Words or phrases used herein shall have the following meanings:
"Approved" means approved by the "director" unless otherwise specified.
"ASTM" means American Society for Testing Materials.
"Beneficial use" means the use of reclaimed water or biosolids, which has been transported from the point of production to the point of use without an intervening discharge to waters of the state, for a beneficial purpose.
"Benefited property" means property receiving or having the potential of receiving sanitary sewer service from "public sewer facilities" built either by the "county" or for the "county" to provide service to a defined area.
"Blue card" means a card issued by the Mason County department of community development upon acquisition of building permit and payment of connection fee. This card authorizes an owner to proceed with connection to the water and/or sewer system.
"BOD" means (1) Abbreviation for biochemical oxygen demand. The quantity of oxygen used in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in a specified time, at a specified temperature, and under specified conditions; (2) A standard test used in assessing wastewater strength. The test shall be completed in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods.
"Building sewer" means that portion of the "sanitary sewer" connecting one or more structure(s) from the "plumbing outlet" to the "public sewer facilities." The "building sewer" including that portion called the "side sewer stub" is constructed in accordance with "county" approved standards and is not part of the "county" "public sewer facilities." "Building sewers" shall be maintained by the property owner. Where grinder pump units are installed, the "county" shall maintain the pumping unit and the small diameter force main connecting to the "collection system." The respective responsibilities are illustrated in Exhibit I.
"Certified" means written, formal communication attesting as being true as represented or as meeting a standard and guaranteed by signature.
"Code" means the North Bay - Case Inlet (Mason County) Sanitary Sewer Utility Administrative Code.
"Collection system" means a system of gravity sanitary sewer lines, eight-inch or larger diameters, low pressure pipelines, two-inch to six-inch in diameter, manholes, cleanouts, and appurtenances, whose primary function is to collect sanitary sewage from individual side sewers and small diameter force mains and transport this sewage to trunk, interceptor, and/or force main pipelines.
"Commercial facilities or units" means all facilities generating "wastewater" not herein defined as "residential facilities."
"Connection charges" means charges assessed by the "county" against a property owner for connection to "public sewer facilities" owned by the "county."
"County" means Mason County, Washington.
"Customer" means the legal owner of property or premises served by the county's sewer utility through and by the department, or that person's agent or tenant and shall include anyone who has put service in his/her own name under the provisions of this administrative code.
"Department of community development" means a separate and independent department of Mason County, responsible for the administration of the sanitary sewer and water utilities owned and operated by Mason County. Also referred to herein as "department."
"Developer" means any person, or the heirs, successors, or assigns of such person, who owns and/or proposes or intends to develop any parcel of real property wherein there is located or is to be located any building or structure.
"Director" means the director of the department of community development or the director's duly authorized representative.
"Domestic wastewater facilities" means all facilities generating "wastewater" principally from "residential facilities or units."
"Duplex/triplex" means a two-family, or three-family dwelling consisting of a detached building containing two or three complete living units sharing a common wall or floor with not more than three kitchens, designated and/or used to house not more than three families living independently of each other and including all necessary household functions of each such family.
"Easement" means a legally binding agreement entitling the "county" to construct, repair and/or connect sewer facilities located within defined limits on private property; or, an agreement between two separate owners, for the purpose of mutual "wastewater" discharge, to construct sewer facilities on property owned by one "owner" or the other or both.
"Effluent" means wastewater that has been treated to remove wastes and is discharged from treatment facilities.
"Garbage" means the animal, vegetable, and other waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods. It is composed largely of putrescible organic matter and its natural moisture content.
"General" means that unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this code shall be as set forth in this section. Terms not specifically defined herein shall be as defined in the latest revised publication, "Glossary Water and Wastewater Control Engineering," published jointly by the American Public Health Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation.
"Governmental entity" means the organization or agency through which a separate and independent political body exercises authority including but not limited to, cities, towns, water and sewer districts and other municipal corporations.
"Grease" means fat oils, waxes and other related constituents found in wastewater.
"Grinder pump" means the pump, wet well, alarm, panel, valve vault, and appurtenances located on private property for the purpose of grinding and transporting wastewater into the collection system.
"Legal owner" means the owner of record as shown by the records of Mason County (see also "customer").
"Mason County board of commissioners" means those duly elected individuals serving as the legislative body of Mason County. Also referred to herein as the board.
