§ 21-43. Definitions.

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

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 days at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).

Building drain: 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 feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.

Building sewer: The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

Combined sewer: A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

Garbage: Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

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

Natural outlet: Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.

pH: The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

Properly shredded garbage: The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of foods 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 inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.

Public sewer: A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.

Sanitary sewer: A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface waters and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.

Sewage: A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwater, surface waters and stormwaters as may be present.

Sewage treatment plant: Any arrangement of devices and structures for treating sewage.

Sewage works: All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

Sewer: A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

Slug: A 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 24 hours concentration of flows during normal operation.

Storm drain (sometimes termed storm sewer): A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.

Superintendent: The superintendent appointed by the board of public works, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.

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.

Watercourse: A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

(Ord. No. 2088, Art. I, §§ 1—22, 10-5-70; Ord. No. 3333, § 1, 9-3-96; Ord. No. 3351, § 1, 10-7-96)