§ 50.20. Definitions.

For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

"Billed discharge." The total volume of sewage discharge to the sewage system, as measured or estimated by the Director of Public Service, on which the total sewer service charge is based.

"B.O.D." or "Biochemical Oxygen Demand." The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter, under standard laboratory procedure, in five days at twenty degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/1) by weight.

"Commercial user." Any user of the sewage system not specifically categorized by the Public Utilities Bureau as residential, industrial, or master-metered suburban. Commercial users are generally, but not limited to, establishments engaged in the following: wholesale or retail trade; public administration and government; general business offices; and service industries such as food service, automotive repair, health services, and education services.

"Debt service." The portion of the sewer services charge that is designated for the retirement of and interest on bonds or notes which have either been authorized and issued or which may be authorized and issued by the city, to construct sewage system facilities.

"Domestic wastes." Waterborne wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments contributed by reason of human occupancy and which is discharged from sanitary plumbing facilities and when analyzed shows by weight a daily average of not more than two hundred fifty milligrams per liter of suspended solids, and not more than two hundred milligrams per liter of B.O.D.

"Field monitoring." The portion of the sewer service charge that is designated by the Director of Public Service, for the recovery of costs incurred by the city for measuring, sampling, testing, and analyzing wastewater discharges.

"Fixed billing charge." The portion of the sewer service charge that is determined by the Director of Public Service, for the recovery of the cost of meter reading, billing, and collecting and accounting for sewer service charges.

"Industrial user."

1.

Any user who discharges to the sewage system wastes, other than domestic waste, which are the result of any industrial manufacturing process, trade, or business or the development of any natural resource.

2.

For the purpose of industrial cost recovery, "industrial user" shall mean any user discharging twenty-five thousand gallons per day or more of an equivalent domestic waste, process waste, or a combination domestic-process waste. Any user shall not be excluded from industrial cost recovery if he contributes any incompatible or toxic substances which affect the efficiency or costs of the treatment works.

"Industrial cost recovery." Recovery by the city, from the industrial users of a treatment works of the grant amount, allocable to the treatment of wastes from such users.

"Industrial wastes." The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, or business as distinct from sanitary wastewater.

"Infiltration." The water entering a sewer system and service connections from the ground, through such means, as but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manhole walls. Infiltration does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow.

"Inflow." The water discharged into a sewer system and service connections from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard, and area drains, foundation drains cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections from storm sewers and combined sewers, catch basins, storm waters, surface run-off, street wash waters, or drainage. Inflow does not include, and is distinguished from infiltration.

"Master-metered user." Any city, village, township, county sewer districts or any other governmental subdivision or entity who discharges all or part of the wastewater collected within its designated political boundaries, including inflow and infiltration, into the sewage system of the city for treatment and which has either a meter or meters to measure such flows or has accepted the estimated flows established by the Director of Public Service, and also where there is an agreement between the city and such governmental subdivision or entity for such service.

"Operation and maintenance." The costs incurred in the act of keeping all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage, in a good state of repair and functioning properly including the replacement of the facilities when necessary.

"Replacement." Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories, or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.

"Residential user." Any user discharging domestic wastes from buildings or premises that are used as permanent places for human occupancy such as single-family dwellings, rowhouses, townhouses, mobile homes, garden and standard apartments, and high rise apartments. Transient lodging, considered commercial in nature, is not included.

"Sewage." The waste from water closets, urinals, lavatories, sinks, bathtubs, showers, household laundries, cellar floor drains, garage floor drains, bar, soda fountains, cuspidors, refrigerator drips, drinking fountains, stable floor drains, including domestic wastes, industrial wastes, and inflow and infiltration which is discharged into the sewage system of the city, by users of the systems for sewage treatment.

"Sewage system." Mains, collecting lines, pumping stations, sewage treatment facilities, and any and all other appurtenances common to such systems.

"Sewer service charge." The total charges exclusive of the fixed billing charge and other applicable charges enumerated elsewhere, which is assessed users of the sewage system. The sewer service charge includes user charges plus the cost of debt service, the cost of collection, and treatment of unmetered I/I, the cost of field monitoring, and any other cost that is incurred by the city in the operation of the sewage system.

"S.S." or "suspended solids." 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.

"User." Any person, individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation, group, entity, or governmental subdivision which discharges or is responsible for the discharge of sewage into the sewage system of the city.

"User charges." The charge assessed users of the system to recover a user's proportionate share of the cost of operation, maintenance, and replacement of the sewage system pursuant to regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Wastewater." A combination of water carried waste from residences, buildings, business buildings, institutions, and any other industrial establishment together with such ground, surface, or storm water as may be present.

(Ord. 662-1978; Ord. 1014-1977)