Tuesday, May 25, 2010

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

Court decisions can be quite instructive. A case in point is M.N. Bleich & Co. v. Emmett, 295 S.W. 223 (Tex. C.C.A. 1927).

A customer came to a grocery store to buy feed. While there, he alleged, he expressed a desire to urinate and asked the privilege of using the store's toilet. He was directed to the back room, which was dark and had no light. In entering it, he fell into an open freight elevator pit in the room. While the man was on his hands and knees, an employee of the store lowered the freight elevator unto the man. THe facts do not indicate whether the man was able to urinate under these circumstances.

The court affirmed a judgment for the customer, finding negligence by the store to its invitee. There was some question whether the store's employee had authority to direct the customer where to urinate. It seems that there in fact was no toilet in the back room--just stacks of feed. The employee told the customer "that if he wanted to urinate to go to the dark corner behind the hay; that that was the place used for such purposes." One witness testified that for ten years "he would sometimes go where the elevator was to urinate."

On a motion for rehearing, however, the appeals court changed its mind and reversed the judgment for the customer. "The undisputed evidence shows that appellant had not provided a toilet in the rear of his feed compartment for use by any one; such place as a toilet or place to urinate; and that he had no knowledge that such place had ever been so used. Under such circumstances there was, we now think, no invitation, either expressed or implied by appellant extended to appellee to use any part of the feed compartment as a place to urinate." Id. at 228.

The condition of the feed was not addressed, and presumably this subject remained in a void.

Friday, May 7, 2010

ILLEGAL STORM WATER CONNECTIONS...GOING AWAY FROM THE FLOW

A nemesis of a wastewater treatment facility is extraneous storm water flow to the plant in rain events. Almost all wastewater treatment facilities are designed to receive and treat only domestic sanitary sewage and pretreated industrial wastewater. Most treatment plants depend upon biological processes to treat wastewater to meet strict Clean Water Act standards upon discharge to a waterbody. If a rain event causes storm water to enter the sanitary sewer mains and to flow to the treatment plant, these biological processes can be disrupted. Wastewater can be "washed out" of the plant without having received full treatment, causing pollution of the receiving stream or lake and violation of applicable standards. In addition high storm water flows can cause sanitary sewer mains to become surcharged, resulting in backups into basements and overflows from manholes.

Extraneous storm water flows are caused by inflow and infiltration of storm water into the sanitary sewer collection system. Inflow and infiltration commonly are referred to as "I & I".

Infiltration of storm water can occur when sanitary sewer mains have become broken or separated in some manner so as to permit ground water to enter. Breaks can occur due to such diverse causes as tree roots or heaving of the soil during freeze and thaw cycles. Infiltration generally is the responsibility of the utility. However, infiltration likely is not the primary source of extraneous flows to the treatment facility.

Storm water inflows into the sanitary mains occur, for the most part, due to deliberate connection of devices which discharge storm water flow into the sanitary system. In addition, sanitary sewer manhole covers located in streets or swales can permit inflow if not sealed.

Examples of inflow devices connected to the sanitary sewer service line on customer property typically include downspouts, sump pumps which drain footing drains and window wells, patio drains, driveway drains, garage floor drains and crawl space drains. Connections which permit the inflow of storm water into the sanitary sewer system generally are deemed "illegal connections", and should be disconnected. Obviously, it can be difficult for a utility to police for illegal connections. For example, sump pumps can be disconnected and reconnected fairly easily.

Several years ago, I developed a protocol for a utility client to control illegal connections. The protocol requires customers to permit inspection of their premises to determine if there is compliance with rules prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of illegal connections. In the event of a finding of non-compliance and failure to disconnect illegal connections, or in the event or refusal to permit inspection, the utility may disconnect water or wastewater service to the customer. This protocol has been successful for the client and has been adopted by other utilities.