[Ord. No. 24075A, §§ 16.1-16.25, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 24939, 4-27-1981; Ord.
No. 30078, 12-27-2004; amended 5-13-2019 by Ord. No. 34442]
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the terms
used in this chapter shall mean as follows:
Includes, but not be limited to, grease traps, oil traps,
particle separators, and other like items which are tributary to the
City's wastewater or storm drainage systems.
The City Consolidated Public Works Department, City Plumbing
Inspector, City FOG Inspector, City Health Department, or other City
officials responsible for enforcing pertinent ordinances and regulations.
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 toilets, sinks, washers, sanitary
drains, 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.
The City of Waltham including all authorized agents thereof.
The designated FOG Inspector by the City or, if the position
is vacant, the Code Enforcement Inspector of the Engineering Department
and/or Assistant City Engineer, or an authorized representative of
the City Engineer.
The pipes, conduits, manholes, pumping stations, and appurtenances
involved in the collection and transport of wastewater and stormwater.
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The Director of Consolidated Public Works and Forestry or
his authorized deputy, agent or representative, and/or the City Engineer.
Any liquid, vapor, or solid material(s) introduced into the
municipal sanitary sewerage system, whether intentionally or unintentionally,
including, but not limited to, leaks, spills, leaching, and pouring.
A pipe or conduit for the conveyance of storm- or groundwater.
A discharge of pollutants into the environment or to a sewer
system, whether or not treated.
More than the limits established by any statute, ordinance,
rule, regulation, order, permit, or standard issued under the authority
of the United States government or its authorized agents; the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts or its authorized agents; MWRA; or the City of Waltham.
Any oil, fat, or grease (originating from any animal, vegetable,
petroleum product, or any other hydrocarbon) in a physical state that
will allow for separation from wastewater by gravity.
An intended drainage point in an otherwise impervious floor
which serves as the point of entry into any subsurface drainage, treatment,
disposal, containment, or other plumbing system.
Organic polar compounds derived from vegetable/plant or animal
sources that are composed of long chain triglycerides.
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking, and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, and
sale of produce.
A receptacle designed to separate petroleum-based oil and
grease from water; also called a separator in the Uniform State Plumbing
Code, 248 CMR 2.00.
A receptacle designed to collect and retain or remove grease
and fatty substances from wastewater normally resulting from the commercial
handling, preparation, cooking, or dispensing of food; also referred
to as a grease interceptor in the Uniform State Plumbing Code, 248
CMR 2.00.
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Water other than wastewater that enters a sewer system (including
sewer service connections and foundation drains) from the ground through
means which include, but are not limited to, defective pipes, pipe
joints, connections, or manholes. Infiltration does not include, and
is distinguished from, inflow.
The quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow without
distinguishing the source.
Water other than sanitary flow that enters a sewer system
(including sewer service connections) from sources which include,
but are not limited to, roof leaders, cellar drains, yard drains,
area drains, sump pump discharges, drains from springs and swampy
areas, manhole covers, cross-connections between storm sewers and
sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, stormwaters, surface
runoff, street wash waters, or drainage. Inflow does not include,
and is distinguished from, infiltration.
The Massachusetts Water Resource Authority.
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other
body of surface water or groundwater.
Person with a legal or equitable interest in property.
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
A sewer which is not owned by the City or the MWRA. Private
sewers include, but are not limited to, building drains, building
sewers, building storm drains, sewers, drains, catch basins, and manholes
located on private property and not located within an easement held
by the City, and sewers and storm drains owned by municipalities and
other public agencies. The connection from a private sewer to the
public sewer system is also owned by the owner of the private sewer.
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 sewer which is owned by the City or the MWRA.
Liquid and water-carried human and domestic wastes from buildings,
exclusive of ground-, storm- and surface water, industrial wastes,
uncontaminated cooling water, and uncontaminated industrial process
water.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwaters, surface
waters, and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
with such groundwaters, surface waters, and stormwaters as may be
present.
