“Biochemical oxygen demand” (BOD) 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.

“Collection system” shall mean the system of public sewers to be operated by the city designed for the collection of sanitary sewage.

“Commercial user” shall mean any premises used for commercial or business purposes which is not an industry as defined in this chapter.

“Constant cost factor” shall mean the cost adopted by resolution of the council equal to one ERU.

“Domestic waste” shall mean any wastewater emanating from dwellings or from domestic activities which are performed outside the home in lieu of a home activity directly by or for private citizens.

“Equivalent residential unit” or “ERU” shall mean a unit of wastewater which incurs the same costs for operation and maintenance as the average volume of domestic wastes discharged from a single-family residence in the treatment works service area. In the city of Electric City, one ERU shall be equivalent to 250 gallons per day of wastewater with domestic strength. Users with wastes which differ significantly in strength from the average domestic waste strength of 250 mg/l BOD and SS shall be charged a special rate according to the rate schedule, ECMC 13.20.090.

“Industrial user” shall mean any nongovernmental user of the public treatment works identified in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987, Office of Management and Budget, as amended and supplemented under the following divisions:

A user in these divisions may be excluded from the industrial category if it is determined that it will introduce primarily domestic wastes and wastes from sanitary conveniences.

“Industrial waste” shall mean that portion of wastewater emanating from an industrial user which is not domestic waste or waste from sanitary conveniences.

“Operation and maintenance” shall mean all activities, goods, and services which are necessary to maintain the proper capacity and performance of the treatment works for which such works were designed and constructed. The term “operation and maintenance” shall include replacement as defined hereinafter.

“Person” shall mean any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation, or group.

“Public treatment works” shall mean a treatment works owned and operated by a public authority.

“Replacement” shall mean acquisition and installation of equipment, accessories, or appurtenances which are necessary during the service life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.

“Service area” shall mean all the area served by the treatment works and for which there is one uniform user charge system.

“Sewage” shall mean a combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface, and storm waters as may be present.

“Sewage treatment plant” shall mean an arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.

Shall and May. “Shall” is mandatory; “may” is permissible.

“Suspended solids (SS)” shall mean solids that either float on the surface or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

“Treatment works” shall mean all facilities for collection, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage. “Treatment system” and “sewerage system” shall be equivalent terms for “treatment works.”

“User” shall mean every person using any part of the public treatment works of the city of Electric City.

“User charge” shall mean the periodic charges levied on all users of the public treatment works, and shall, at a minimum, cover each user’s proportionate share of the cost of operation and maintenance. (Ord. 523 § 1, 2017)