§ 28-01-010. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

Base rate is the fixed monthly fee charged all property owners serviced by the city's sewage system and municipal water supply and shall have the same meaning as "customer charge(s)."

BOD (denoting biochemical oxygen demand) shall mean the quantity of oxygen by weight utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Celsius expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).

City is defined as the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico, or any authorized person or entity acting in its behalf.

City commission is the governing body authorized to oversee the implementation of the City Code of Ordinances, or any authorized person acting in its behalf.

COD (denoting chemical oxygen demand) is a measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of organic and inorganic matter present in wastewater as milligrams per liter (mg/l).

Cooling water is defined as the water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat. This may also be termed as "noncontact cooling water." Water which comes into contact with raw materials or finished products from an industrial process is considered contact cooling water and is considered a polluted industrial waste.

CFR is defined as the Code of Federal Regulations, published by the office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, as a Special Edition of the Federal Register.

Commodity charge. See "Consumption charge."

Consumption charge means the approved rate per volume of water and/or sewer used as measured by a meter and/or calculated per ordinance.

Customer charge is the fixed monthly fee charged property owners serviced by the city's sanitary sewer system and municipal water supply system and shall have the same meaning as base rate.

Cut off shall mean the turning off of the water supply to the property at the meter can.

Disconnect shall mean the severing of utility services to a property, including but not limited to removal of all, or part, of the city service lines, meter, meter can and all connecting hardware.

Effluent water. See "reclaimed water."

Garbage shall mean solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storing and sale of produce.

Hauled wastes is defined as wastes delivered to the city's sanitary sewer system by conveyance other than direct pipe connection to the sewer, usually by tank truck.

Holding tank wastes any wastes from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum pump tank trucks.

Hot tub. See "swimming pool."

Household use is defined as the use of water for necessary living functions, like drinking, bathing, washing of clothes, and other uses in the home for personal health and sanitation.

Industrial liquid wastes shall mean all waterborne solids, liquids or gaseous wastes resulting from any industrial, manufacturing or food processing operation or process, or from the development of any natural resource, or any mixture of these with water or domestic sewage as distinct from normal domestic sewage. Industrial manufacturing processes shall include, but are not limited to: ordnance and accessories; food and allied products; tobacco manufacturers, textile mill products; apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials; lumber and wood products, except furniture; furniture and fixtures; printing, publishing, and allied industries; chemicals and allied products; petroleum refining and related industries; rubber and miscellaneous plastics products; leather and leather products; stone, clay, glass and concrete products; primary metal industries; fabricated metal products, except ordnance, machinery and transportation equipment; machinery, except electrical; electrical machinery, equipment and supplies; transportation equipment; photographic and optical goods; watches and clocks; miscellaneous manufacturing industries.

Interference is defined as a discharge which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources which:

(1)

Inhibits or disrupts the city's wastewater treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and

(2)

Causes a violation of any state, federal, or local requirements placed on the final disposal of the treated effluent or sludge from the city treatment works.

Medical waste is defined as isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

Meter is a device designed to measure the flow/consumption of water delivered to a user (see "standard meter" and "non-standard meter").

Non-household use means all other uses, including but not limited to, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and agricultural uses.

Non-standard meter is a meter approved for use by the city which does not communicate electronically with the city and is required to be read manually to record flow/consumption. A standard meter may be converted to a non-standard meter by disconnecting and removing the meter interface unit (MIU).

Normal domestic wastewater shall mean waterborne wastes normally discharging from the sanitary conveniences of buildings (including apartments, houses and hotels), office buildings, factories and institutions, free from storm surface water and industrial wastes. Normal domestic wastewater shall mean "normal" for the city.

Pass through is defined as a discharge which exits the POTW into the receiving stream in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city's discharge permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

Person is defined as any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and local governmental entities.

pH shall mean the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.

Pollutant shall include, but not be limited to, the following: dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, suspended solids, settleable solids, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or color).

Potable water is water treated within the city's system to standards acceptable for human consumption.

POTW (publicly owned treatment works). A "treatment works" as defined by section 212 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.

Pretreatment is defined as the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the city's wastewater facility.

Public sewer shall mean a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties shall have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.

Reclaimed water is wastewater treated to standards acceptable for reuse under the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) discharge permit.

Sanitary sewer shall mean the public sewer portion of a wastewater facility which transports wastewater and to which storm, surface and ground water are not intentionally admitted.

Settleable solids means those solids which settle during a preselected period of time as expressed in milliliters per liter of sample.

Septage means the liquid removed from domestic septic tanks composed of sanitary and household liquid wastes.

Septage hauler is defined as the person or business engaged in the service of pumping domestic septic tanks and trucking the collection septage to the city's wastewater treatment works.

Sewage is defined as human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.)

Smart meter. See "Standard meter."

Standard meter is a meter approved by the city which reads and records flow/consumption on a programmed interval and communicates that information electronically to the city for billing and management purposes.

Spa. See "swimming pool."

Storm sewer shall mean a sewer which carries storm water.

Storm water is defined as any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

Swimming pool is any structure, including spas and hot tubs more than twenty-four (24) inches in depth and containing more than five hundred (500) gallons of water and intended primarily for recreational use.

Trap is a device for retaining sand, silt, grit mineral material, petroleum solvent, grease or oil by gravity-differential separation from wastewater and of a design and capacity approved by the city.

Treated water. See "potable water."

Unpolluted process water shall mean any water or waste containing none of the following: Free or emulsified grease or oil; acid or alkali, phenols or other substances imparting taste and odor to receiving water; toxic substances in suspension, colloidal state or solution; and noxious or odorous gases.

User is defined as any person who has a building sewer connected to the city's sanitary sewer, or contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the city's POTW, including those who discharge hauled wastes to the POTW.

Wastewater shall mean the used water of a community. Such used water may be a combination of the liquid and waterborne wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions.

Wastewater facilities shall mean the structures, equipment and processes required to collect, transport and treat domestic industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.

Wastewater treatment works shall mean an arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial wastes and sludge. Sometimes used as synonymous with waste treatment plant or wastewater treatment plant.

Water user is defined any person who has a meter connected to the city water system.

(Code 1960, § 8-9-2; Ord. No. 477, 5-2-72; Ord. No. 964, § 3, 11-14-95; Ord. No. 1168, § 1, 12-19-02; Ord. No. 1169, § 5, 2-11-03; Ord. No. 1199, § 1, 4-13-04; Ord. No. 1208, § 1, 4-13-04; Ord. No. 1506 , § 1, 12-15-15)

Cross reference

Rules of construction and definitions generally, § 1-01-020.