Title 15

SEWERS

Chapters:
15-04 General Provisions
15-08 Administration and Enforcement
15-12 Permits
15-16 Sewer Connections
15-20 Sewer Charges
15-24 Waste Discharges
15-28 Private Sewage Systems
 Chapter 15-04
GENERAL PROVISIONS*
Sections:
15-04.010 Purpose of title---Generally.
15-04.020 Purpose of title--Santa Rosa.
15-04.030 Definitions.
15-04.040 Use classifications.
*Prior history: Prior code §§ 20.0, 20.1, 20.2 and 20.19 as amended
by Ords. 2667 and 2757.
15-04.010 Purpose of title--Generally.
(A) The City under and pursuant to Resolution
No. 4624 of preliminary determination and of intention,
adopted October 25, 1955, proposed to acquire and
construct a system of major interceptor trunk line
sanitary sewers and to provide for increases in the
facilities and capacity of the sanitary sewage treatment
plant and works, in order to provide for the full growth
and development of the City and urban areas
surrounding it.
(B) The facilities to be so provided are to be
financed from the proceeds of bonds, the principal and
interest of which are to be paid, first from sewer
connection charges for the privilege of connecting to
and having use of such facilities; second from a part of
the sales and use taxes levied within the City; third
from annual ad valorem assessments to be levied upon
the real property within the City, excepting publicly
owned property; fourth from loans and advances from
surplus funds of the City and from such funds created
from the imposition of special tax levies upon the
taxable property within the City; and fifth from
contributions from City funds which may from time to
time be made by the City. (Ord. 3047 § I (part), 1993)
15-04.020 Purpose of title-Santa Rosa.
(A) The City, under and pursuant to Resolution
No. 7341 of preliminary determination and of intention,
adopted June 16, 1964, proposed to acquire and
construct a system of major interceptor trunk line
sanitary sewers and to acquire and construct a sanitary
sewage treatment plant and works, in order to provide
for the full growth and development of the City and the
urban areas surrounding it.
(B) The facilities to be so provided are to be
financed from the proceeds of bonds, the principal and
interest of which may be paid from sewer connection
charges for the privilege of connecting to and having
use of such facilities; from annual ad valorem
assessments to be levied upon the real property within
the City, excepting publicly owned properties; from
loans and advances from funds created from the
imposition of special tax levies upon the taxable
property within the City; and from contributions which
may from time to time be made by the City and the
South Park Sanitation District. (Ord. 3047 § 1 (part),
1993)
15-04.030 Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, the following words and
phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them in this section:
(1) "Act" means Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended,
33 USC 1251, et seq., or as amended.
(2) "Administrator" means the appropriate Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional
Administrator (San Francisco EPA, Region IX).
(3) "Approval authority" means the Program
Director in a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) state with an approved state
pretreatment program.
(4) "Approved POTW pretreatment program" means
a program administered by a publicly owned treatment
works (POTW) that meets the criteria established in 40
CFR, Parts 403.8 and 403.9, or as amended, and which
has been approved by a Regional Administrator or State
Director in accordance with 40 CFR, Part 403.11, or as
amended, of this regulation.
(5) "Average dry weather flow (ADWF)" means the
mean daily volume of sewage during the period of time
not influenced by rainfall.
(6) "Best available technology" (BAT) means the
most efficient hardware, fixtures and systems as deter-
mined by the Director of Utilities for reduction of the
amount of wastewater volume, biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD), suspended solids, and ammonia as
measured by total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) for
laundromats and restaurants.
(7) "Board of Public Utilities" means the Board of
Public Utilities of the City.
(8) "BOD" means biochemical oxygen demand as
determined in accordance with standards set forth in 40
CFR Part 136, or as amended, or any other test proce-
dures approved by the Administrator and, unless other-
wise noted, exerted in a period of five days at 20
degrees Celsius.
(9) "Categorical pretreatment standards" means any
regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promul-
gated by EPA under Section 307(b) and (c), or as
amended, of the Clean Water Act applicable to
industrial users.
(10) "City" means the City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma
County, California.
