§ 19-177. Definitions.

When used in this rate ordinance, the following terms shall be defined to mean:

After hours service means any service provided by the county other than the close of business hours and before the start of business hours. No utility representative of the county will be obligated to respond to a call for connection or reconnection of services after the hour of 10:00 p.m.

Applicant means the owner of real property or the person or legal entity which has the legal right to utilize real property by means of any form of ownership which real property the applicant desires to be served by water service or wastewater service. The terms "applicant", "developer", and "property owner" are synonymous and may be used interchangeably herein.

Application means a written request from an applicant requesting that, pursuant to a utility agreement, specific water service and/or wastewater service be provided to and for certain real property.

Biochemical oxygen demand or BOD means the quantity of oxygen in the biochemical oxidation of the organic matter in wastewater under standard laboratory procedures in five (5) days at twenty degrees centigrade (20°C), expressed in milligrams per liter. The BOD shall be determined in accordance with procedures set forth in the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.

Board means the Board of County Commissioners of Marion County, Florida.

Business hours means Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

County means Marion County, Florida, a political subdivision of the State of Florida.

Collection facilities means the lines, pipes, and appurtenant equipment and all other related equipment or facilities, of whatever type or nature, used to collect sewage from sewer facilities, buildings, structures or facilities and to transmit it to wastewater transmission facilities.

Cross connection means any physical arrangement whereby a public water supply is connected directly or indirectly with any other water supply system, sewer, drain, conduit, pool, storage reservoir, plumbing fixture, or any other device, facility or system which contains or may contain contaminated water, sewage, waste material or other material or substance of unknown or potentially unsafe quality which may be capable of imparting contamination to the public water supply as a result of backflow. Bypass arrangements, jumper connections, changeable devices or other devices through which or because of which backflow could occur are deemed to constitute cross connections.

Customer means any person, firm or corporation who has entered into an agreement to receive water or wastewater service from the county and who is liable for the payment of that water and wastewater service.

Customer installations means all water and wastewater facilities which ordinarily and customarily exist on the consumers' side of the point of delivery, such as, by way of example and not limitation, curb stops and lateral connections.

Distribution facilities means the lines, pipes, meters, and appurtenant equipment and any other related equipment or facility, of whatever type or nature, used to distribute water from the utility to the customer for usage.

Dwelling unit means one or more rooms in a residential or commercial building which are used or intended for use as a living facility for no more than one family and generally including provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. A hotel or motel room is not considered as a dwelling unit.

Easement means an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

Effluent disposal facilities means those wastewater facilities necessary to detain, transmit, store, and dispose of wastewater previously treated at wastewater treatment facilities.

Equivalent residential connection or ERC means a factor used to convert a given average daily flow (ADF) to the equivalent number of residential connections. For this purpose the ADF of one ERC is deemed to be three hundred (300) gallons per day (GPD) for wastewater service and three hundred fifty (350) GPD for water service. The number of ERCs contained for a given ADF is initially determined hereunder by dividing that ADF by three hundred (300) GPD for wastewater or three hundred fifty (350) GPD for water.

FDEP means the Florida Department to Environmental Protection, or its successor agency.

Gallons per day or GPD means gallons per day on an annual average basis.

Hazardous waste means any substance, waste, or product that is potentially damaging to environmental health because of its toxicity, ignitibility, corrosivity, chemical reactivity, radioactivity, infectious characteristics, or for any other reason.

Mains refers to a pipe, conduit or other facilities installed to convey water service to individual service lines or to other mains, or in the case of sewer lines, to convey sewer service from individual service lines to other mains.

Master meter means a single meter serving a multifamily residential or a multi-unit nonresidential facility. This term includes, but is not limited to, master meters serving condominiums, apartments, mobile home parks, hotels, motels, travel trailer parks, shopping centers, and office buildings.

Meter means a device used to measure water delivered to "point of delivery" by the county.

Month or monthly with respect to rates and charges means the billing cycle which approximates thirty (30) days between meter readings.

Point of delivery means the designated point at which the applicant's property is connected to the water facilities or wastewater facilities.

Private fire protection means the existence of separate fire connections, standpipes with hose attachments and automatic fire sprinkler systems which serve a customer.

Property means the real property owned or controlled by an applicant for which water service capacity allocation, wastewater service capacity allocation, or both, is requested.

Reclaimed water means water, treated wastewater or sewer effluent that has been appropriately treated and which, as a result of the treatment of wastes, is suitable and usable for direct beneficial uses or a controlled use by and for public agricultural, commercial, residential or industrial developments, projects or purposes including, but not limited to, irrigation purposes in green areas of developments or other appropriate uses.

Septic tank means a subsurface impervious tank designed to temporarily return wastewater or similar waterborne wastes together with:

(1)

A sewer line constructed of solid pipe, with the joints sealed, connecting the impervious tank with a plumbing stub out; and

(2)

A subsurface system of trenches, piping and other materials constructed to drain the clarified discharge from the tank and distribute it underground to be absorbed or filtered.

Service lines means the pipes of the county which are connected from the mains to the "point of delivery".

Service rates or rates means the county's applicable schedules of rates and charges for water and wastewater services, including, by way of illustration and not limitation, connection fees, capital charges, meter installation charges, and any and all other fees or charges which may be in effect from time-to-time adopted by the county. The schedules of service rates shall be of general and uniform application within the county-wide water and wastewater utility system.

Sewage or wastewater means a combination of any type of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, industrial establishments, any and all other customers facilities, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.

System means the Marion County Water and Wastewater System.

Transmission lines means those lines and appurtenant facilities used to either transmit wastewater from the collection system to wastewater treatment facilities or transmit treated wastewater to a final effluent disposal site or transmit water from water treatment and production facilities to the distribution system. Transmission lines are generally six (6) inches or greater in size and serve or are intended to serve more than one parcel of property.

Utility agreement means a written agreement between the county and a property owner which establishes the terms and conditions pursuant to which the county will provide water and/or wastewater service.

Utility facilities, facilities or installations means by way of illustration and not limitation, all equipment, fixtures, pumps, lines, mains, manholes, lift stations, pumping stations, laterals, service connections, and all appurtenances thereto together with all real property, easements and right-of-way necessary to provide water and wastewater service to property whether located on-site or off-site.

Wastewater capital charge means a fee or charge paid to the county by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining wastewater service capacity. Capital charges are utilized for the acquisition, improvements, expansion and construction of facilities deemed necessary by the county to furnish wastewater service capacity and related service to the property and to adequately fund capital improvements in the system.

Wastewater treatment facilities means those facilities used to treat and filter sewage prior to effluent disposal. Wastewater treatment facilities do not include any portions of the collection facilities, wastewater transmission facilities, or effluent disposal facilities.

Water service capacity means the amount of potable water which can be pumped, treated, transmitted and distributed, on an average daily basis, where such amount is measured in gallons per day and include fire flows.

Water treatment facilities means any treatment and production facilities, including wells, plants, pumps and necessary appurtenant equipment necessary to withdraw and treat raw water in order to produce potable water.

(Ord. No. 04-4, § 3, 3-2-2004)