Chapter 18.12
SEWERS
Sections:
18.12.020 Service charges – Determination – Collection.
18.12.030 Charges collected with general taxes.
18.12.070 Termination of service.
18.12.080 Interceptors required.
18.12.090 Use of garbage grinders.
18.12.100 Service laterals – Inspection, testing and remedial work.
18.12.110 Service lateral maintenance.
18.12.120 Installation of sampling manholes.
18.12.130 No discharge into surface drains.
18.12.140 Storm water connections prohibited.
18.12.150 Discharge prohibitions.
18.12.160 Damage to City sewer system.
18.12.170 Summary abatement of certain nuisances.
18.12.010 Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms are defined as follows:
A. “Article 4” means the provisions of Article 4 (Sanitation and Sewerage System) of Chapter 6 of Part Two of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code (Section 85470 et seq.) of the State of California.
B. “City” means the City of Sausalito.
C. “City Engineer” means the Public Works Director of the City of Sausalito.
D. “Commercial building” means any building, or portion thereof, designed, intended or used to accommodate a business, commercial or industrial enterprise, or a public or private school.
E. “Domestic sewage” means the waterborne wastes resulting from ordinary living processes and which are of such composition as to permit satisfactory biological treatment without special pre-treatment.
F. “Dwelling unit” means any building, buildings, houseboat, or any portion thereof, designed, intended, or used as a separate dwelling accommodation and having either its own kitchen or its own bathroom facilities. A building or buildings designed and intended to be used as a single-family residence is one dwelling unit. Each separate room, apartment, or unit of a hotel, motel, apartment house, rooming house, duplex or boarding house having either its own bathroom or its own kitchen facilities is a separate dwelling unit.
G. “Fixture” means a unit of measure applied to various plumbing fixtures in order to determine certain fees and charges payable to the City under the provisions of this chapter. The fixture unit equivalent of plumbing fixtures shall be as set forth in the latest edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code.
H. “Interceptor” means a device constructed in the private sewer system to trap oil, grease, sand, flammable substances or any other harmful materials that may be discharged into the City sewer main.
I. “Marina” means an area within the City covered by the waters of Richardson Bay which contains one or more berthing spaces for houseboats or vessels, either permanently or on a temporary basis.
J. “Sanitary sewer system” means the sanitary sewer system operated and maintained by the City of Sausalito.
K. “Sewer main” means a City-owned pipeline designed and operated to accept sewage from a sewer service lateral for disposal.
L. “Sewer service lateral” means a property owner’s pipeline designed and operated to carry sewage from a building or other source to a sewer main, including the wye connection at the sewer main.
M. “Sewer service charges” means fees, tolls, rates, rentals or other charges for services and facilities furnished by the City in connection with its sanitary sewage system.
N. “Vessel” means any watercraft of any type or size, including, but not limited to, barges, ferryboats, tour boats, excursion boats, arks, yachts, houseboats or rafts, whether used and occupied primarily as living quarters or for transport of passengers. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991; Ord. 874 § 12, 1975; Ord. 779 § 2, 1971.]
18.12.020 Service charges – Determination – Collection.
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 6 of Part Two of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California (Section 5470 et seq.), a charge is hereby imposed for all services and facilities provided by the City of Sausalito in connection with its sanitary sewer system. All such fees, charges and delinquencies shall be determined and collected in conformity with the procedures established by Article 4. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991; Ord. 874 § 1, 1975; Ord. 798 § 1, 1972; Ord. 779 § 1, 1971.]
18.12.030 Charges collected with general taxes.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 5473 of Article 4, the City elects to have the charges imposed by this chapter to be collected on the Marin County tax roll in the same manner, by the same persons, and at the same time as, together with and not separately from, its general taxes. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991; Ord. 779 § 3, 1971].
18.12.040 Determination of charges.
Deleted. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.050 Use of revenue.
Revenues collected pursuant to this chapter consistent with the provisions of Section 5471 of Article 4 shall be used solely for the purposes allowed by that section. Revenues collected pursuant to this chapter consistent with the provisions of Section 5474 of Article 4 shall be used solely for the purposes allowed by Section 5474.9 of Article 4. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991; Ord. 779 § 5, 1971.]
18.12.060 Connection permit.
A permit shall be obtained from the City Engineer for the connection of any sewer service lateral to any sewer main. The fee for such permit shall be established by resolution adapted by the City Council from time to time. Every premises improved with a building where persons reside, congregate or are employed shall be connected to the sewer main by the owner of the premises. No such premises shall utilize a septic tank, cesspool or other individual sewage disposal system. The City may require such connection to be made by the property owner through the extension of a sewer main within a public utility easement or City street right-of-way to the point of the service lateral connection as determined by the City Engineer. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.070 Termination of service.
When any premises become unusable or have the service lateral disconnected for any reason, the annual service charge shall, upon notice from the property owner and verification by the City Engineer, be terminated. Any premises which are vacant but which continue to be usable and are connected to a sewer main with a service lateral shall continue to be subject to the applicable service charges. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.080 Interceptors required.
