Town of Selbyville, DE Sewer Connections, Procedures and Specifications

Cleanouts shall not be more than 75 feet apart in four-inch building sewers and not more than 100 feet apart in six-inch building sewers and shall be at each change of direction greater than 45°. There shall be a cleanout at the juncture of the building sewer and street lateral consisting of a wye and a 1/8 bend piped to grade. The cleanout pipe and fittings shall not be less than four inches and shall conform to the building sewer piping requirements. The body of the cleanout ferrule shall conform in thickness to that required for pipe and fittings of the same material. The cleanout plug shall be of brass and plastic with standard tapered pipe threads and have a raised nut or recessed plug.

The cleanout shall be suitably protected from loading by passing through, with clearance for free movement, a casted concrete pad having minimum dimensions of 16 inches in diameter by eight inches thick. A standard approved cast-iron cleanout cover shall be casted in the concrete pad. In nontraffic bearing areas, the requirement for a concrete pad may be replaced with a fiber ring specifically made to support the cast-iron cleanout frame and cover.

There shall be a cleanout near the juncture of the building sewer and building drain which shall be similar to the cleanout located at the property line unless a cleanout with a wye branch inside the building is employed for this cleanout.

Where one building sewer connects two or more building drains, there shall be at least a cleanout at the juncture of each building drain and building sewer and at the juncture of the building sewer and the street lateral. Additional cleanouts may be required by the Town if, in its judgment, they are necessary.

Suitability of building drain vent and plumbing fixture traps.

The building sewer must connect to a building drain that is properly vented, and those plumbing fixtures discharging to the building drainage system must be properly trapped. It shall be the responsibility of the licensed plumber installing the building sewer to determine if the building drain is properly vented and all plumbing fixtures are properly trapped in accordance with the Town's recognized plumbing codes, the BOCA National Plumbing Code. The building drain vent shall meet the recognized standards prior to connecting the building drain to the building sewer, or, in lieu of meeting such standards, a building trap shall be installed. If installed, the building trap shall be of building drain size and be provided with a cleanout and a relieving vent or fresh-air intake on the inlet side of the trap of at least 1/2 the diameter of the drain. The vent shall be located outside the building above the base flood elevation and terminated in a screened outlet. The plumbing fixtures connected to the building drainage system shall be trapped according to recognized standards prior to connecting the building drain to the building sewer.

Note that it is the intent of these requirements regarding the suitability of the building vent and plumbing fixture traps to ensure that any gases or pressure transients in the public sewer will be relieved through the building vent system and no gases will be discharged to the building through plumbing fixtures with inadequate traps. Standard plumbing codes require that every building in which plumbing is installed have at least one main vent stack which shall run undiminished in size and as directly as possible from the building drain through to the open air above the roof and in no case be less than three inches in diameter. Standard plumbing codes require that each plumbing fixture shall be trapped. It shall be the responsibility of the installer of the building sewer to determine if the building drain is vented and, if vented, based on his experience and judgment, is adequate. It shall also be the responsibility of the installer of the building sewer to determine if all plumbing fixtures discharging to the building drainage system are properly trapped.

Building drains below a building sewer which cannot be discharged to the sewer by gravity flow shall be discharged into a tightly covered and vented sump from which liquid shall be lifted and discharged into the building's gravity-drainage system by automatic pumping equipment or by any equally efficient method approved by the Town. See § 146-29B.

Trenching, installation and backfill.

Trenching, installation and backfill shall be excavated to the desired depth and fall. A template shall be used to detect high spots and holes and to fill depressions, and it shall be thoroughly tamped. Care should be taken during the excavation to provide as narrow a trench as practical at a point level with the top of the pipe. When the width of the trench at the base exceeds seven pipe diameters, selected stone backfill shall be used to embed the pipe and fill the trench to about one foot above the pipe.

When mud or water is encountered in the trench, such as may be found by excavation below groundwater, additional precautions shall be taken appropriate to the trenching conditions encountered to ensure that the pipe is bedded true to line and grade with uniform and continuous support from a firm base. Where excessive groundwater conditions exist, the Town may require trench pumping, well pointing or other trench-stabilizing methods.

Pipe and bed shall be laid in a selected backfill 1/4 to 1/3 of the pipe diameter. After the pipe is bedded and checked for fall, but not until inspected and approved, additional backfill shall be placed and tamped in layers not to exceed six inches to a point 12 inches above the pipe. Backfill shall be completed by any convenient means.

