§ 19-2. Definitions.

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

Applicant means an owner or tenant who applies for city water including but not limited to reuse water, if applicable, and/or sewer/wastewater service.

Assessment means a municipal improvement lien against property for benefits received from construction of such improvements.

BOD (denoting biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen expressed in milligrams per liter, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees centigrade.

Building drain means the part of the lowest piping of a drainage system which receives sewage and waste from inside the walls of a building and conveys it to the building sewer five (5) feet outside the building wall.

Building sewer means the service pipe from the building drain to the public sewer lateral or other point of disposal.

City sewer or public sewer means a publicly owned sanitary sewer or appurtenance lying within a public right-of-way or an easement.

Combined sewer means a sewer which receives both sewage and surface runoff.

Commercial unit means a space, area or portion of a building for the exclusive use of a single business, institution, club or industrial establishment.

Cost, also expense, means the total expenditure required to furnish and install a sewerage system or water including but not limited to the reuse water system facility, improvement, addition or extension.

Customer means the actual user of public services.

Developed property means any parcel of land which has been improved, or is being improved, to the extent that water including but not limited to reuse water and/or sewer service is necessary prior to its utilization.

Developer means an owner or an agent of the owner who shall have the legal right to negotiate for city water including but not limited to reuse water and/or sewer service during the commercial utilization of any land including subdivisions.

Development means a parcel of land, including subdivisions, which has been or is being improved to the extent that city water including but not limited to reuse water, if applicable, and/or sewer service is necessary prior to its utilization.

Director or director of utility services means the administrative head of the city department of utility services who is in responsible charge of the city water including but not limited to reuse water system and the city sewerage system.

Dwelling, multiple-family means a building containing two (2) or more living units.

Dwelling, single-family means a building containing only one (1) living unit.

Dwelling, two-family means a building containing two (2) living units.

ERC or equivalent residential connections means the factor computed by dividing the estimated monthly sewage flow, in gallons, from institutional and commercial premises, by eight thousand (8,000) gallons.

Garbage means solid wastes resulting from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

Industrial wastes means the liquid wastes resulting from trade, commercial and manufacturing processes and distinguished from domestic sewage.

Motel and hotel unit means the individual room or suite normally rented to transients as a separate sleeping or living unit with or without individual baths and with or without individual kitchenettes.

Natural outlet means any outlet, either natural or manmade, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.

New account charge shall mean a nonrefundable fee imposed and collected each time a customer establishes, opens or reopens any utility account with the city.

Oversize sewer means a sewer extension in, through or past a development which, because of anticipated future extensions or other reasons, is of a larger diameter pipe or a larger diameter pipe at a lower elevation than is required to serve the immediate needs of the development.

Parcel means premises served by a single water meter and served, or eligible to be served, with connection to a public sewer and/or reuse water.

pH is a symbol used to express the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Values are the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

Premises means a house or building with the grounds belonging to it.

Programmed extension means water including but not limited to reuse water, if applicable, and sewer extensions included in master plans of the public water including but not limited to reuse water, and sewer systems on file in the office of the utility director.

Properly shredded garbage means garbage which has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in a public sewer and with no particle greater than one-half (½) inch in any dimension.

Property owner or owner means the title holder of record of the premises served, or proposed to be served, by the city water including but not limited to reuse water, if applicable, system or by the city sewerage system.

Public sewer means a sanitary sewer, under city control and lying within a public right-of-way or utility easement.

Residential unit means a space, area or portion of a building, with cooking facilities, for the exclusive use of a single family. A residential unit may be a single-family dwelling, one (1) unit of a two-family dwelling, one (1) unit of a multifamily dwelling or a mobile home.

Reuse Water System means all facilities for pumping, treating, storing, distributing, and metering reuse water. The Reuse Water System is considered part of the City's Water system.

Same day turn on service and/or afterhours same day turn on service is activating water and sewer services the same day as services are paid for either before 2:00 p.m.—Same day turn on service or after 2:00 p.m.—Afterhours same day turn on service. This service is an option that customers can select when opening an account, closing an account or restoring services due to a delinquent status as outlined in section 19-150(h) of this Code.

Sanitary sewer means a pipe which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.

Sewage, also domestic sewage, also wastes means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings and industrial establishments together with such ground and surface waters as may be inadvertently admitted.

Sewage treatment plant means an arrangement of equipment and facilities used for treating sewage.

Sewer means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

Sewerage and/or wastewater system means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of wastes.

Sewer extension charge means a charge on real property for extending the public sewer to a point reasonably available for the property so charged.

Sewer lateral means a public sewer which has only building sewers tributary to it, receives the discharge of a building sewer at a property line, and which discharges into a branch sewer, larger sewer or manhole.

Sewer tap charge means a charge on real property for extending a sewer lateral to a point adjacent to the property line of the property so charged.

Slug means any discharge of sewage, waste or water which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds for more than fifteen (15) minutes more than five (5) times the normal twenty-four-hour average concentration or flow.

Storm drain or storm sewer means a sewer which carries storm waters, surface and ground waters, and unpolluted cooling waters and to which sewage and polluted wastes are not intentionally admitted.

Suspended solids means solids which either float on the surface or are held suspended in water, sewage or other liquids, and which a laboratory filter will remove.

Watercourse means a channel in which water flows either continuously or intermittently.

Water pollution control charge means a charge on real property for facilities to convey, treat and dispose of sewage to prevent contamination of surface and ground waters.

Water system means all facilities for pumping, treating, storing, distributing and metering water including but not limited to reuse water, if applicable.

(Code 1959, § 24-2; Ord. No. 89-07, § 1, 3-27-89; Ord. No. O-16-38 , § 2, 1-23-17)

Cross reference

Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.