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Sewer Permits

POLICY GUIDELINES ON PRIVATE SEWAGE PUMP STATIONS

I. Private Pump Stations

Shall conform to the requirements of the State of New Hampshire Water Supply and Pollution Control Division, the City of Manchester Code of Ordinances, Chapter 52- Sewers, the City of Manchester Standard Specifications, and the below guidelines. Detail shop drawings, catalog cuts and design calculations shall be submitted and approved by the City. All private pump stations shall be inspected by the Highway Department prior to being placed into operation. A complete set of operation and maintenance manuals will be included with every pump station.

II. Industrial or Commercial Sites
  1. Any type of sewage pump station conforming to the requirements of Section I, shall be permitted for use in order to provide service for one building.
  2. A site with the potential of being subdivided:
    1. The site and service area must be defined and approved.
    2. Design sanitary flows must be approved.
    3. Submersible pumps will not be permitted unless approved in advance by the Public Works Director.
    4. A private service agreement must be set up by the Developer of the project and shall define operation, maintenance, cost and cost sharing. This agreement must be reviewed and approved by the City.
    5. No site outside the original service area will be permitted without approval of the Public Works Director.
III. Residential Apartments and Condominiums
  1. The sewage pump station will be designed to provide service for only the apartment or condominium site.
  2. Design sanitary flows must be approved.
  3. Submersible pumps will not be permitted unless approved in advance by the Public Works Director.
  4. Standby power and an alarm system must be provided.
  5. In the case of condominium developments, the Developer may be required to set up and/or participate in a mechanism to fund the cost of operation, maintenance and equipment replacement to assist the Homeowners Association.
IV. Single family Residential Developments
  1. Private sewage pump stations proposed in single family residential developments having public roadways and other public utilities will be discouraged.
  2. Submersible pumps will not be permitted by unless approved in advance by the Public Works Director.
  3. The sewage pump station shall be of wet well/dry well construction, having approved ventilation and provisions for emergency power as a minimum.
  4. The Developer will be required to set up and participate in a mechanism to fund the cost of operation, maintenance and equipment replacement for the pump station to assist the Homeowners Association. One copy of the pump station manuals and the maintenance contract for the Homeowners Association will be placed on file with the Homeowners Association and at the Highway Department prior to the pump station being placed into service.
  5. Suction lift pump stations with emergency power may be permitted by the Public Works Director, depending on the size of the project.
V. Pumped Building Connection
  1. Pumped building connections to the public sewers will only be permitted if they conform to this regulation, the City's Sewer Use Ordinance or approved in advance by the Public Works Director.
  2. A building connection from an individual sewage lift system for an existing structure will be permitted, if the connection to the public sewer is within 200 feet of the property line.
  3. A sewage lift building connection for new construction will only be considered if the requesting party can demonstrate that all gravity sewer options have been exhausted and the connection is within 100 feet of their property line.
  4. Multi-lot sewage lift building connections are discouraged. Use may be approved at the sole discretion of the Public Works Director.
  5. Individual sewage lift systems that are approved, must have separate effluent lines (force mains). Common force mains for individual building connection may only maybe approved at the sole discretion of the Public Works Director.

SEWER CONNECTIONS

52.020 CONNECTION TO PUBLIC SEWER REQUIRED.

The owner of any house, building, or property. ..is hereby required at his expense to install suitable sanitary facilities therein. ..within 90 days after the date of official notice to do so, provided that said public sewer is accessible and available within 100 feet of said owners building, as determined by the Public Works Director.

Note: By definition, the "public sewer" is the main line of the sewer main.

52.122 SEPARATE CONNECTIONS

A separate and independent building connection shall be provided for every building except that when two or more buildings are so situated that a separate and independent building connection for each building would involve practical difficulties and impose unnecessary hardships, the Public Works Director may authorize the connection of such buildings to the public sewer through a single building connection, subject to such items and conditions of easement, design, and construction as he may require. In the case of multifamily, condominium, or town house dwelling units, each building connection will be subject to the issuance of a permit.

52.125 SIZE AND SLOPE

The size and slope of the building connection shall be subject to the approval of the Public Works Director, but in no event shall the diameter be less than four inches; and the slope of the four inch pipe shall in no case be less than Y4 inch per foot. Six inch pipe may be laid at a slope of 1/8 inch per foot. Pipe larger than the minimum size herein specified shall be used when and as the size of structure, numbers and kinds of fixtures to be drained or other conditions may make it necessary to provide for adequate and proper flow.

52.127 COVER AND ALIGNMENT

The cover over the crown of the building connection shall be at least four feet to afford protection from frost action. Any deviation from the minimum cover required shall be done only with the written permission of the Public Works Director. The building connection shall be laid at a uniform grade and in straight alignment. Changes in direction shall be made only at clean outs or manholes as required by the Public Works Director. Clean outs shall be provided at maximum spacing of 75 feet on straight runs. (per Department policy, Clean outs are not allowed within the City's Right-of- Way).

City of Manchester, N.H., Code of Ordinances, Sewers, Chapter 52.020

SEWER EXTENSIONS

All proposed sewer extensions must conform to the City of Manchester, NH Standard Specifications for Road, Drain & Sewer Construction and all other applicable state and federal regulations including those of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

Plans must be prepared and stamped by a New Hampshire licensed professional engineer and submitted to the Highway Department for review and approval.

The following is a partial list of information that must be included with all requests for sewer extensions. This list has been excerpted directly from the Standard Specifications to give an overview of the type of information required for a sewer extension. Additional required information can be found in the Standard Specifications noted above:

  1. Design sanitary flow calculations prepared by a professional civil engineer currently registered in the State of New Hampshire.
  2. The plans shall show manholes placed at the end of each sewer line, at all pipe intersections and at all changes in alignment. Desirable spacing of manholes shall be 300 feet.
  3. The plans shall show all proposed sewers at sufficient depth to receive sewage from below basement floors and to preclude freezing.
  4. The minimum depth of cover over the sewer in roadways shall be 6 feet and for cross-country shall be 4 feet.
  5. Sewers shall be uniformly graded between manholes and the size, slope, type of material and class of all pipes shall be shown on the profiles.
  6. Manholes shall be located at all changes in grade or pipe size.
  7. A drop entry pipe shall be provided for any sewer entering a manhole at an elevation of 24 inches or more above the manhole invert. Where the difference in elevation will be less than 24 inches, the slope of the incoming pipe sewer shall be adjusted to meet the manhole invert elevation.
  8. Profiles shall indicate all manholes. All pipe invert and rim elevations shall be shown.
  9. The locations and depth of other existing or proposed underground utilities shall be shown on the plans in order to avoid conflicts during construction.

Sewer Permit

Sewer permits are required to connect a service to an existing sanitary sewer or to repair an existing sewer service.

For additional information on the City's wastewater collection and treatment facilities, visit the Environmental Protection Division's website.