§ 90-124. Use of sanitary sewers.

(a)

Unsanitary disposal prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to dispose of untreated wastewater or allow untreated wastewater to be disposed of in any unsanitary manner on any property, public or private, in the city.

(b)

Surface water/groundwater discharge regulated. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge into any watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater, any wastewater or other polluted water, except where treatment has been provided in accordance with provisions of this article, and all applicable state and federal laws.

(c)

Septic tanks regulated. Except as provided by state law or city ordinance or rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, it shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool or other facility intended or used for the treatment or disposal of wastewater.

(d)

Sanitary facilities required. The owner or occupant of any house, building or property used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purposes situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley, easement, or right-of-way in which there are located available sanitary sewers, is hereby required, at such owner's expense, to install suitable toilet facilities therein and to connect such facilities directly with the available sanitary sewer in accordance with the provisions of this article, within 180 days after sewer service is available, provided that the available sewer is within 100 feet of the property line. In those cases where there is an available sewer within 100 feet of the property line but connection would cause undue hardship for such reasons as the topography of the property or length of pipe necessary to connect with the sewer, the city commission is authorized to grant variances to this requirement provided that the property meets applicable federal, state and local regulations for the alternate wastewater disposal method to be used.

(e)

Connection required. At such time as a sanitary sewer becomes available to a property served by a private individual wastewater disposal system (such as a septic tank or sand filter), a direct connection shall be made to the sewer in compliance with this article within 180 days and any septic tanks, cesspools, and similar private wastewater disposal facilities shall be abandoned and their further use for any purposes prohibited. An abandoned septic tank, when declared to be a hazard by the county health department shall be:

(1)

Pumped out;

(2)

The bottom suitably opened or ruptured so as to prevent the tank from retaining water; and

(3)

Filled with clean sand or other suitable material, the actions being taken in the order listed.

(Ord. No. 4414-12, § 1, 4-2-2012)