"Multifamily dwelling" means a building, other than condominiums or town houses, designed and/or used to house four or more families living independently of each other in separate living quarters that share common walls, floors and/or ceilings and including all necessary household functions of each such family.
"Mutual maintenance agreement and easement" means a legally binding agreement between two or more "owners" for the purpose of connecting two or more structures to a single "building sewer" located on private property and specifying for the mutual maintenance of the single "building sewer" by such property owners.
"Natural outlet" means any outlet into a "watercourse," pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
"Natural watercourse" means a surface or underground "watercourse" created by natural conditions.
"Owner" means the lawful and legal owner of a lot or parcel of land (delineated by parcel number) under single ownership also noted on county property rolls as the taxpayer.
"Permit" means written authorization from the "director" granting the "owner" or his/her duly authorized representative permission to make the required "building sewer" connections to the "side sewer stub" or to make repairs, alterations, disconnections, caps, or any other sewer construction or repair stipulated in this code.
"Person" means any agency, agent, authority, board, church, club, committee, commune, cooperative, department, district, government, group, guardian, league, office, order, party, school, task force, trustee individual, family, partnership, firm, company, association, society, corporation, or other entity.
"Plumbing outlet" means the part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system of a structure that receives waste from other drainage pipes inside the walls of a structure and conveys it to a "building sewer." The "building sewer" begins twenty-four inches from the outer face of the outside building wall.
"Premises" means a continuous tract of land, building or group of adjacent buildings under a single ownership or control with respect to sewer service and responsibility for payment therefor.
"Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount or pollutant, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater before discharge to the "public sewer facilities."
"Private sewer facilities" means any sanitary sewer facility including "building sewers" and "side sewer stubs," constructed within the limits of privately owned property, including but not limited to collection lines, trunk sewers, lateral sewers, pump stations, force mains and appurtenances. "Side sewer stubs," as defined herein and located within a public right-of-way or perpetual "easement" owned by Mason County, shall be operated and maintained by the private property owner.
"Properly shredded garbage" means garbage which has been shredded to such degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewer facilities, with no particle greater than one quarter-inch in any dimension.
"Public sewer facilities" means any "sanitary sewer" constructed within a public right-of-way, perpetual "easement" dedicated to the "county," or on property owned by the "county," including but not limited to, water reclamation facilities, structures, collection lines, trunk sewers, interceptor sewers, lateral sewers, side sewer tees, pump stations, force mains, and appurtenances. "Public sewer facilities" are operated and maintained by the "county." "Building sewers" and "side sewer stubs" as defined herein, are not "public sewer facilities" and are operated and maintained by the "owner." Grinder pump stations from the four-inch or six-inch "building sewer," small diameter force mains and appurtenances are maintained by the county.
"Purchaser" means any person, or the heirs, successors or assigns of such person, who purchases and/or leases any house, building or structure; or one or more units in a subdivision or multiple housing projects, from a developer as herein defined.
"Reclaimed water" means effluent derived in any part from sewage from a wastewater treatment system that has been adequately and reliably treated, so that as a result of that treatment, it is suitable for a beneficial use or a controlled use that would not otherwise occur and it is no longer considered wastewater.
"Registered building sewer contractor" means any contractor who is duly registered to construct, install, repair, reconstruct, excavate, or connect any building sewer and side sewer stub to public sewers in the state of Washington.
"Registered professional engineer" means an individual or corporation holding a currently valid license to practice engineering in the state of Washington.
"Residential equivalent unit (R.E.)" means (1) Any residential or nonresidential use which has been reasonably found by the director to place a demand on the county's sewerage system approximately equal to the demand from a single family dwelling; (2) That service unit which, for purposes of sewerage service measurement, is not greater than two hundred eighteen gallons per day (GPD), having a waste strength of not greater than two hundred eighty-two milligrams per liter of BOD and not greater than two hundred eighty-two milligrams per liter of suspended solids (SS).
"Residential facilities or units" means a structure or portion of a structure capable of human habitation, including, but not limited to, private houses; each unit of a duplex, triplex, fourplex, apartment building, condominium, or townhouse; or a mobile home.
"Right-of-entry" means a legally binding agreement entitling the county to construct, operate, and maintain sewer facilities located on private property.
"Sanitary sewage" means the same as "wastewater."
"Sanitary sewer" means those sewers used to collect and transport only domestic or commercial water borne wastes permitted to be discharged by this code.
"Septic tank" means a settling tank in which settled sludge is in immediate contact with the "wastewater" flowing through the tank and in which the organic solids are decomposed by anaerobic bacterial action.
