[Adopted 2-10-1975, effective 3-10-1975]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as "Sewer Use Ordinance."
A.Â
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
BUILDING DRAIN
BUILDING SEWER
COMBINED SEWER
DIRECTOR
EASEMENT
FLOATABLE OIL
GARBAGE
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
NATURAL OUTLET
PERSON
PH
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
PUBLIC SEWER
SANITARY SEWER
SEWER
SLUG
STORM DRAIN
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
UNPOLLUTED WATER
WASTEWATER
WASTEWATER FACILITIES
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
WATERCOURSE
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meanings of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
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.
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer
or other place of disposal, also called house connection.
A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm or
surface water.
The Director of Public Works of the Town of Mansfield or
his or her authorized deputy, agent or representative.
An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned
by others.
Oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will
separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment
facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if
it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with
the collection system.
The animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling,
preparation, cooking and serving of foods.
The wastewater from industrial processes, trade or business,
as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows,
into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or
groundwater.
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation
or group.
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 7.0 and
a hydrogen-ion concentration of 10-7.
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of
food 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 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters)
in any dimension.
A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public
utility.
A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions,
together with minor quantities of ground-, storm- and surface waters
that are not admitted intentionally.
A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water.
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
twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation and
shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance of
the wastewater treatment works.
(Sometimes termed "storm sewer") A drain or sewer for conveying
water, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any
source.
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 Standard Methods
for Examination of Water and Wastewater and referred to as nonfilterable
residue.
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.
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.
The structures, equipment and processes required to collect,
carry away and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of
the effluent.
An arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater,
industrial wastes and sludge. Sometimes used as synonymous with "waste
treatment plant" or "wastewater treatment plant" or "water pollution
control plant."
A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water,
either continuously or intermittently.
B.Â
"Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit
or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private
property within the Town of Mansfield, or in any area under the jurisdiction
of said town, any human or animal excrement, garbage or objectionable
waste.
B.Â
It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet
within the Town of Mansfield, or in any area under the jurisdiction
of said town, any wastewater or other polluted waters, except where
suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent
provisions of this article.
C.Â
Except as provided in a certain ordinance dated April
5, 1974, entitled, "An Ordinance Regulating Construction of Subsurface
Sewage Disposal Systems and Water Supply Wells,"[1] it shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy,
privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used
for the disposal of wastewater.
D.Â
The owner(s) of all houses, buildings or properties
used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purposes,
located on property situated within the Town of Mansfield, which property
has frontage on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is
now located or may be in the future be located a public sanitary or
combined sewer of the town, is hereby required at the owner's (or
owners') expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein and
to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter, within 90 days after
date of official notice to do so, provided that any part of said public
sewer is within 100 feet (30.5 meters) of any part of said frontage
line.
A.Â
No person shall uncover, make any connections with
or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance
unless authorized by the Director. Any person proposing a new discharge
into the system or a substantial change in the volume or character
of pollutants that are being discharged into the system shall notify
the Director at least 45 days prior to the proposed change or connection.
[Amended 2-13-1979, effective 3-10-1979]
B.Â
There shall be two classes of building sewer permits:
for residential and commercial service and for service to establishments
producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner(s) or his or
her agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the
town. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications
or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Director.
A permit and inspection fee of $50 for a residential or commercial
building sewer permit and $100 for an industrial building sewer permit
shall be paid to the town at the time the application is filed.
C.Â
All costs and expenses incidental to the installation
and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner(s).
The owner(s) shall indemnify the town for any loss or damage that
may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the
building sewer.
D.Â
A separate and independent building sewer shall be
provided for every building; except where one building stands upon
a lot having no frontage and located at the rear of another building
on a lot having frontage and no private sewer is available or can
be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court,
yard or driveway, then in such case the front building sewer may be
extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building
sewer, but the town does not and will not assume any responsibility
for damage caused by or resulting from any such single connection
aforementioned.
E.Â
Old building sewers may be used in connection with
new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by
the Director, to meet all requirements of this article.
F.Â
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction
of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing
of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall all
conform to the requirements established by the Director. In the absence
of such requirements or in amplification thereof, the materials and
procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and
WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
G.Â
Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought
to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings
in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the
public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall
be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
H.Â
No person(s) shall make connection of roof downspouts,
foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff
or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which in turn
is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer unless
such connection is approved by the Director for purposes of disposal
of polluted surface drainage.
I.Â
The connection of the building sewer into the public
sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Director and those
procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and
the WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made
gastight and watertight and verified by testing as required by the
Director. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials
must be approved by the Director before installation.
