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Sec. 21-26. - Definitions.#
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows: (1)
Act shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.
(2)
Authorized agent means the town council or other body it may designate to authorize assessment of a sewer tax.
(3)
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Centigrade, expressed in milligrams per liter.
(4)
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 (5) feet outside the inner face of the building wall. The building drain, from a minimum of six (6) inches inside the foundation wall, through the foundation wall, and to five (5) feet outside the of the building wall shall be a minimum of four (4) inches in diameter and shall be in accordance with local and/or state plumbing and building codes.
(5)
Building inspector means the building inspector of the town, or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
(6)
Building sewer shall mean the extension from the building drain to the connection with the street lateral or other place of disposal, also called the house connection.
(7)
Categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the act (33 USC 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N, parts 405-471.
(8)
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) means a measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in the water or wastewater. It is expressed as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific test.
(9)
Chlorine demand means the difference between the amount of chlorine added to water or wastewater and the amount of residual chlorine remaining at the end of a specified contact period.
(10)
Church or school structure means any structure owned by any incorporated nonprofit organization used or designed for the use as a school and/or for the conduct of religious services and related purposes such as parsonage, rectory, convent, school or assembly or recreation hall.
(11)
Commercial structure means any structure which is used or designed for use as a country club, private or nonprofit meeting hall or club, business office, bank, retail or wholesale store, lumberyard, nursery, proprietary school, professional office, and any other commercial, social or community use (excepting multifamily residence structures and church or school structures).
(12)
Combined sewer means a sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
(13)
Reserved.
(14)
Compatible pollutant shall mean biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH, and fecal coliform bacteria.
(15)
Confined space shall mean an enclosed space that: (a) is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work, (b) has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (some examples are tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, pits and diked areas), and (c) is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
Permit-required confined space shall mean a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics: 1. Contains or has a known potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere, 2. May contain a material with the potential for engulfment of an entrant, 3. Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section, or 4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
(16)
Developer means the legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or any land proposed to be included in a proposed development, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.
(16.1)
Development means the division of a parcel of land into two (2) or more parcels; the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation or enlargement of any building or other structure; and any use or change in the use of any building or other structure, or land or extension of the use of land.
(17)
Director shall mean the director of the department of public works of the town.
(18)
Discharge means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any domestic source.
(19)
Dwelling unit means one (1) or more rooms designed or intended for living purposes and containing sanitary facilities.
(20)
Enabling act means chapter 211 of the Public Laws of Rhode Island, as amended.
(21)
EPA means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(22)
Existing source means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commence prior to the publication by EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with section 307 of the act.
(23)
Floating solids are only those solids that float on top of the liquids, such as oil, grease, fats, etc.
(24)
Garbage shall mean the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.
(25)
Garbage disposal unit is a mechanical device used for the grinding, shredding, or macerating of any kind of material or waste prepatory for disposal thereof into the town's sanitary sewer system and intended for the installation and service for such purpose in any kind of a building or structure other than that served by a private sewage disposal system.
(26)
Incompatible pollutant shall mean any pollutant that is not a compatible pollutant.
(27)
Reserved.
(28)
Indirect discharge or discharge means the introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any non-domestic source regulated by the EPA under sections 307(b), (c) or (d) of the act.
(29)
Industrial building means any structure used or designed primarily for warehousing, assembling, lubricating, shipping, manufacturing, or industrial uses and other related activities.
(29.1)
Industrial user or user means a source of indirect discharge.
(30)
Industrial wastes means the liquid or wastewater carrying any quantity of oils, grease, fats, abrasives, chemicals, residues of manufacturing processes, waste from commercial food preserving or canning, from slaughterhouses or meat processing plants and similar substances, whether dissolved, in suspension or mechanically carried by water, as distinct from and not clearly included within other sewage definitions.
(31)
Major contributing industry shall mean the same as "significant industrial user" as defined in section 21-204 of this chapter.
(32)
May is permissive (see "Shall").
(33)
Natural outlet shall mean any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or groundwater.
(34)
Person shall mean any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation, group or institution.
(35)
pH shall mean a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
(35.1)
Plumbing inspector shall mean the duly appointed plumbing inspector of the town.
(36)
Properly shredded garbage shall mean 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 one-half (½) inch in any dimension.
(37)
Public sewer is used only with respect to the main line of pipe or conduit owned, controlled and maintained by the town for the conveyance of waste or sewage from several properties and shall not be understood to include building sewers or connections between the main sewer and individual properties.
(38)
Significant industrial user shall be as defined in the town's industrial pretreatment ordinance (see appendix).
(39)
Significant noncompliance shall be as defined in the town's industrial pretreatment ordinance (see appendix).
(40)
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 ground, storm, and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
(41)
Sewage shall mean human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.)
(42)
Sewer means any main, pipe, lateral or other conduit in a street, highway, alley, right-of-way or easement, installed at a location and in accordance with specifications approved in advance by the town, to which sanitary sewage is directed by individual sewer service lines from structures having facilities for sanitary sewage.
(42.1)
Sewer engineer means the licensed engineer appointed by the town to perform engineering services related to the wastewater treatment plant and the sewer system in its entirety.
(43)
Shall is mandatory (see "May").
(43.1)
Slug shall mean any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in section 21-205 of this article.
(44.1)
Street lateral means the sewer extension from the curb line or property line connection with the house connection to the public sewer.
(45)
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 "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" and referred to as non-filterable residue.
(45.1)
Town shall mean the town in the County of Bristol, Rhode Island.
(45.2)
Town manager shall mean the duly appointed manager of the town.
(46)
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.
(47)
Wastewater shall mean liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
(48)
Wastewater facilities shall mean the structures, equipment, and processes required to collect, carry away, and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.
(49)
Wastewater treatment works means an arrangement of devices, systems and structures including interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, pumping, power and other equipment and the extensions, improvement, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof for treating wastewater, industrial wastes and sludge; sometimes used as synonymous with "waste treatment plant" or "wastewater treatment plant" or "water pollution control plant".
(50)
Watercourse shall mean a natural or artificial channel for the passage of water either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. I; Amd. of 4-14-2009, § II; Ord. of 3-9-2010)