§ 47-129. Metering water not discharged into sewer system to determine charge.

(a)

Any customer discharging wastewater into the sewer system, except a single-family residential user, who takes water for the manufacture of a product or as cooling water, may receive credit for that portion of the water provided to his or her facilities that is not discharged into the sanitary sewers of the city under the city's submeter credit program.

(b)

In order to apply for the submeter credit program, the customer must submit to the department an application together with the non-refundable fee stated for this provision in the city fee schedule.. The customer must meet all guidelines specified herein to qualify and remain in the submeter credit program.

(c)

The customer shall, at his or her own expense, install water submeter(s) of a type, design and location approved by the utility official. The department shall inspect and approve the submeter installations to ensure that the department's standards are met.

(d)

The customer shall take monthly readings from these submeters within two days of the date specified by the utility official. The department shall not accept readings taken outside this time frame. The customer shall provide the readings as required by the utility official. The department shall charge the monthly administrative processing fee stated for this provision in the city fee schedule for participation in the submeter credit program. This fee will be deducted from the monthly credit given to the customer.

(e)

The customer shall test all submeters at least once every twelve months and provide the department a certificate reporting the results of the tests. The test must include:

(1)

A determination of the accuracy of the submeters, and

(2)

A determination that no water is discharged into the sanitary sewers of the city except water that is measured by the blow-down submeter.

Such testing must be conducted by a technician certified to perform the testing and employed by a company approved by the utility official for such testing. It shall be the customer's responsibility to notify the department within a reasonable time in advance of the test so that the department may, if it chooses, have a witness present during such test. If test results show the percentage of accuracy is not within the accuracy tolerance specified by the manufacturer, then the customer shall repair or replace and retest the meter. The department shall bill the customer by (1) adjusting the sewer bill back to the time when the inaccuracy began, if such time is ascertainable, or (2) adjusting the sewer bill for a period extending back one-half of the time elapsed since the date of the last test of the meter.

(f)

Under the submeter credit program, the department shall determine the quantity of wastewater for billing purposes by subtracting the monthly reading of the customer's submeter from the monthly reading of the city's meter. In the event the property is not supplied water by the city, the department shall deduct the submeter readings from the total water usage furnished to the property as estimated by the utility official.

(g)

A customer taking water for cooling purposes under the submeter credit program must also maintain an acceptable range of cycles of concentration as indicated by the ratio of make-up water to blow-down water from the submeter readings in order to receive credit. The utility official will determine the acceptable range of system cycles of concentration based on industry standards.

(h)

If the submeter readings are not within range compliance, the department shall notify the customer and allow the customer a 30-day period to make corrections. During this 30-day period, the department shall give the customer a credit based on the credit for the same period of the prior year, subject to prior year compliance as defined in subsection (g) of this section. After the 30-day correction period, the department shall not give credits to the customer until submeter readings fall within range compliance.

(i)

The department shall remove any customer from the submeter credit program if such customer fails to submit submeter readings for six consecutive months or more. The customer may reapply for the program by meeting all herein specified requirements. No credits shall be given to a customer for the period during which program participation was terminated.

(j)

No facility for which a submeter is installed under the provisions of this section may be connected to the sanitary sewer system of the city, unless the customer secures the written approval of the utility official for the proposed connection.

(k)

The department shall have the right during regular business hours to inspect the submeters installed to measure the amount of water provided to the facility and not discharged into the city's sanitary sewer system. The department may also require submeter calibration tests to be performed at any time to ensure accuracy of the submeters.

(l)

Any person who has approval from the department for a submeter credit program and who knowingly submits false information to the city for the submeter credit program or who connects his or her facilities to the city's sanitary sewer system without notifying the utility official shall be guilty of an offense. In addition, the department shall remove the customer from the submeter program for a period of one year.

(m)

If a facility does not discharge into the city's sewer system but does take water from the city, all applicable rates and requirements of this chapter for water service shall apply to the customer responsible for such facility.

(Code 1968, § 49-102; Ord. No. 74-221, § 1, 2-6-74; Ord. No. 89-1048, § 14, 7-5-89; Ord. No. 90-15, § 4, 1-10-90; Ord. No. 90-635, § 153, 4-23-90; Ord. No. 07-599, § 39, 5-16-07; Ord. No. 2011-1168, § 13, 12-14-2011)