Any arrangements of devices and structures used for treating
sewage.
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing
of sewage.
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
A fee levied upon users of the sewer system for the costs
of operation, maintenance and repairs.
Any discharge of water, sewage, 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 twenty-four-hour concentration of flows during normal
operation.
The industry standard test book describing the procedures
for examination and testing of wastewater.
A drain that carries storm- and surface waters and drainage,
but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling
water.
Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension
in water, sewage, or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory
filtering.
Any person or entity, whether or not physically located within
the City, who discharges or causes or permits the discharge of wastewater
into the City's sanitary sewers, storm drains, or interceptors owned
by MWRA located within the City. Such person or entity is not limited
to the owner of the property from which the offending discharge is
made.
A channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously
or intermittently.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.7, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 28587, 6-22-1998; Ord. No. 30000, 8-2-2004]
The Director shall have all of the powers granted to the Commissioner of Sewers of the City by MGL c. 41, except to the extent that he is limited by Section 16-4 of this chapter. The exercise of the powers aforementioned shall be subject to the requirement that the City Engineer perform all measurements and calculations with respect to capacity and flow of existing or proposed sewers, drains and connections and no construction shall commence or be permitted without the City Engineer's determination as to the adequacy of such sewer, drain or connection thereto and compliance with all federal, state or local laws, regulations, and administrative or judicial orders, agreements or judgments applicable thereto. The City Engineer's determination of the adequacy and compliance of such sewer, drain or connection thereto shall be evidenced by his signature on all permits issued therefor.
[Ord. No. 24075A, §§ 16.37, 16.38, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 30000, 8-2-2004]
(a)
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater,
surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated
cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary
sewer.
(b)
Stormwater 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, but
only after determination by the City Engineer that said combined sewers
or storm sewers have sufficient capacity to accommodate such discharge
and that all federal, state or local laws, regulations, and administrative
or judicial orders, agreements or judgments applicable thereto will
be complied with. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters
may be discharged, on approval of the Director, but only after determination
by the City Engineer that said combined sewers or storm sewers have
sufficient capacity to accommodate such discharge and that all federal,
state or local laws, regulations, and administrative or judicial orders,
agreements or judgments applicable thereto will be complied with.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.46, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 28587, 6-22-1998; Ord. No. 28645, 9-28-1998]
Except as provided in Chapter 151, Section 620, of the Acts
of 1996, no municipality shall discharge or cause to be discharged
or allow to be discharged into any metropolitan sewer or any sewer
tributary thereto any septic tank or cesspool cleanings or any sewer
or industrial wastes which originate in any territory outside the
limits of the municipal boundary of the City of Waltham without first
obtaining all necessary approval(s) required by the Massachusetts
Water Resources Authority and, without the approval of a two-thirds
vote of the members of the City Council; provided, however, that until
the 31st of December 1979, the Commission may grant permission for
the discharge of septic tank or cesspool cleanings upon such terms
and conditions as the City Council may require.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.50, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 3000, 8-2-2004]
Whenever any street shall be opened for laying or repairing
water or gas pipes or drains or for any other purpose, the work shall
be executed so as not to obstruct the course, capacity or construction
of a common sewer. When any pipes or drains shall be found to exist
in such location as to interfere with the building of any common sewer,
the person having charge of or maintaining the same, shall, on notice,
at once remove, change or alter such pipe or drain in such a manner
as the Director of Public Works and Forestry or the City Engineer
shall direct, and if they neglect or refuse so to do, the Director
of Public Works and Forestry, on his own or at the direction of the
City Engineer may make such removal, change or alteration at the expense
of the party so notified.
