Chapter XV · Utilities

ARTICLE 5. SEWER UTILITY

Sections 15-501 to 15-514 · 14 sections

15-501 Definitions.

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:

(a)“BOD” (denoting Biochemical Oxygen Demand) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at 20° C, expressed in milligrams per liter.

(b)“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 (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.

(c)“Building Sewer” — shall mean the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

(d)“City” — shall mean the City of Cherryvale, Montgomery County, Kansas.

(e)“Combined Sewer” — shall mean a sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

(f)“Garbage” — shall mean solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

(g)“Industrial Wastes” — shall mean the liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.

(h)“Natural Outlet” — shall mean any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.

(i)“Person” — shall mean any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation, or group.

(j)“Properly Shredded Garbage” — shall mean the wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one half (1/2) inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.

(k)“Public Sewer” — shall mean a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.

(1) “Sanitary Sewer” — shall mean a sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.

(m)“Sewage” — shall mean a combination of the water-carried wastes from· residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.

(n)“Sewage Treatment Plant” — shall mean any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.

(o)“Sewage Works” — shall mean all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

(p)“Sewer” — shall mean a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

(q)“Shall” is mandatory; “may” is permissive.

(r)“Sludge” — shall mean 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 fifteen (15) minutes more than five (5) times the average twenty-four (24) hour concentration or flows during normal operation.

(s)“Storm Drain” (sometimes termed “storm sewer”) shall mean a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.

(t)“Director” — shall mean the Director of Public Works Department of the City of Cherryvale, or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.

(u)“Suspended Solids” — shall mean 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.

(v)“Watercourse” — shall mean a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

(K.S.A. 12-631n; K.S.A. 14-561; K.S.A. 12-3101 et seq.; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-501)

15-502 Required connection.

The owner of any house, building, or property used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purposes, situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there is now located or may be located in the future, a sanitary sewer of the city, is hereby required to install, at the owner’s expense, suitable toilet facilities therein, and to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer system in accordance with the provisions of this article within ninety (90) days after date of official notice to do so, provided that said public sewer system is within one hundred (100) feet (30.5 meters) of the property line.

(K.S.A. 12-631; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-502)

15-503 Unlawful waste disposal methods.

(a)It is unlawful for any person to place, deposit, or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private property within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any human or animal excrement, garbage, or other objectionable waste.

(b)It is unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet within the city, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the city, any sewage or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this article.

(c)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 sewage.

(K.S.A. 12-3105; K.S.A. 65-171a et seq.; K.S.A. 65-171g; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-503)

15-504 Connection permit.

No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-504)

15-505 Application.

The owner or an agent shall make the permit application on a form furnished by the city. The permit application shall be supplemented with any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative. A permit and inspection fee shall be as follows:

(a)Within City: Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) for each individual service connected.

(b)Outside City: Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00) for each individual service connected.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-505)

15-506 Costs.

All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-506)

15-507 Separate connection.

A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one (1) building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, courtyard, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building, and the whole considered as one (1) building sewer.

(K.S.A. 65-171d; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-507)

15-508 Existing connection.

Existing building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative, to meet all requirements of this article.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-508)

15-509 Construction.

The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city. In the absence of code provisions or in application thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the A.S.T.M. and W.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-509)

15-510 Elevation.

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.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-510)

15-511 Installation.

The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the Q A.S.T.M. and the S.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gas tight and water tight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative before installation.

(K.S.A. 65-171h; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-511)

15-512 Inspection.

The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Director of Public Works or an authorized representative within forty-eight (48) hours of the receipt of notice.

(K.S.A. 65-170b; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-512)

15-513 Excavation.

All excavations for building sewer installations shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the City. Within the City limits of Cherryvale, Kansas, no person shall cut, bore, disturb, dig in or excavate any hole, ditch, trench or tunnel in through or under, or otherwise disturb the surface of, any portion of any street, highway, alley, sidewalk or sidewall thereof (or in or under any berm, ditch or street sidewall adjoining a street, highway or alley), or in or under any portion of any park, ball diamond, athletic field, school ground or other public property, or in or under a public easement on which any of the foregoing may be located, or in or under any public easement through private property, without first having secured an excavation permit from the City Clerk; provided, no such permit shall be required from persons or their contractor(s) performing environmental remediation work under the supervision of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (“KDHE”). Streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the City. All such digging or excavation shall be in accordance with all the terms, conditions, and requirements of any permit so issued.

(Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-513; Ord. 19-4714)

15-514 Prohibited connections.

No person shall make or maintain a connection of roof downspouts, exterior or interior 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.

(K.S.A. 65-171d; Ord. 10-4602; Code 2001, 4-514)