(11) "COD" means chemical oxygen demand as
determined in accordance with standards set forth in 40
CFR Part 136, or as amended, or any other test
procedures approved by the administrator.
 (12) "Compatible pollutant" means a component of
wastewater which does not interfere with, is removed
by, and is not otherwise incompatible with the
subregional sewage treatment facility or water
reclamation plant or their processes.
(13) "Contamination" means an impairment of the
quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree
which creates a hazard to the public health through
poisoning or through the spread of disease.
(14) "Control authority" means the City Engineer or
the City Engineer's appointed representatives.
(15) "Director" means the Chief Administrative Offi-
cer of a State or Interstate Water Pollution Control
Agency with an NPDES permit program approved
pursuant to Section 402(b), or as amended, of the Act,
and an approved State pretreatment program.
(16) "Dissolved solids" means the residue upon
evaporation of water after filtration in accordance with
standards set forth in 40 CFR Part 136, or as amended,
or any other test procedures approved by the
Administrator. Dissolved solids are also termed total
dissolved solids or "'TDS."
(17) "Engineer" means the City Engineer of the City
of Santa Rosa, or City Engineer's duly authorized repre-
sentative.
(18) "EPA" means the federal Environmental Protec-
tion Agency.
(19) "Equivalent single-family unit (ESU)" means a
unit of flow that is equivalent to that from a
single-family residential unit where flow=182 gallons
per day; BOD=0.32 lb. per day; SS=0.33 lb/day;
TKN=0.053 lb/day. ESU's are used in determining the
demand fees for non-residential and industrial
customers.
(20) "Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972"
means Public Law 92-500, officially entitled the
"Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of
1972," or as amended, as well as guidelines, limitations,
and standards promulgated by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(21) "Garbage" means solid wastes from the domestic
and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of
food and from the handling, storage, and sale of food
products.
(22) "Incompatible pollutant" means a component of
wastewater which interferes with, is not removed by, or
is otherwise incompatible with the subregional sewage
treatment and water reclamation plant or their
processes.
(23) "Indirect discharge" means the introduction of
pollutants into a POTW from any nondomestic source
regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d), or as amend-
ed, of the Act.
(24) "Industrial cost recovery" means the portion of
annual capital cost recovery allocable to industry and
subject to federal industrial payback.
(25) "Industrial user" means a source of indirect dis-
charge. Any user of a POTW identified in the U.S.
"Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987,"
under the following divisions:
Division A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
Division B Mining
Division D Manufacturing
Division E Transportation, Communications,
Electric, Gas, and Sanitary Services
Division I Services
Division G Retail Services
Division J Public Administration
A user in these divisions may be excluded from the
industrial user category if discharges are essentially
domestic sewage. See also "User."
(26) "Industrial waste" means the waterborne waste
and wastewater from any production, manufacturing, or
processing operation of whatever nature including
institutional and commercial operations where water is
used for the removal of significant quantities of waste
other than from human habitation of premises
connected to the public sewers. Contents of chemical
toilets, septic tanks, waste holding tanks and waste
sumps shall be classified as industrial waste.
(27) "Infiltration" means water entering the sewerage
system through the ground.
(28) "Inflow" means water entering a sewerage
system from surface drainage and clean cooling water
systems.
(29) "Interference" means a discharge which, alone or
in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from
other sources, both:
(a) Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment
processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use,
or disposal; and
(b) Therefore is a cause of a violation of any re-
quirement of the POTW's NPDES permit (including
an increase in the magnitude or duration of a
violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use
or disposal in compliance with statutory provisions
and regulations.
(30) "MGD" is the abbreviation for million gallons
per day.
(31) "Multifamily residential unit" means a residential
unit that is a part of a developed single parcel of land
containing more than one residential unit and/or a resi-
dential unit that is connected through a service lateral
connection to the collection system and the service
lateral connection serves more than one residential unit.
(32) "National Pretreatment Standard" means any
regulation containing pollutant discharge limits
promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section
307 (b) and (c), or as amended, of the Act, which
applies to industrial users. This term includes
prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40
CFR, Part 403.5, or as amended.
(33) "Natural outlet" means any outlet into a water-
course, ditch, pond, lake, or other body of surface or
groundwater.
