San Joaquin County Municipal Code Ch. 1 Words and Phrases Defined

The definitions herein given shall govern the construction hereof and its application, unless otherwise apparent from the context:

(a) "Beneficial uses" means uses of the waters of the State that may be protected against quality degradation including, but are not necessarily limited to, domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial supply, power generation, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, navigation and the preservation and enhancement of fish, wildlife and other aquatic resources or reserves, and other uses, both tangible or intangible as specified by State or Federal law.

(b) "BOD" means biochemical oxygen demand.

(c) "COD" means chemical oxygen demand.

(d) "Cesspool" means a lined or partially lined underground pit into which raw sanitary sewage is discharged.

(e) "Commercial or industrial sewage" means any and all liquids and/or solids contained within liquids from industrial, commercial or institutional processes except liquid borne wastes derived from the ordinary living processes and of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the sanitary sewage system.

(f) "Compatible pollutant" means biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the County's or City of Stockton's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

(g) "Contamination" means an impairment to the quality of the waters of the State by waste to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease. Contamination shall include any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of wastewater, whether or not waters of the State are affected.

(h) "County" means the County of San Joaquin.

(i) "Critical user" means a user who is required to obtain an industrial waste permit.

(j) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Public Works of the County or an authorized representative.

(k) "Effluent" means the liquid out flow of any facility designed to treat, convey or retain wastewater.

(l) "Federal Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Federal Clean Water Act, and any amendments thereto; as well as any guidelines, limitations and standards promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Act.

(m) "Health Officer" means the Director of the County Environmental Health Division, or an authorized representative.

(n) "Holding tank waste" means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, boats, septic tanks and vacuum pump tank trucks.

(o) "Incompatible pollutant" means any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant.

(p) "Industrial connection sewer" means the sewer between the property line and the public sewer through which liquid industrial waste is discharged.

(q) "Industrial user" means:

(1) Any nongovernmental user of publicly owned treatment works which discharges more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day of sanitary waste, or a volume of process waste, or combined process and sanitary waste, equivalent to twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day of sanitary waste.

(2) Any nongovernmental use of publicly owned treatment works which discharges wastewater to the treatment works which contains toxic pollutants or poisonous solids, liquids or other gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewer treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance, or create a hazard in or have an adverse effect upon the waters receiving any discharge from the treatment works.

(r) "Industrial waste" means either liquid or solid waste from any industrial or commercial process or activity.

(s) "Inspector" means the authorized inspector or representative of the Director.

(t) "Institutional owner" means any owner, public or private, operating a public or nonprofit school, church, hospital, lodge, club, fire department, library, memorial building, or other public or nonprofit activity.

(u) "Interceptor" means a device used to separate and retain deleterious or undesirable matter from waste, including grease, oil and sand.

(v) "Mass emission rate" means the weight or material discharged to the sewer system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass emission rate shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.

(w) "Multiple-family dwelling unit" means a premises which is designed, improved or used as a residence for three (3) or more families, living separately in separate dwelling units, and which is not designed, improved or used for any other purpose.

(x) "Nuisance" means anything which is injurious to health or is indecent or offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfort or enjoyment of life or property or which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal.

(y) "Other residential" means a building or group of buildings containing individual guest rooms for one or more guests and no provision is made for cooking in any individual room or suite of rooms including, but not limited to, motels boarding houses, hotels, rooming houses, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, etc.

(z) "Permittee" means the person, firm or organization to whom a permit has been issued pursuant hereto.

(aa) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or public agency including the City of Stockton, the County, the State and the United States of America. The singular shall include the plural.

(bb) "Plumbing fixture" means any item which contains a collection device for wastewater connected directly or indirectly to the sanitary sewage system including, but not limited to, a toilet, urinal, shower, tub, sink, basin, lavatory, floor drain or automatic washing machine.

(cc) "Point of discharge" means the point at which any private sewer joins the public sewer lateral.

(dd) "Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of the waters of the State by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects such waters for beneficial use of facilities which serve such beneficial uses. Pollution may include contamination.

