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the city when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the city.

K. All excavations for a building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights 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.

(Ord. 475 § 2(b) (part), 2002: prior code § 6-3.701

A. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged, any storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process water to any sanitary sewer.

B. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged, any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewer:

1. Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas;

2. Any water or waste 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 sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant;

3. Any water or waste having a pH lower than five and one-half or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damages or hazards to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works; or

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 sewer works; such as, but not limited to, ashes, cinders, 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 and the like, either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

C. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged, the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes, if it appears likely, in the opinion of the city, that such wastes can harm either the sewers or sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the natural outlet or otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming its opinion as to the acceptability of such wastes, the city will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are as follows:

1. Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit;

2. Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one hundred (100) milligrams per liter or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) and one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit;

3. Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the city;

4. Any water or waste containing strong acid, iron, pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not;

5. Any water or waste containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such a degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment plant exceeds the limits established by the city for such materials;

6. Any water or waste containing phenols or other taste or odor-producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the city as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies of jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters;

7. Any radioactive waste or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the city in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations;

8. Any water or waste having a pH in excess of nine and five-tenths;

9. Materials which exert or cause:

a. Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate);

b. Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions);

c. Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works; and

d. Unusual volumes of flow or concentrations of wastes constituting slugs.

10. Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over the discharge to the receiving waters.

D. If waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in subsection C of this section and which, in the judgment of the city, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the city 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 the added costs of handling and treating the wastes not covered by sewer charges under the provisions of this section.

If the city 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 city and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes ordinances and laws.

E. Grease, oil, grit and sand interceptors, traps and similar systems (FOG Systems) shall be provided as set forth in Title 13, Chapter 13.08, Article X commencing with Section 13.08.600.

F. Where preliminary treatment or rate-of-flow controller facilities are provided for any water or waste, they shall be maintained continuously, in satisfactory and effective operation, by the owner at his or her expense.

G. When required by the city, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate the observation, sampling and measurement of wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the city. The manhole shall be installed by the owner, at his or her expense and shall be maintained by him or her to be safe and accessible at all times.

H. 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 and shall be determined at the control manhole provided or upon suitable samples taken at such control manhole. In the event no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out in the customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewer works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property.

I. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the council for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the industrial concern.

(Amended during 2004 codification; Ord. 475 § 2(b) (part), 2002: prior code § 6-3.702)

(Ord. No. 501, § I, 12-16-09)

A. Any person found to be violating any provision of this chapter shall be served by the city with a written notice stating the nature of the violation, which notice shall provide a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender, within the time period stated in such notice, shall permanently cease all such violations.

B. Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limits provided for in subsection A of this section shall be guilty of an infraction and the penalty shall be that penalty provided in the laws of the state for the commission of an infraction. Each day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense.

C. Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be liable to the city for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the city because of such violation.

(Ord. 475 § 2(b) (part), 2002: prior code § 6-3.703)