(34) "New source' means any building, structure,
facility, or installation from which there is or may be a
discharge of pollutants, the construction of which
commenced after the publication of proposed
pretreatment standards under 307(c), or as amended, of
the Act, which will be applicable to such source if such
standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with
that section.
(35) "Nonresidential user" means users whose
premises are primarily for commercial, or governmental
or other nonresidential activity but excluding premises
of industrial users. Incidental residential use is not
precluded.
(36) "NPDES permit” means National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System Permit issued to a
POTW pursuant to Section 402 of the Act, or as
amended.
(37) "NPDES state" means a state (as defined in 40
CFR, 122.2, or as amended) or interstate water
pollution control agency with an NPDES Permit
Program approved pursuant to Section 402(b), or as
amended, of the Act.
(38) "O&W' means operations and maintenance.
(39) "Pass-through" means any discharge which exits
the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities
or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a
discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause
of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's
NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude
or duration of a violation.
(40) "Peak wet weather flow (PWWF)" means peak
rate of flow occurring during or from the effects of
precipitation.
(41) "Person(s)" means any individual, firm,
company, association, society, partnership, corporation,
organization, group, or public agency.
(42) "pH” means the logarithm of the reciprocal of
the hydrogen-ion concentration in grains per liter of
solution as measured by standards set forth in 40 CFR
136, of as amended.
(43) "Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of
the waters of the state by waste to a degree which
unreasonably affects: (a) such waters for beneficial use;
or (b) facilities which serve such beneficial uses.
(44) "Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)"
means a treatment works as defined by Section 212, or
as amended, of the Act, which is owned by a State or
municipality. This includes any devices and systems
used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and
reclamation of the municipal sewage or industrial
wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes,
and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater
to a POTW treatment plant.
(45) "POTW treatment plant" means that portion of
the POTW which is designed to provide treatment
(including recycling and reclamation) of the municipal
sewage and industrial waste.
(46) "Premises" means a parcel of real property, or
portion thereof, including any improvements thereon,
which is determined by the Engineer to be a single unit
for the purposes of receiving, using, and paying for
sewerage service.
(47) "Pretreatment" means the reduction of the
amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or
the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in
wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or
otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW.
The reduction or alteration may be obtained by
physical, chemical, or biological processes, process
changes or by other means, except as prohibited by 40
CFR Part 403.6 (d), or as amended.
(48) "Pretreatment requirements" means any substan-
tive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment,
other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on
an industrial user.
(49) "Public agency" means the United States
Government or any department or agency thereof, the
State of California or any department or agency thereof;
any city, county, town, or any department or agencies
thereof, any school district, any other governmental or
public district or entity; or any other legal public
district, entity or entities; or any combination of the
foregoing.
(50) "Residential user" means users whose premises
are primarily for residential purposes and have no
significant producing or processing activity of a
commercial or industrial nature.
(51) "Regional Water Quality Control Board" means
the California Regional Water Quality Control Board,
North Coastal Region, which has jurisdiction in the
Santa Rosa area.
(52) "Sewage" means the water-borne wastes
received from human habitation and use of premises for
residential, business, institutional, and industrial
purposes.
(53) "Sewer service lateral" means that portion of the
sewage system which connects the user's premises to
the City sewer.
(54) "Sewer or sanitary sewer" means a pipe or con-
duit which carries sewage and/or industrial wastes and
to which storm, surface, and groundwater are not
intentionally admitted. Unless otherwise qualified, the
word "sewer" when used in this title shall be taken to
mean "sanitary sewer." A City sewer or public sewer is
any sewer located within an easement or public
right-of-way and which is maintained by the City. A
building sewer or lateral service sewer or privately
maintained collector sewer is a sewer on private
property serving a specific building or property and is
maintained by the owner(s) thereof.
(55) "Sewerage system" means all works for collect-
ing, pumping, treating, disposing, storing, and
reclaiming sewage.
(56) "Significant industrial user (SIU)" means all
categorical industrial users or any other industrial user
which discharges 20,000 gallons or more of process
wastewater per day; contributes a process wastewater
which makes up five percent or more of the dry weather
average hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment
works or is designated as such by the control authority.