(ee) "Pollution of underground or surface waters" means the affecting of such waters such that eventually these would be rendered unfit for use by humans, animals or agricultural crops.

(ff) "Premises" means a parcel of real estate including any improvements thereon which is determined by the County to be a single user for the purpose of receiving, using and paying for service.

(gg) "Public corporation" means the County or any political subdivision, City, County, District, the State or the United States of America, or any department or agency of any thereof. The singular shall include the plural.

(hh) "Public sewer" means a sewer owned and operated by the County or another public agency tributary to a treatment works operated by the County or City of Stockton, and dedicated to public use.

(ii) "Radioactive material" means any material containing chemical elements which spontaneously change their atomic structure with the emission of atomic energy.

(jj) "Reclaimed water" means water which, as a result of treatment of wastewater, is suitable for direct beneficial use or a controlled use that would not otherwise occur.

(kk) "Sanitary sewer" means a sewer line for the acceptance of any sewage or liquid waste except storm water, surface water, ground water, roof runoff or other unpolluted water.

(ll) "Seepage pit" means a device comprised of one (1) or more pits extending into porous strata, lined with open-joined masonry or similar walls, capped and provided with a means of access such as a manhole cover and into which wastewater disposal system effluent is discharged.

(mm) "Sewage" means all wastewater or a combination of the liquid or water containing human waste conducted away from residences, business buildings and institutions which is known as domestic or sanitary sewage, together with the liquid or water carried waste resulting from a manufacturing process employed in commercial or industrial establishments including washing, cleaning or water drained from such process which is known as industrial waste.

(nn) "Sewerage system" means all sewer, treatment plants and all other facilities owned and operated by the County or the City of Stockton for carrying, collecting, treating and disposing of wastewater, sanitary sewage and industrial wastes.

(oo) "Single-family dwelling unit" means a premises which is designed, improved or used as a residence for one (1) family only, and which is not designed, improved or used for any other purpose.

(pp) "Stored liquid wastes" means liquid wastes that have been collected and held in tanks or containers. Wastes of this category include, but are not limited to:

(1) Septic tank pumpings;

(2) Chemical toilet wastes;

(3) Trailer, camper, housecar or other recreational vehicle wastes;

(4) Cesspool pumping;

(5) Leach pit pumping.

(qq) "Storm drainage system" means all conduits, pumping plants, collection facilities and other appurtenances owned and operated by the County, the City of Stockton or another agency for carrying, collecting, pumping and disposing of storm water, surface water, ground water, roof run-off or other unpolluted water.

(rr) "Storm water" means water to which no constituent has been added, either intentionally or accidentally, other than street wash, surface water, rain water runoff or drainage, but excludes sewage, commercial and industrial waste.

(ss) "T.O.C." means total organic carbon.

(tt) "Treatment works" means any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment recycling, and reclamation of sanitary sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature or necessary to recycle or reuse water at the most economical cost over the useful life of the works including, but not limited to, interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, pumping, power and other equipment and appurtenances; extensions, improvements, modifications, additions and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities; and any works including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process, or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment; or any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating or disposing of sanitary waste, including wastewater or industrial waste, including waste in combined storm water and sanitary sewer systems.

(uu) "Two-family dwelling unit" means a premises which is designed, improved or used as a residence for two (2) families and no more, living separately in dwelling units, and which is not designed, improved or used for any other purpose.

(vv) "Unpolluted water" means water to which no constituent has been added, either intentionally or accidentally, which would render such water unacceptable to the agency having jurisdiction thereof for disposal to storm or natural drainages or directly to surface waters.

(ww) "User" means any person that discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into a public sewer.

(xx) "User classification" means a classification of user based on the current edition of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual.

(yy) "Waste" includes sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature, including such waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to and for purposes of disposal.

(zz) "Wastewater" means waste and water, whether treated or untreated, discharged into or permitted to enter a public sewer.

(aaa) "Wastewater constituents and characteristics" means the individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate, and such other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quality, quantity and strength of wastewater.

(bbb) "Waters of the State" means any water, surface or underground, including saline waters within the boundaries of the State.

(Ord. 3994 § 1 (part), 1998)