J.Â
The applicant for the building sewer permit shall
notify the Director when the building sewer is ready for inspection
and connection to the public sewer. The connection and testing shall
be made under the supervision of the Director or his or her representative.
K.Â
All excavations for building sewer installation shall
be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect
the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public
property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in
a manner satisfactory to the town.
A.Â
No person(s) shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any unpolluted waters such as stormwater, groundwater, roof runoff,
subsurface drainage or cooling water to any sewer, except stormwater
runoff from limited areas, which stormwater may be polluted at times,
may be discharged to the sanitary sewer by permission of the Director.
B.Â
Stormwater other than that exempted under Subsection A and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the Director and other regulatory agencies. Unpolluted industrial cooling water or process waters may be discharged, on approval of the Director and the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, to a storm sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet.
C.Â
No person(s) shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:
(1)Â
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other
flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.
(2)Â
Any waters containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids
or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with
other wastes, to injure or interfere with any waste treatment process,
constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance
or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the wastewater treatment
plant.
(3)Â
Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or
higher than 9.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of
causing damage or hazard to sewer, structures equipment, process or
personnel at the wastewater treatment works.
(4)Â
Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such
size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other
interference with the proper operation of the wastewater facilities,
such as but not limited to ashes, bones, cinders, sand, mud, straw,
shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground
garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails
and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground
by garbage grinders.
D.Â
The following described substances, materials, waters
or waste shall be limited in discharges to municipal systems to concentrations
or quantities which will not harm either the sewers, wastewater treatment
process or equipment, will not have an adverse effect on the receiving
stream or will not otherwise endanger lives, limb or public property
or constitute a nuisance. The Director may set limitations lower than
the limitations established in the regulations below if in his or
her opinion such more severe limitations are necessary to meet the
above objectives. In forming his or her opinion as to the acceptability,
the Director will give consideration to such factors as the quantity
of subject waste in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers,
materials of construction of the sewers, the wastewater treatment
process employed, capacity of the wastewater treatment plant, degree
of treatability of the waste in the wastewater treatment plant and
other pertinent factors. The limitations or restrictions on materials
or characteristics of waste or wastewaters discharged to the sanitary
sewer which shall not be violated without approval of the Director
are as follows:
(1)Â
Wastewater having a temperature higher than 150°
F. (65° C.).
(2)Â
Wastewater containing more than 25 milligrams per
liter of petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oils or product of
mineral oil origin.
(3)Â
Wastewater from industrial plants containing floatable
oils, fat or grease.
(4)Â
Any garbage that has not been properly shredded (see § 159-2A, definition of "properly shredded garbage"). Garbage grinders may be connected to sanitary sewers from homes, hotels, institutions, restaurants, hospitals, catering establishments or similar places where garbage originates from the preparation of food in kitchens for the purpose of consumption on the premises or when served by caterers.
(5)Â
Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper,
zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances to such degree
that any such material received in the composite wastewater at the
wastewater treatment works exceeds the limits established by the Director.
(6)Â
Any waters or wastes containing odor-producing substances
exceeding limits which may be established by the Director.
(7)Â
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life
or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Director
in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(8)Â
Quantities of flow, concentrations or both which constitute
a "slug" as defined herein.
(9)Â
Waters or wastes containing substances which are not
amenable to treatment or reduction by wastewater treatment processes
employed or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the
wastewater treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of
other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving
waters.
(10)Â
Any water or wastes which by interaction with
other water or wastes in the public sewer system release obnoxious
gases, form suspended solids which interfere with the collection system
or create a condition deleterious to structures and treatment processes.
E.Â
Discharges creating nuisances.
(1)Â
If any waters of wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters or waste contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in Subsection D and which, in the judgment of the Director, may have a deleterious effect upon the wastewater facilities, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Director may:
(2)Â
If the Director permits the pretreatment or equalization
of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment
shall be subject to the review and approval of the Director and the
State Department of Environmental Protection.
F.Â
Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the Director, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing floatable oil, grease in excessive amounts, as specified in Subsection D(3), or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Director and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. In the maintaining of these interceptors, the owner(s) shall be responsible for the proper removal and disposal by appropriate means of the captured material and shall maintain records of the dates and means of disposal which are subject to review by the Director. Any removal and hauling of the collected materials not performed by the owner's (or owners') personnel must be performed by currently licensed waste disposal firms.
G.Â
Where pretreatment or flow-equalizing facilities are
provided or required for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained
continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner(s)
at his or her expense.
