Scotts Valley Municipal Code Art. III Wastewater Volume Determination

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise provided pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, wastewater volumes shall be determined upon the basis of volumes of freshwater, reclaimed water, and all sources of non-wastewater, used by, or furnished to, a user.

(Ord. 79.18 § II.A (part), 1993)

A. Wastewater volumes for sewer billing purposes shall be determined from those volumes of fresh water provided by the public water utility serving the premises discharging to the sanitary sewer system. If a premises is not served by a public water supply, wastewater volumes shall be determined by an appropriate flow metering device installed, at the user's expense, at a location approved by the manager.

B. Where wastewater flow meters are not present, fees shall be computed on the average flow for January and February of each year, as determined by the monthly water utility meter readings. However, upon request of a responsible party (as defined in subsection D of this section) the fee shall be computed by the manager on the basis of the average annual flow for the preceding twelve-month period, provided data for such period is available.

C. If metered water is diverted to any other use, such as irrigation or cooling, and therefore is not discharged to the sanitary sewer system, the manager or his authorized representative shall determine the monthly wastewater service fee based upon the total volume of water used less the volume so diverted. If the diverted water volume is not metered, the manager shall determine the volume or require a meter.

D. If one water meter serves more than one user, building or use, there shall be only one statement sent to the property owner; the city shall not apportion the wastewater treatment service among different users of the same water. The responsible party shall be the person requesting water service to the premises. However, in the event the person requesting water service to the premises is other than the legal owner thereof, the legal owner of the premises shall also be a responsible party. In the case where a property owner has a restaurant and other unit(s) on a single water meter and does not want the city to charge the owner as though all water is used for restaurant purposes, the owner must have a separate water meter installed. If the property owner does not have a separate water meter installed for restaurant purposes, the entire account will be charged as a restaurant use.

E. Wastewater flow metering devices, where required, shall measure either the amount of wastewater discharged into the sanitary sewer system, or the amount of non-wastewater diverted from the sanitary sewer system. Once installed, such meters shall be maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and shall be tested annually for accuracy. Such maintenance and testing shall be at the expense of the user. Test results shall be made available to the manager upon request. A service fee, at a rate to be set by the council, shall be charged by the city for reading water volume meters. Meters may be read by the user, subject to verification and a service fee by the city.

(Ord. 79.18 § II.A (part), 1993)