[Ord. No. 32083, 12-9-2013]
Whenever any public sewer or building sewer, situated within the public way, becomes clogged, broken, obstructed, out of order or detrimental to the use of a common sewer or unfit for sewerage purposes, the City shall remove, reconstruct, alter, cleanse or repair such public sewer or building sewer, situated within the public way, as the conditions thereof may require. The owner, agent, occupant or person having charge of any building or lot of land or premises that is served by such public sewer or building sewer, within the public way, shall not be assessed any additional charge or fee in addition to the sewer use charges established under Section 16-56 of Chapter 16 of the General Ordinances of the City of Waltham.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.51, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 30000, 8-2-2004]
Whenever any private sewer shall become clogged, broken, obstructed,
out of order or detrimental to the use of a common sewer or unfit
for sewerage purposes, in that part situated outside of any street
or private way in which common sewers are laid, the owner, agent,
occupant or person having charge of any building or lot of land or
premises in which such private sewer is located shall, when directed
by the Director of Public Works and Forestry or the City Engineer,
remove, reconstruct, alter, cleanse or repair such private sewer as
the conditions thereof may require. In case of neglect or refusal
to comply with such notice within five days after the same is given,
the Director, on his own or at the direction of the City Engineer,
may cause the private sewer to be removed, reconstructed, repaired,
altered or cleansed as he may deem expedient, at the expense of such
owner, agent, occupant or other person so notified.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.44, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 3000, 8-2-2004]
When required by the Director and/or the City Engineer, the
owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial
wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such
necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to
facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such
manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and
shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Director
and/or the City Engineer. The manhole shall be installed by the owner
at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and
accessible at all times.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.45, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 3000, 8-2-2004]
(a)
All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters
and wastes to which reference is made in this chapter 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 and shall be determined at the control manhole
provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole.
In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control
manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in
the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected.
Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect
the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine
the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. (The particular
analyses involved will determine whether a twenty-four-hour composite
of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample
or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended
solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all
outfalls whereas pH's are determined from periodic grab samples.).
(b)
All industries discharging into a public sewer shall perform such
monitoring of their discharges as the Director and the City Engineer
and/or other duly authorized employees of the City may reasonably
require, including installation, use and maintenance of monitoring
equipment, keeping records and reporting the results of such monitoring
to the Director and the City Engineer. Such records shall be made
available upon request by the director to other agencies having jurisdiction
over discharges to the receiving waters.
[Ord. No. 24075A, § 16.49, 11-14-1977]
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper with any structure,
appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the sewage works.
[Ord. No. 24075A, §§ 16-52—16-55, 11-14-1977; Ord. No. 30000, 8-2-2004]
(a)
The Director, the City Engineer and other duly authorized employees
of the City bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be
permitted to enter all properties at any reasonable hour for the purposes
of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
(b)
If any owner, occupant, or other person, refuses, impedes, inhibits,
interferes with, restricts, or obstructs entry and free access to
properties where inspection is sought, the Director and/or the City
Engineer may:
(1)
Seek in a court of competent jurisdiction a search warrant so
as to apprise the owner, occupant or other person concerning the nature
of the inspection and justification for it and may seek the assistance
of the police in presenting such warrants; and/or
(2)
Revoke or suspend any permit or other permission regulated under
this chapter where inspection of the properties is sought to determine
compliance with this chapter.
(c)
While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in Subsection (a), the Director, the City Engineer or duly authorized employees of the City shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company.
(d)
The Director, the City Engineer and other duly authorized employees
of the City bearing proper credentials and identification shall be
permitted to enter all private properties through which the City holds
a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to,
inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance
of any portion of the sewage works lying within said easement. All
entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement, shall be done
in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement
pertaining to the private property involved. Unless otherwise prohibited
by provisions of duly negotiated covenant said work shall be without
charge to the owner, agent, occupant or person having charge of said
private property.
[Amended 12-9-2013 by Ord. No. 32081]
[Ord. No. 24075A, §§ 16-56—16-58, 11-14-1977]
(a)
Any person found to be violating any provision of this chapter, except section 16-9, shall be served by the City with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
(b)
Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in a notice, shall be punished as provided in section 1-9 of this Code.
(c)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall
become liable to the City for any expense, loss, or damage occasioned
the City by reason of such violation.