(57) "Significant noncompliance" means a user is in
significant noncompliance if it meets one of the
following criteria:
(a) Chronic violations of discharge limits, which
means 66 percent or more of measurements taken in a
six-month period exceed daily maximum limit or
average limit for the same pollutant parameter,
(b) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations
exist where 33 percent or more of all measurements
for each pollutant parameter taken in a six-month
period equal or exceed the product of the daily
maximum limit or average limit multiplied by the
TRC. (TRC = 1.4 for biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD, total suspended solids (TSS), fats, and oil and
grease. TRC = 1.2 for all other pollutants, except
pH);
(c) Any violations of effluent limits which cause
pass-through or interference or endanger the health of
workers or the general public;
(d) Any discharge which caused imminent
endangerment to human health, welfare, or the
environment, or has resulted in the POTW's exercise
of its emergency powers;
(e) Failure to meet a compliance schedule
milestone or attain final compliance within 90 days
of the scheduled date;
(f) Failure to submit required reports within 30
days of the due date;
(g) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(h) Any other violation or group of violations
which adversely affect operation or implementation
of the local pretreatment program.
(58) "Single-family residential unit" means a residen-
tial unit that is the sole residence on a single parcel of
land and is the sole residence served by a single service
lateral.
(59) "Slug" means any pollutant, including oxygen
demanding pollutants (such as BOD), released in a dis-
charge at a flow rate or pollutant concentration which
will cause interference, upset, or pass-through.
(60) "Subregional system" means the Laguna
Wastewater Treatment Plant service area which
includes the Cities of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park,
Sebastopol, Cotati, and the Sonoma County South Park
Sanitation District.
(61) "Suspended solids (SS)" means particulate
matter present in sewage and retained on a filter
(nonfilterable) per standards set forth in 40 CFR Part
136, or as amended, and amendments thereto or any
other test procedure approved by the Administrator.
(62) "TKN" means ammonia as measured by total
Kjeldahl nitrogen.
(63) "Trade secret" means a method or process, not
patented, but known only to persons using it in
producing an article of trade or a service having
commercial value.
(64) "User" means any person who is owner of
record, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, or
responsible for property having a connection to a City
sewer or for processes which contribute sewage or
industrial waste to a City sewer. See also "industrial
user."
(65) "User agency" means a public agency which by
agreement with the City is served by and acquires a
capacity service in the Santa Rosa Subregional
Sewerage System.
(66) "Water quality requirements" means require-
ments for City's treatment plant effluent established by
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permit, or by state or federal regulatory agencies for the
protection of receiving water quality. Water quality re-
quirements include effluent limitations and waste dis-
charge standards, limitations, or prohibitions which
may be established or adopted from time to time by
state or federal laws or regulatory agencies.
(67) "Waste" includes sewage and any and all other
waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive
associated with human habitation, or of human or
animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing or
processing operation of whatever nature. See also
"industiial waste.”
(68) "Wastewater" means sewage, industrial discharg-
es, and other wastes and waters, whether treated or un-
treated, discharged into or permitted to enter a City
sewer. (Ord. 3313 H 1, 2, 1997; Ord. 3225 H 1-8, 1995;
Ord. 3047 § 1 qeft), 1993)
15-04.040 Use classifications.
All ums shall be classified for sewage collection and
disposal purposes in accordance with the governing
activity conducted on the premises, as determined by
the Engineer. The purpose of the classification is to
facilitate the regulations of sewer use based on
character and quantity of flow; to provide an effective
means of source control of toxic substances; and to
provide a basis for sewer use charges to insure an
equitable recovery of capital and operating costs. User
classifications are as follows:
(A) Residential. Users whose premises are primarily
for residential purposes and have no significant
producing or processing activity of a commercial or
industrial nature.
(B) Nonresidential. Users whose premises are primarily
for commercial, governmental, industrial or other non-
residential activity, but excluding premises or industrial
users. Incidental residential use is not precluded.
(C) Industrial. Industrial users are defined in Section
15-04.030(24), or as amended. (Ord. 3225 § 9, 1995;
Ord. 3047 § I (part), 1993)