Any business, institution or industry that may discharge oil, grease, flammable substances, sand or other materials that may be harmful to the sewage system shall have a properly functioning interceptor. Interceptors shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of the most recent editions of the Uniform Plumbing Code. Interceptors shall be maintained by the property owner. Interceptors found by the City Engineer to be inadequately maintained shall be reported to the County Health Officer for the purposes of enforcement of this regulation. The Health Officer’s orders for correcting deficient or malfunctioning interceptors shall be final and there shall be no City Council appeal of such orders.
Maintenance shall include periodic removal of grease, sand or other materials. Materials removed from interceptors shall not be disposed of in the sewer system. A record of interceptor maintenance shall be kept and made available upon request of the Health Officer. The use of chemicals to dissolve coagulated materials is specifically prohibited.
All drains from work or processing areas shall be connected to the interceptor; provided, however, that toilets, urinals and wash basins shall not flow through the interceptor. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.090 Use of garbage grinders.
A. Individual Dwelling Units. Vegetable, fruit, animal or other solid wastes from individual dwelling units may be discharged into the sanitary sewer system if first passed through a mechanically operated grinder which does not discharge any particles greater than one-half inch in any dimension, and which is installed in compliance with the plumbing and electrical codes of the City.
B. Restaurants and Commercial Food Processors. Garbage grinders in restaurants and commercial food processing businesses shall not be connected to the sanitary sewer. Vegetable, fruit, animal or other solid waste from restaurants and commercial food processors shall not be allowed to enter the sanitary sewer. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.100 Service laterals – Inspection, testing and remedial work.
All new residential, apartment, industrial and commercial buildings shall have installed a new sewer service lateral. A minimum four-inch lateral shall serve single or duplex residential dwelling units. A minimum six-inch lateral shall be installed to serve buildings with three or more residential units, and industrial and commercial buildings. Construction shall conform with City standards.
Where remodelling or sale of any building is proposed, existing sewer service laterals shall be inspected for surface water connections or inlets, and shall be either pressure-tested for leakage or inspected by video camera. Service laterals found to be in a deteriorated condition shall be replaced, repaired or rehabilitated as necessary to eliminate infiltration and inflow of ground and surface waters. Service laterals shall be re-tested for leakage or re-inspected by video camera upon completion of any remedial work, and shall be approved by the City Engineer prior to transfer of title or approval of the building permit. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.110 Service lateral maintenance.
Service laterals shall be installed and maintained by the owner of the property which the lateral serves. The entire service lateral from the building connection to and including the wye connection to the sewer main shall fall within the owner’s responsibility for installation and maintenance except at such times as the City may be reconstructing, repairing or rehabilitating a sewer main to which such service lateral is connected. During the time period when City reconstruction, repair or rehabilitation of a sewer main is in progress, service laterals that connect to the sewer main within the limits of the project shall become the responsibility of the City, and may be simultaneously reconstructed, repaired or rehabilitated as deemed necessary by the City Engineer. Upon completion of the City reconstruction, repair or rehabilitation project, the responsibility for maintenance of the lateral shall revert to the owner of the property which the lateral serves. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.120 Installation of sampling manholes.
When required by the City Engineer, the owner of any property served by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a sampling manhole in the building sewer service lateral to facilitate observation and sampling of wastes. The sampling manhole shall be located in the public street or easement and shall be constructed to City standards. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.130 No discharge into surface drains.
It is unlawful to discharge into any natural outlet, or surface drain of any kind, any domestic or industrial wastewater, steam cleaning residual runoff, commercial wastewater, petroleum products or other waste materials unless permitted by the City Engineer as a measure necessary to accommodate an emergency condition. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.140 Storm water connections prohibited.
No connection shall be made to any service lateral or sewer main for the purpose of conducting any storm water, surface water, or ground water into the City sewer system, and it is unlawful to discharge into any service lateral or sewer main the water from any roof drain or yard drain. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.150 Discharge prohibitions.
No person shall discharge or deposit or cause or allow to be discharged or deposited into the City sewer system any wastewater which contains the following:
A. Cooking grease whether emulsified or not.
B. Waste automotive radiator coolant.
C. Explosive mixtures.
D. Radioactive wastes.
E. Solid or viscous wastes which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer pipeline.
F. Any toxic substances in excess of the United States Environmental Protection Agency standards pursuant to Section 307(a) of the Clean Water Act, or any other substances which may interfere with the biological processes of the wastewater treatment system.
G. Petroleum products of any kind. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.160 Damage to City sewer system.
It is unlawful for any person to maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the City sewer system. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.170 Summary abatement of certain nuisances.
Whenever the City Engineer finds that a nuisance exists that is the result of inadequate, improper or negligent operation or maintenance of any sewer service lateral or appurtenance thereto which may endanger public health and safety, he may elect to pursue the remedies set forth in Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Part Two of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code (Section 5410 et seq.), and he may also abate the same forthwith. All costs associated with such abatement shall be charged to the responsible party. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.180 Judicial remedies.
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter is a public nuisance. If any person violates the provision of this chapter or any order of the City Council pertaining to this chapter, the City Attorney may commence an action for appropriate legal relief in any appropriate court. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]
18.12.190 Infractions.
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter, in addition to any other penalty established by City ordinance, may be cited and charged as an infraction. [Ord. 1072 § 1, 1991.]