H.Â
When required by the Director, the owner of any property
serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install
a suitable structure, together with such necessary meters and other
appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling
and measurement of the wastes. Such structure, when required, shall
be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance
with plans approved by the Director and the State Department of Environmental
Protection. The structure shall be installed by the owner(s) at his
or her expense and shall be maintained by him or her so as to be safe
and accessible at all times.
I.Â
All measurements, tests and analysis of the characteristics
of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this article shall
be determined in accordance with the latest edition of "Standard Methods
for the Examination of Water and Wastewater," published by the American
Public Health Association. Sampling methods, location, times, durations
and frequencies are to be determined on an individual basis, subject
to approval by the Director. All industries discharging into a public
sewer shall perform such monitoring of their discharge as the Director
and/or other duly authorized employees of the town may reasonably
require, including installation, use and maintenance of monitoring
equipment, keeping records and reporting the results of such monitoring
to the Director. Such records shall be made available upon request
by the Director to other agencies having jurisdiction over discharges
to the receiving waters.
[Amended 2-13-1979, effective 3-10-1979]
J.Â
No statement contained in this section shall be construed
as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the town
and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual
strength or character may be accepted by the town for treatment, provided
that such agreements do not contravene any requirements of existing
state and federal laws and are compatible with any user charge and
industrial cost recovery system in effect.
[Amended 2-13-1979, effective 3-10-1979]
K.Â
Prior to discharge or permission to discharge into
the Town of Mansfield sewers, the applicant industry shall obtain
written approval from the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection, in the form of a permit, allowing the proposed discharge.
[Amended 2-13-1979, effective 3-10-1979]
L.Â
Any new discharge from a single source of domestic
wastewater in excess of 5,000 gallons per day or cooling waters shall
be authorized by a permit from the State of Connecticut Department
of Environmental Protection, Director of Water Compliance and Hazardous
Substances.
[Amended 2-13-1979, effective 3-10-1979]
[Amended 1-13-1997, effective 2-10-1997]
No person(s) shall maliciously, willfully or
negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with
any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the wastewater
facilities. Any person or persons violating this article shall be
guilty of an infraction.
A.Â
The Director and other employees duly authorized by
the Director of the Town of Mansfield and bearing proper credentials
and identification are hereby authorized to enter all properties with
the authorization of the owner, occupant or person in charge of such
property, for the purpose of making inspections, observations, measurements,
samplings, testing and procuring other information relevant and necessary
towards protecting the community sewer system in accordance with the
provisions of this article. Such entries shall not have for its purpose
the harassment of any owner or occupant and shall be made in the manner
which will cause the least amount of inconvenience to any owner or
occupant, consistent with the efficient performance of the duties
of the Director. The owner, person in charge or occupant of any such
premises, upon presentation by the Director, or his or her authorized
agent, of proper identification, shall give the Director, or his or
her authorized agent, entry upon such premises and free access to
every part thereof necessary for the purpose described in this subsection.
B.Â
Any owner or occupant or person in charge of such premises or a tenant who refuses such entry on such premises for any of the purposes set forth in this article shall be considered to be in violation of this article and shall be fined upon conviction pursuant to the terms of § 159-9A herein.
C.Â
The Director or other duly authorized employees are
authorized to obtain information concerning industrial processes which
have direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the wastewater
collection system. If the industry establishes to the satisfaction
of the Director that any of such information, if disclosed to the
public, would likely result in an advantage to a competitor of said
industry, the Director may still require such information, but such
information shall be disclosed only to the Director or the Water Pollution
Control Authority of the Town of Mansfield and to no other persons.
D.Â
While performing the necessary work on private properties
pursuant to this article, the Director or duly authorized employees
of the town shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises
established by the company.
The provisions of this article shall be held
to be minimum requirements, adopted for the protection of the public
health, safety and general welfare of the Town of Mansfield, and whenever
the requirements of this article are at variance with the requirements
of any other lawfully adopted rules, regulations or restrictions,
such rule, regulation or restriction which imposes the higher standard
shall control.
A.Â
Any person found to be violating any provision of
this article shall be guilty of an infraction.
[Added 2-13-1979; effective 3-10-1979; 1-13-1997, effective 2-10-1997]
B.Â
Any person violating any provision of this article
shall be guilty of an infraction for each offense. If such offense
continues for more than five days, such continuance shall constitute
a new offense for each day it continues to exist thereafter.
[Amended 1-13-1997, effective 2-10-1997]
C.Â
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
article shall become liable to the town for any expense, loss or damage
occasioned the town by reason of such violation.
[Added 2-13-1979; effective 3-10-1979]