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R.M. of ELLICE - ARCHIE
WATER & SEWER LINE POLICY
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Amendments: Res 15-21 (Jan 2021); Res #266-17 (Dec 2017); Approved by Resolution #158-17 (Aug 2017)
PRINCIPLES:
The purpose of this policy is to outline the management and regulation for the utility systems within the Rural
Municipality of Ellice - Archie.
There are two utility systems located within the RM:
-
The urban area of McAuley
-
The urban area of St. Lazare
1. AUTHORIZATION & ACCESS:
a) The Operation, Construction and Maintenance of all works relating to the water or sewer system shall be
under the general direction and control of the Municipal Foreman and have prior approval from Council.
b) The Municipal Forman or his designate may enter upon any premises connected to the water or sewer
system at any time to examine the pipes, meters and other installations used in connection with the water or
sewer system.
c) No person except an authorized RM Employee shall:
i.
Tap or make any connection with any pipe or main which is part of or connected to the water or
sewer system;
ii.
Open, close or in any manner interfere with any curb stop, main stop or valve, which is part of or
connected to the water or sewer system;
iii.
Make any connection of an independent water supply with a pipe or main which is part or
connected to the water or sewer system.
2. NEW DEVELOPMENT / CONNECTION:
a) All new connection requests must be made in writing to Council.
b) All underground services regarding sewer and water must have prior approval from the municipality.
c) All drawings for sewer and water main sizing and grades/slope will be provided by the developer for
approval by the municipality.
d) Inspections of the new development will be required to confirm that standards of the development
agreement have been met.
e) Every owner to whose property the RM has made a service connection shall connect to that service within
6 months of the date the service was provided.
f)
The RM shall place in each water service a curb stop between the street and the building it is servicing for
the purpose of turning the water supply on or off.
g) Every sewer service connection must have a back-flow valve installed by a certified plumber.
h) All restaurant and commercial kitchens shall install an approved grease trap to prevent materials from
entering municipal sewer systems.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #15-21
3. CONNECTION COSTS:
a) The RM shall pay the cost of installing and maintaining the water and sewer services from the closest
water/sewer main line to the nearest point on the street boundary of the premises served to a maximum of
100 feet from the closest water/sewer main line.
b) Should the distance from the property line from the closest water/sewer main line be in excess of 100 feet,
the owner shall pay the cost and maintenance of the water and sewer services for the remaining distance in
excess of 100 feet from the main to the property line.
c) The owners of all premises shall pay the cost and maintenance of the water and sewer services between the
street boundary and the building being served (private portion).
R.M. of ELLICE - ARCHIE
WATER & SEWER LINE POLICY
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Amendments: Res 15-21 (Jan 2021); Res #266-17 (Dec 2017); Approved by Resolution #158-17 (Aug 2017)
d) The owners of the premises will be responsible for the cost of installation of a back-flow valve on their
sewer line by a certified plumber.
e) All restaurant and commercial kitchens shall install an approved grease trap to prevent materials from
entering municipal sewer systems.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #15-21)
4. WATER METERS:
a) All water shall be supplied to consumers though a water meter and will be charged at the rates outlined in
the Water and Sewer Rate By-Laws in effect for each utility.
b) Only water meters provided by the RM shall be used in all premises and the meters shall remain the
property of the RM.
c) The water meter shall be provided free of charge to the owner.
d) Should the owner request the RM remove and re-install the meter at a later date for any reason, a service
fee of $50.00 shall be issued to the owner.
e) Should damage occur to the water meter or automatic reading device due to negligence (i.e. freezing,
backflow of hot water), alterations, or tampering by the owner/occupier, all charges for repairing or
replacing the meter or automatic reading device shall be the responsibility of the owner/occupier of the
premises in which the meter is located.
f)
The owner or occupier of the property shall notify the RM as soon as he becomes aware of breakage or
stoppage or irregularity in the water meter.
g) All disconnections, removals, alterations or repairs of the water meters or automatic reading device shall be
done by an RM employee only and no personal shall install, disconnect, repair, remove, tamper with, alter,
damage or paint a water meter or automatic reading device.
h) Water meters and automatic reading devices shall at all times be accessible to authorized RM employees,
so that they may be examined, read, inspected and if necessary, repaired.
i)
When a meter or automatic reading device is found not to be in proper working order, or a meter reading is
not obtained, the CAO shall estimate the amount of water consumed for any quarter or other period, based
on the amount of water consumed during the time the meter was working, or on any other information
available, and such estimate shall be the basis for billing the consumer for water used.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #266-17)
5. REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE:
a) In the course of making repairs to the street mains, or in constructing new work, or in connecting or
repairing water service pipes, the RM reserves the right to shut off the water from any consumer, without
notice, and keep it shut off as long as deemed necessary. In most cases the RM will attempt to provide
notice if at all possible.