"Service area" means that area eligible for sewer service or extension of sewer service as defined by the North Bay - Case Inlet wastewater facility plan and as it may be amended from time to time. In general, the service area includes Victor beginning at Rocky Point, E. Coulter Creek Road, North Bay Road, the Town of Allyn, Lakeland Village, Sherwood Creek Road, Sherwood Road, and Grapeview Loop Road up to Giles Cove.
"Service lateral" means the small diameter HDPE piping, typically one and one quarter-inch, extending from the grinder pump unit to the valve box and collection system.
"Sewage" means the term now being replaced in technical usage by the preferable term of "wastewater," and for the purpose of this code shall be considered synonymous.
"Sewer facility plan" means a plan that identifies the system of sewerage facilities required to convey and treat "sanitary sewage" in the "county" and has been approved by the Department of Ecology. The "sewer facility plan" shall include location and description of disposal facilities, trunk and interceptor sewers, pumping and monitoring stations, control and treatment facilities, if appropriate. It shall also include preliminary engineering to insure the feasibility of any future proposed structures which are proposed as part of the plan. The preliminary engineering for the "sewer facility plan" shall include all criteria necessary to establish sizing of the sewerage facilities identified in the plan.
"Sewer line extension" means (1) the construction, upgrading, and/or extension of existing sewer facilities located in public rights-of-way or "easements" conveyed to the "county," or (2) the construction, upgrading, and/or extension of existing sewer facilities located on private property serving two or more structures or exceeding a length of four hundred feet, or (3) "sewer line extensions" located on private property shall be operated and maintained by the "owner" including the "side sewer stub" as defined herein. Gravity "building sewer" lines over four hundred feet in length serving one "single family dwelling" are exempt from this definition.
"Shall" or "May" means "shall" is mandatory, "may" is permissive.
"Side sewer stub" means a "sanitary sewer" constructed from a lateral or trunk sewer to a property line, or edge of a perpetual "easement" of a property being served. The "side sewer stub" for gravity service shall be considered part of the "building sewer" and shall be maintained by the "owner."
"Side sewer tee" means the point at which the "side sewer stub" joins the "public sewer facilities."
"Single family dwelling" means a building designed and/or used to house a single family and shall include mobile homes on individual lots whether owned collectively or individually in mobile home courts, and individual units within condominiums or townhouses.
"Storm drain" means those drainage pipes which are designated to carry surface water runoff and other such storm waters as are not permitted to be disposed of through the "sanitary sewer system," in accordance with the provisions of this code.
"Street use permit" means any permit required by any public agency authorizing the customer or his agent to perform work within public rights-of-way.
"Structure" means anything constructed, erected or placed, the use of which requires location or attachment to something having location on the ground, and shall in addition, include but not be limited to, trailers, mobile homes and house trailers, but shall not include fences and retaining walls.
"Suspended solids (SS)" means solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, "wastewater," or other liquids, and which are largely removable by laboratory filtering.
"Unpolluted water" means water in its natural state, or water which, after use for any purpose, is not substantially changed as to chemical or biochemical qualities.
"UPC" means Uniform Plumbing Code.
"Utility local improvement district (ULID)" means a special district (geographic area) established by the "county" or a vote by the property owner of the "benefited properties" under provisions of the Revised Code of Washington for the purpose of providing "wastewater" facility improvements and assessing all properties benefiting from those "wastewater" facility improvements for all or a portion of the cost of those improvements.
"Wastewater" means a combination of liquid and water-carried wastes from domestic, commercial or industrial facilities together with other waters which may inadvertently enter the system.
"Wastewater facilities" means the structures, equipment, and processes required to collect, transport, and treat domestic and commercial wastes, and dispose of the "effluent" and waste by-products including "public" and "private sewer facilities."
"Wastewater treatment plant" means the arrangements of devices and structures used for treating the "wastewater" collected by the "county."
"Water reclamation facility" means the arrangement of devices, structures, and ponds used for treating "wastewater" according to the standards delineated under RCW 90.46 (Reclaimed Water).
"Watercourse" means (1) a natural or artificial channel for passage of water; (2) a running stream of water; (3) a natural stream fed from permanent or natural sources, including rivers, creeks, runs and rivulets. There must be a stream, usually flowing in a particular direction (though it need not flow continuously) in a definite channel, having a bed or banks and usually discharging into some other stream or body of water.
(Res. 144-99 Art. II, 1999).