Guadalupe Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the "Sewer System Ordinance of the City of Guadalupe."

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §1, 1977)

Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise requires, the definitions and provisions contained in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this chapter, and, except to the extent that a particular word or phrase is otherwise specifically defined in this section, the definitions contained in Title 1 of this code shall also govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this chapter. The definition of each word and phrase shall constitute, to the extent applicable, the definition of each word or phrase which is derivative from it, or from which it is a derivative, as the case may be.

"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)"

means the quantity of oxygen, expressed in parts per million by weight, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for 5 days at a temperature of 20 degrees Centigrade. The laboratory determination shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in the latest edition of "Standard Methods."

"Building sewer lateral"

means the sewer from a building to the public sewer main.

"Chlorine requirement"

means the amount of chlorine, in parts per million by weight, which must be added to wastewater to produce a specified residual chlorine content, or to meet the requirements of some other objective, in accordance with procedures set forth in "Standard Methods."

"City"

means the City of Guadalupe.

"Discharger"

means any person who discharges, or who allows the discharge of any waste or wastewater into a public sewer, and includes any person who is responsible for, owns, operates or manages in any respect a business, enterprise or operation which discharges any material into the public sewer.

"Fixture"

means any appurtenance connected to a building sewer.

"Ground garbage"

means the residue from the preparation and dispensing of food, or the handling, storage or sale of food products and produce, that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely in suspension under the slow conditions prevailing at the point of discharge into the public sewer, with no particle bigger than one-half inch in any dimension.

"Industrial waste"

means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance discharged or permitted to flow into the public sewer from any industrial, manufacturing, commercial or business establishment or process, or from the development, recovery or processing of any natural resource.

"Medical facility"

means any hospital, clinic, medical laboratory, office of a doctor or dentist, convalescent home, or related medical or therapeutic facility.

"Milligrams per liter (mg/1)"

means the same as parts per million.

"Natural outlet"

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

"Parts per million (ppm)"

means a weight-to-weight ratio; the ppm multiplied by a factor of 8.345 shall be equivalent to parts per million gallons of water.

"Pretreatment"

means the treatment of wastewater from a source, before introduction into the waste water system.

"Public sewer"

means a sewer subject to the control of the City.

"pH"

means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ion concentration, expressed in moles per liter. It shall be determined by one of the procedures outlined in "Standard Methods."

"Sanitary sewer"

means a sewer that conveys sewage or industrial wastes, or a combination of both, but into which stormwater, surface water or groundwater, or other unpolluted industrial wastes, are not intentionally admitted.

"Service charge"

means the basic assessment levied on any user of the public sewer whose wastes do not exceed in strength the concentration values established as representative of normal sewage or industrial waste.

"Sewage"

means the water-carried human, animal or household wastes in a sewer.

"Sewer"

means a pipe or conduit for conveying sewage or industrial waste.

"Sewerage"

means the systems of sewers and appurtenances for the collection, transportation and pumping of sewage and industrial wastes.

"Sewer main"

means a portion of the public sewer lying in a public easement or street, and does not mean a building sewer lateral.

A "slug" or "slug discharge"

is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill, or a non-customary batch discharge.

"Standard methods"

means the examination or 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.

"Storm drain"

means a pipe or conduit that carries stormwater, surface water or groundwater drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes.

"Stormwater runoff"

means that portion of stormwater or floodwater that is drained into a storm drain.

"Surcharge"

means the assessment, in addition to the service charge, which is levied on those users whose wastes are greater in strength than the concentration values established as representative of normal sewage or industrial waste by the City.

"Suspended solids"

means solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage or industrial waste, and which are removable by a laboratory filtration device. Quantitative determination of suspended solids shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in "Standard Methods."

"Unpolluted water or liquid"

means any water or liquid containing none of the following: Free or emulsified grease or oil; acids or alkalis; substances that may impart taste-and-odor, or color characteristics or poisonous substances in suspension, colloidal state or solution; and odorous or otherwise obnoxious gases. It shall contain not more than 1,200 parts per million by weight of dissolved solids, and not more than 20 parts per million each of suspended solids or biochemical oxygen demand. Analytical determinations shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in "Standard Methods."

"Wastewater"

means any liquid discharge resulting from the use of water supply for domestic, commercial or industrial purposes.

"Wastewater system"

means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating or disposing of sewage or industrial waste, and it includes sewerage as well as the wastewater treatment plant.

"Wastewater treatment plant"

means an assemblage of devices, structures and equipment for treating sewage and industrial waste.

"Watercourse"

means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §2, 1977; Ord. 92-309 § 1)

A. Plans for sewerage construction shall meet all design requirements of the City, and shall also meet the design requirements as established from time to time by the Engineer and approved by the City Council.

B. Inspection of all sewerage construction shall be made on behalf of the City in the manner described in the most recently effective edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code, or other authority governing such construction approved by the City Council.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §10, 1977; Ord. 214 §1, 1982)

The owner or occupier of any property used for human occupancy abutting on any street or easement in which there is located a sewer main, is required at his or her expense to construct a building sewer lateral serving waste discharge fixtures in or on the property, and connect the lateral to the main in accordance with the provisions of the applicable plumbing code, construction standards of the City, and the provisions of this chapter, within 120 days after notice from the City to do so, provided that such main is within 200 feet of the property.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §3, 1977)

Any person owning or controlling any premises connected to the public sewer shall keep all building sewer laterals and fixtures in good working order and repair at all times, at his or her own expense.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §7, 1977)

Except as provided in this chapter, it is unlawful to construct or maintain a privy, privy vault, septic tank cesspool, leachfield or other similar facility intended for use for the disposal of wastewater.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §4, 1977)

Any agent or employee of the City, while in the discharge of his or her duties, shall be allowed access to make personal examination of any premises connected to the public sewer for the inspection of sewer pipes and equipment connected to such sewer, examination of processes and business records related to processes which discharge or cause a discharge into the public sewer, plus a personal assessment or analysis of discharge amounts and qualities. Such access shall be allowed at all times and places, and to the degree necessary to take sampling and make examinations necessary or convenient to carry out the purpose of this chapter, or determine the nature and extent of any suspected pollution or wastewater nuisance.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §8, 1977)

It is unlawful to discharge any sanitary sewage, industrial wastes or polluted water, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with this chapter, into any place other than a public sewer.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §5, 1977)

No person shall wilfully break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the wastewater system.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §6, 1977)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting any special agreement or arrangement between the City and any person whereby a waste of unusual strength or character may be admitted to the wastewater system, either before or after pretreatment, provided that there is no impairment of the functioning of the wastewater system by reason of the admission of such wastes, and no extra costs are incurred by the City without recompense by the person.

(Ord. 164 Div. 1 §9, 1977)