§ 106-55. Connections for fire protection only.

Service connections which are to be used exclusively for supplying water to extinguish fires may be granted upon the following conditions:

(1)

Application for such connection shall be made in writing by the owner of the premises to be served, or his legal representative, on a form furnished by the water and sewer department which shall include the provisions of this section.

(2)

The applicant must furnish with the application a complete and correct drawing, or set of drawings, showing the location of the premises to be supplied, together with the location of all valves, pipes, hydrants, tanks, sprinkler heads, and other appurtenances on the premises. The plans shall remain the property of the department. The applicant shall also agree to furnish the department with drawings showing revisions to piping and appurtenances whenever the same are made.

(3)

All fire service connections shall be installed by the contractor from the street main to the lot line where buildings are set back from the lot line. All repairs to the service pipe between the street main and the building shall be done by a licensed contractor at the expense of the owner.

(4)

The department shall limit the size of fire protection services where the street mains are of such size as to make it necessary in order to protect public interest. If more than one service is installed to the same premises, the piping system of one shall not be connected with the other except by special permission from the council upon recommendation of the superintendent of water and sewer.

(5)

No water shall be drawn from the fire service pipes for any purpose whatever except for the extinguishment of fires, and no connection shall be made between the fire service pipe system and the regular water supply of the premises, and valves on those outlets, drain cocks, etc., placed on the pipe system shall be of a style that can be sealed by the plumbing inspector, and when any such valve or cock is opened, the owner or occupant of the premises shall notify the department so that the same can be resealed at once. This subsection is not to be construed as prohibiting a reasonable use of water for fire drills, draining of a system to prevent freezing or other reasonable use in connection with proper fire protection.

(6)

All fire protection systems supplied with water from the city service shall be supplied exclusively with such water and no connection shall be allowed with any other system drawing its supply from any other source whereby the city water supply may be contaminated by the failure to close valves, or leaking check valves, etc., and no auxiliary or secondary suction pipe to any fire pump taking water from any contaminated source will be permitted.

(7)

All fire protection systems using water from any other source than the city service, shall be kept entirely separate from any such system supplied from the city service.

(8)

All fire service shall be subject to inspection by the plumbing inspector who will visit all premises having fire services from time to time, and the owners or tenants shall give the inspector all reasonable facilities for making the inspection and any information concerning the same that he may require. Care will always be taken that inspections will be made with as little inconvenience to the owners or occupants as possible.

(9)

In any case when the owner or occupants of any premises are found to be using water from a fire service for purposes other than fire protection, the water shall be shut off from such premises until the offenders shall give reasonable assurance before the council that the offense will not be repeated and a charge of $25.00 will be required for turning on the water after it has been shut off for this cause. A second violation of this rule will be considered sufficient cause for cutting the service off at the main and refusing to reconnect same while the offender occupies the premises.

(10)

Failure to pay the cost of installing the fire service or any subsequent repairs thereto, within 30 days after the receipt of the bill, will be sufficient cause for turning off the water from the supply. The city may require the owner or the premises supplied to furnish and install, at his expense and under the direction of the superintendent of water and sewer, an approved water meter and to keep the same in an accurate operating condition.

(11)

A regular tapping fee as provided elsewhere in this article will be charged for fire protection services.

(Code 1987, § 7.39; Ord. No. O19-2012, §§ 3, 4, 2-21-2012)