§ 22-285. Building sewers and connections.

(a)

No person shall uncover, make any connections with, open, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer, public sewerage system, waste water treatment facility or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the director of public works.

(b)

All disposals by any person into the sewer system is unlawful except those discharges in compliance with federal standards promulgated pursuant to the Federal Act and more stringent state and local standards.

(c)

The owner or his agent shall make application, on a special form furnished by the city, for building sewer permit, prior to construction of any sewer or sewerage. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent and necessary in the judgment of the director of public works. A permit filing fee per section 22-302 shall be paid to the city at the time the application is filed. The applicant as a condition of permit authorization may be required to provide information describing its wastewater constituents, characteristics, and type of activity and such other information as deemed necessary by the director of public works.

(d)

A building sewer permit will only be issued and a sewer connection shall only be allowed if it can be demonstrated that the downstream sewerage facilities, including sewers, pump stations and wastewater treatment facilities, have sufficient capacity to adequately and efficiently handle the additional anticipated waste load.

(e)

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, liability or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.

(f)

A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for each and every building, except that where one 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, court, yard, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.

(g)

Old 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, to meet all requirements of this ordinance.

(h)

The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code and other applicable rules and regulations of the city. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the Standard Specifications for Water and Sewer Main Construction in Illinois shall apply.

(i)

Gravity sewers. No basement, half basement or any other portion of a building having a floor elevation beneath the ground surface over the public sewer at the point of connection may be connected into the public sewer by gravity. In areas where the ground line over the public sewer is to be altered, the proposed final ground elevation shall be used. The maximum depth to the top of the building service sewer shall be forty-two (42) inches below finished grade at the point where it enters such building. In all buildings in which the building drain is too low to provide gravity flow to the public sewer, all sewage carried by such drain shall be lifted by mechanical means. No water operated sewage injector shall be used.

(j)

No person(s) shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior 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)

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 Standard Specifications for Water and Sewer Main Construction in Illinois. All such connections shall be made gas tight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the director of public works before installation.

(l)

The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the director of public works 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 his representative.

(m)

All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways, and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the city.

(Ord. No. 4-2011, Ch. B, Art. III, 1-18-2011)