§ 27-146. Commercial water only account.

(a)

Commercial water only account. For purposes of this section, a commercial customer is any nonresidential utility customer of both the City's water and wastewater systems. A commercial customer using metered water inside the customer's building or premises for a commercial purpose that is not subsequently discharged to the City's wastewater system may request a separate water connection to measure water delivered through a City water meter that is consumed in a commercial customer's premises but which does not enter the City's wastewater system. No water delivered through a commercial water only account connection shall be discharged to the City's wastewater system.

(b)

Application for commercial water only account. Each commercial customer requesting a commercial water only account shall submit an application form provided by the City along with a nonrefundable application fee in the amount of $100.00. Each commercial customer shall provide documentation demonstrating that the metered water for such account will not enter the City's wastewater system. The following information shall be submitted with each application:

(1)

Name, mailing address, email address, phone number, name of representative for contact purposes and the commercial customer's existing City Utility Account Number, if applicable.

(2)

A drawing or schematic of the commercial customer's property, building and premises showing the existing and proposed plumbing with the proposed and/or existing meter locations(s) and the wastewater discharge points clearly identified. In addition, the drawing shall identify the location of any cooling towers and any other systems or equipment using potable water.

(3)

Executed consent form granting the City the right to conduct unplanned inspections of the commercial customer's property and premises at any time during business operations, including the right of City inspector's to temporarily shut off water to any water service provided by the City to the commercial customer in order to determine if any unauthorized connections have been made. The commercial customer shall also agree to cooperate with any reasonable requests during the inspection, including any request by the City to operate private valves to ensure no cross connection exists.

Upon receipt of a completed application, the City will review the information provided, conduct an inspection and approve or deny the request for a commercial water only account. The inspection will be scheduled to confirm that water delivered through the meter for a commercial water only account is not returned to the wastewater system. A commercial customer who fails to pass the required inspection shall be required to pay a fee of $36.00 for each subsequent inspection required. The City may reject any application that is missing one or more items of information or documentation that is required in order to complete the application. A commercial customer whose application for a commercial water only account is denied may re-file the application upon the inclusion of the information or documentation previously determined by the City to be deficient.

Upon approval of the application for commercial water only account, the City will make the necessary connection to the water system in accordance with the City's routine practices, policies and regulations. No credit for wastewater charges shall be made for any water services provided prior to the connection being made for a commercial water only account. The City shall conduct an inspection of the property and premises for each commercial water only account at least once annually.

(c)

Connection and other charges. All new connections to the water mains for commercial water only accounts shall be made by the City. Connection charges shall be the same as charges for potable water service set forth in section 27-109 and deposits shall be made in accordance with section 27-3. Commercial water only accounts shall also be subject to the same charges set forth in section 27-141(b).

(d)

Monthly charges. Commercial customers with a commercial water only account shall not be charged fees for wastewater services for that account; however, the commercial customer shall pay a base charge based on the meter connection size and volume charges based on water consumption as follows:

(1)

Base charges. The base charges, determined by meter size, are listed in the following table:

Meter Size (in inches)	Base Charge
5/8 or ¾	$  15.48
1	34.20
1½	65.41
2	102.85
3	202.70
4	315.03
6	627.06
8	1,001.49
10	1,438.33
12	2,686.44

 

(2)

Volume charges . The volume charges shall be the same volume charges as set forth in section 27-141(a)(2) for commercial customers.

(e)

Access to premises. The City shall have the right to enter the commercial customer's premises at any time during business hours to inspect the customer's water and wastewater plumbing located in the building or premises in order to determine if any additional discharge connections have been made allowing water delivered from a commercial water only account to be discharged to the City's wastewater system. During any such inspection, the City representative may temporarily shut off water supplied to the commercial customer's premises from any source supplying potable water to the commercial customer. In addition, the commercial customer may be required to operate private valves to ensure no cross connections exist.

(f)

Revocation of commercial water only account . A commercial water only account previously approved may be revoked by the City for any one or more of the following reasons:

(1)

Commercial customer sells or leases property or premises to a new owner or proprietor.

(2)

Commercial customer modifies its plumbing without submitting a new application or without obtaining any required building permits.

(3)

Commercial customer denies City employees or authorized City representatives access to the property or premises in order for the City to conduct an inspection.

(4)

All or any part of the water measured by the meter installed for the commercial water only account is discharged into the City's wastewater system.

(5)

Non-payment of any City utility bill at the customer's service address.

(g)

Additional charges. In the event the City determines that a commercial customer has discharged water delivered from a commercial water only account into the City wastewater system or has modified the plumbing on the premises in order to allow for all or any part of the water measured by a meter to be discharged to the City's wastewater system, the commercial customer shall be billed for wastewater services in an amount based on the current wastewater volume charges times 100 percent of the total water measured by the City's water meter from the date of the last inspection conducted by the City, to the date such unauthorized discharge or connection to the City's wastewater system is discovered.

(Ord. No. 222-H, § 1, 3-17-2016; Ord. No. 313-H, § 3, 12-7-2017; Ord. No. 343-H, § 4, 8-23-2018)