§ 146-29 Protection of drainage system, public sewer and treatment plant.

It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit by any means into the building drainage system or into a public sewer any ashes; cinders; unground garbage; rags; flammable, poisonous or explosive liquids; gases; oils; grease; or any other material which, in the opinion of the Town, would or could obstruct, damage or overload such system or sewer.

No stormwater, surface water, groundwater, cooling water or other unpolluted water shall be discharged into the building drainage system. Those drain connections not intended for, but liable to permit the entrance of, stormwaters, such as outside surface level showers, shall not be connected to the building drain. This does not prohibit the connection of an outside shower or other drain to the building drain, provided that the drain is enclosed, covered and raised and/or protected by curbing to prevent the entrance of stormwater, as may be permitted by the Town.

Commercial or industrial wastes detrimental to the public sewer system or detrimental to the functioning of the sewage treatment plant shall be treated and disposed of as directed by the Town.

Interceptors or separators.

Interceptors or separators shall be provided when, in the opinion of the Town, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease, flammable wastes, sand and other ingredients harmful to the building drainage system, the public sewer or the sewage treatment plant or processes. The size, type and location of each interceptor or separator shall be approved by the Town, and no wastes other than those requiring treatment or separation shall be discharged into any separator.

Oil separators shall be required for all commercial, storage or repair garages; gasoline stations with grease racks, grease pits or wash racks; all motor vehicle laundries; and all factories which have oily and/or flammable wastes as a result of manufacturing, storage, maintenance, repair or testing operations. The facilities shall be provided with all necessary floor drains, sand interceptors, catch basins and oil interceptors.

Sand interceptors shall be required wherever a floor drain discharges through an oil separator and shall be located upstream of the oil separator. Sand interceptors shall be required whenever the discharge of a floor drain may contain solids that would be harmful to the drainage system, public sewer or sewage treatment plant.

Basket-type interceptors shall be required on commercial laundry wastes and shall be equipped with a removable and cleanable basket that will prevent passage into the drainage system of solids 1/2 inch or larger, string, rags or other materials detrimental to the public sewer or sewage treatment plant. Basket or special type interceptors shall be required on food-processing wastes containing or likely to contain solids or semisolids that may clog the drainage system or be otherwise detrimental to the public sewage treatment plant.

§ 146-30 Abandoned septic tanks and cesspools.

Abandoned septic tanks and cesspools shall be made safe and harmless by removal or cleaned of sludge and filled completely with any appropriate material, such as rubble, gravel or borrow.

§ 146-31 Inspections and testing.

Plumbing.

All plumbing work installed under the scope of this Code shall be inspected to ensure compliance with the Code and assure that the installation is in accordance with the approved plans and permit.

It shall be the duty of the installing plumber to give a minimum of twenty-four-hour advance notice to the Town office when plumbing work is ready for inspection and test. The plumbing shall be deemed ready for inspection and test when the pipe is laid on proper fall and bedded 1/4 to 1/3 of its diameter, with joints properly made and connected to the building.

Prior to inspection and test, the building sewer shall not be connected to the public sewer lateral.

The equipment, material and labor necessary for the inspection and test shall be furnished by the installing plumber.

(5)

The plumbing shall not be covered until it has been inspected, tested and approved; it shall be uncovered upon direction.

Building sewer test.

The building sewer shall be tested by insertion of a plug or otherwise suitably blanking the point of connection with the sewer lateral. The building sewer shall be filled with water to the level of the lowest trap, and the water shall not show a level drop for a period of 15 minutes.

If the building sewer is approved, the final connection to the street lateral shall be made in the presence of and at the direction of the authorized inspector, and the pipe shall be covered pursuant to this Part 1.

As an alternative, the building sewer can be connected to the street lateral prior to the test, provided that the connection is made only in the presence of and at the direction of the authorized inspector.

The test plug will be inserted through the trap to a point near the juncture of the street lateral and building sewer, and the prescribed test will be made.

Powers and authority of inspectors.

The Town and its duly authorized employees or agents bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this Part 1.

While performing the necessary work on private properties, the Town or duly authorized employee or agent shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the Town and the Town shall be held harmless for injury or death to any Town employee and the Town shall indemnify the property owner against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the property owner and growing out of the performance of necessary work on the property of the property owner except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the property owner to maintain safe conditions as required on the property.