§ 46-89. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Approving authority means the mayor and the city council or their duly authorized representative.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) means the quantity of oxygen by weight, expressed in mg/l, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for five days at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

Building sewer means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal (also called house lateral and house connection).

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) means a measure of the oxygen consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in the water or wastewater expressed in mg/l as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific test, but not differentiating between stable and unstable organic matter and thus not necessarily correlating with biochemical oxygen demand.

Control manhole means a manhole giving access to a building sewer at some point before the building sewer discharge mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.

Control point means a point of access to a course of discharge before the discharge mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.

Garbage means animal and vegetable wastes and residue from preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food; and from the handling, processing, storage and sale of food products and produce.

Industrial waste means waste resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business from the development of any natural resource, or any mixture of the waste with water or normal wastewater, or distinct from normal wastewater.

Industrial waste charge means the charge made on those persons who discharge industrial wastes into the city's sewerage system.

Milligrams per liter (mg/l) means the same as parts per million and is a weight to volume ratio; the milligram per liter value multiplied by the factor 8.34 shall be equivalent to pounds per million gallons of water.

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

Normal domestic wastewater means wastewater excluding industrial wastewater discharged by a person into sanitary sewers and in which the average concentration of total suspended solids is not more than 250 mg/l and BOD is not more than 250 mg/l.

Overload means the imposition of organic or hydraulic loading on a treatment facility in excess of its engineered design capacity.

pH means the reciprocal of the logarithm (base 10) of the hydrogen ion concentration expressed in grams per liter.

Public sewer means pipe or conduit carrying wastewater or unpolluted drainage in which owners of abutting properties shall have the use, subject to control by the city.

Sanitary sewer means a public sewer that conveys domestic wastewater, industrial wastes or a combination of both, and into which stormwater, surface water, groundwater and other unpolluted wastes are not intentionally passed.

Slug means any discharge of water, wastewater, or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.

Standard methods means the examination and analytical procedures set forth in the latest edition, at the time of analysis, of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater as prepared, approved, and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation.

Storm sewer means a public sewer which carries stormwaters and surface waters and drainage and into which domestic wastewater or industrial wastes are not intentionally passed.

Stormwater means rainfall or any other forms of precipitation.

Superintendent means the water and wastewater superintendent of the city or his duly authorized deputy, agent or representative.

Suspended solids means solids, measured in mg/l, that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which are largely removable by a laboratory filtration device.

To discharge means to deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow to seep or otherwise release or dispose of, or to allow, permit or suffer any of these acts or omissions.

Trap means a device designed to skim, settle or otherwise remove grease, oil, sand, flammable wastes or other harmful substances.

Unpolluted wastewater means water containing:

(1)

No free or emulsified grease or oil;

(2)

No acids or alkalis;

(3)

No phenols or other substances producing taste or odor in receiving water;

(4)

No toxic or poisonous substances in suspension, colloidal state, or solution;

(5)

No noxious or otherwise obnoxious or odorous gases;

(6)

Not more than ten mg/l each of suspended solids and BOD; and

(7)

Color not exceeding 50 units as measured by the Platinum-Cobalt method of determination as specified in Standard Methods.

Waste means rejected, unutilized or superfluous substances in liquid, gaseous, or solid form resulting from domestic, agricultural or industrial activities.

Wastewater means a combination of the water-carried waste from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.

Wastewater facilities mean all facilities for collection, pumping, treating, and disposing of wastewater and industrial wastes.

Wastewater service charge means the charge on all users of the public sewer system whose wastes do not exceed in strength the concentration values established as representative of normal wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plant means any city-owned facilities, devices, and structures used for receiving, processing and treating wastewater, industrial waste, and sludges from the sanitary sewers.

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

(Code 1978, § 24-56; Code 1993, § 82-81)