§ 19-319. 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:

ASTM shall mean the American Society for Testing and Materials.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20 degrees C, expressed in milligrams per liter.

Building drain shall mean that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.

Building sewer shall mean the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, also called the house connection.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the chemical oxidation of wastewater under standard laboratory procedure expressed in milligrams per liter.

Chlorine requirement shall mean the amount of chlorine expressed in milligrams per liter by weight that is required to produce a residual of 0.1 milligrams per liter of chlorine after 15 minutes' contact of chlorine with sewage.

Combined sewage and wastewater shall mean a mixture of surface runoff and other wastewater such as domestic and industrial wastewater.

Combined sewer shall mean a sewer intended to receive both wastewater and stormwater or surface water.

Commission or sewer commission shall be construed to mean the Town of New Shoreham Sewer Commission acting on behalf of the town, its superintendent or its authorized deputy, agent, or representative.

Cooling water shall mean water used to reduce temperature only.

Easement shall mean an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

Floatable oil is oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. Wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection system.

Garbage shall mean the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.

Garbage disposal unit shall mean a shredding or grinding apparatus installed in sinks for the purpose of reducing garbage to relatively small particle sizes.

Grit shall mean the heavy suspended mineral matter present in wastewater, such as sand, gravel and cinders.

Industrial wastes shall mean the wastewater from industrial processes, trades, or businesses as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.

Interceptor shall mean a common sewer controlled by the town sewer commission.

Licensed person shall mean a person having the appropriate license or certification to perform certain functions, whether they be state or local licenses.

Natural outlet shall mean any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.

pH shall mean the reciprocal of the logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a Ph value of 7 and hydrogen ion concentration of 10.

Pollution shall mean a condition created by the presence of harmful or objectionable material in water; or any introduction into water of microorganisms, chemicals, wastes or wastewater in a concentration that makes the water unfit for its intended use.

Properly shredded garbage shall mean the wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of foods that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.

Property owner or owner of property or owner shall include both the owners of fee in any real estate and all tenants, lessees or others in control or possession and use of the property in question or any interest therein and his, her, its or their agents or representatives as the interest, duties, powers or liabilities of each may be.

Public sewer shall mean a common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility.

Sanitary sewer shall mean a sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with minor quantities of groundwater, stormwater and surface water that are not admitted intentionally.

Septic tank shall mean a settling tank in which settled sludge is in immediate contact with the wastewater flowing through the tank and the organic solids are decomposed by anaerobibacterial action.

Septic tank cleanings shall mean the sludge from a septic tank.

Sewage shall be held to mean and to include any human or animal excremental liquid or substance, any decomposed animal or vegetable matter, garbage, offal, filth, waste, chemical, acid, dye-stuff, starch, coloring matter, oil and tar, radioactive substances and any compound, solution, mixture or product or product thereof and every substance which may be injurious to public health or comfort or which would injuriously affect the natural and healthy propagation, growth or development of any fish or shellfish in the waters of this state or the nourishment of the same or which would injuriously affect the flavor, taste or value as food of any such fish or shellfish or which would defile such waters or injure or defile any vessel, boat, wharf, pier or any public or private property upon, in or under such waters, or any shore thereof. The preferred term is wastewater.

Slug shall mean any discharge of water or wastewater 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 and which shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance of the wastewater treatment works.

Storm drain, sometimes termed storm sewer, shall mean a drain or sewer for conveying water, surface runoff, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.

Stormwater shall mean the excess water running off from the surface of a drainage area during and immediately after a period of rain. It is that portion of the rainfall and the resulting surface flow that is in excess of that which can be absorbed through the infiltration capacity of the surface of the basin.

Superintendent shall mean the superintendent of the town sewer commission or his/her authorized deputy, agent or representative.

Suspended solids shall mean total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of or is in suspension in water, wastewater or other liquids and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in the latest edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater," published by the American Public Health Association, and referred to as nonfilterable residue.

Town sewer system or system shall mean and include the sewer system of the town or such portion or portions thereof as may from time to time be designated by the commission.

Toxic shall mean poisonous.

Unpolluted water is water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.

Wastewater shall mean the spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.

Wastewater facilities shall mean the structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away, treat and dispose of wastewater.

Wastewater treatment works shall mean an arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater and sludge. It is sometimes used as synonymous with waste treatment plant or wastewater treatment plant or water pollution control plant or water pollution control facility.

Watercourse shall mean a pond, swamp, or natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.

WPCF shall mean the Water Pollution Control Federation.

(Rev. Ords. 1989, § 19-36)

refcross

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