b) The RM shall not be liable for any damages as the result of suddenly, with or without notice, shutting off
the supply of water to a consumer.
c) A plumber employed by the owner or occupier of the premises connected to the water or sewer system
shall be deemed to be an agent of such owner or occupier and the RM will not be responsible for the acts of
the plumber.
d) The RM is only responsible for the maintenance and repairs of water and sewer lines up to the boundary of
the property line, except in cases pertaining to 3 b) in which case the RM is only responsible for the first
100 feet from the main line.
e) Any repairs or maintenance required from the property line to the building being serviced is the
responsibility of the owner. Additionally, in a case pertaining to 3 b) the owner would be responsible for
any maintenance and repair of the water and sewer services from 100 feet from the main line to the
building being serviced (private line).
f)
The RM will attempt to restore all water and sewer repair areas to the best of its abilities at the time of
repair and will wait to restore the excavated area to a manageable state as soon as conditions permit by
R.M. of ELLICE - ARCHIE
WATER & SEWER LINE POLICY
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Amendments: Res 15-21 (Jan 2021); Res #266-17 (Dec 2017); Approved by Resolution #158-17 (Aug 2017)
applying rough fill to level off the settling soil. This may at times, take as much as one year to have the
final topsoil and grass seed applied to complete the repair.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #15-21
6. BLOCKED SEWER LINE REPAIR:
In the event of a property owner wishing to be reimbursed for repair of a sewer line blockage, the Municipality must
be notified by the owner prior to works and/or repairs being done and there must be a municipal representative on
site at the time of work and/or repair. As soon as the certified plumber reaches the blockage, all roto routing must
halt until a municipal representative can be on site.
a) Private Portion of Service Line (5e): if the blockage is found to be within the private portion of the sewer
line (as described in section 5e) the property owner is responsible for the costs associated with the sewer
blockage repair.
b) Beyond Private portion of service line (5d): if the plumber or Municipality determines that the blockage is
beyond the private portion of the sewer service line (as described in section 5d), the following will apply:
i.
If the blockage is caused by grease, hair or other foreign objects found in the sewer service, the
owner is responsible for the costs.
ii.
If the blockage is caused by a collapsed or misaligned service line, the Municipality will pay the
cost to repair the sewer service, including the plumbing costs incurred by the owner to discover
the cause of the problem.
c) Unknown cause: Should the municipality be unable to determine the cause or location of the blockage or
back-up and thus who is responsible, then the costs to repair (and/or dig up) the sewer service will be
shared 50/50 by the Municipality and the property owner.
d) Sewer main: if the sewer blockage or back-up has its origins within the sewer main, the Municipality is
responsible for the costs required to restore the sewer to proper operating conditions.
e) Blockage Due to Root Buildup: Ownership of the origin of the roots will determine which party is
responsible for costs of unblocking the line. If origin of the roots can not be definitively determined, the
cost will be shared 50/50 by the property owner and the municipality. Additionally, if the roots originate on
a neighboring property then it remains the responsibility of the property owner and not the Municipality to
recover costs from the neighboring property owner.
f)
Back-up Valve: In all cases the owner of the property shall be responsible to have a working back-up valve
installed in their connection.
g) Grease Traps: All restaurants and commercial kitchens shall install an approved grease trap to prevent
materials from entering municipal sewer systems.
h) Back-ups: any backups into basements are not the responsibility of the Municipality. No claims for
compensations shall be considered unless negligence can be proven on the part of the Municipality.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #15-21
7. SEWER CAMERA ASSISTANCE
In the event of a property owner wishing to be reimbursed for repair of a sewer line blockage, the council reserves
the right to request a camera inspection of the sewer line for further investigation.
a) Should the investigation determine the blockage is the property owners responsibility (see section 6), then
the Municipality shall invoice the property owner for this service at the set rate.
b) Should the investigation determine the blockage is the Municipality's responsibility (see section 6), then
the Municipality shall be responsible for the cost of the camera inspection.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #15-21
R.M. of ELLICE - ARCHIE
WATER & SEWER LINE POLICY
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Amendments: Res 15-21 (Jan 2021); Res #266-17 (Dec 2017); Approved by Resolution #158-17 (Aug 2017)
8. WATER USAGE:
a) The RM shall have the right to limit the amount of water supplied to any consumer.
b) The RM shall reserve the right to implement seasonal watering schedules for sections of town in order to
conserve water and ensure proper functioning of the water treatment plant. Notices shall be posted.
9. FLUSHING LINES:
The waterlines will be flushed monthly between May - October. The schedule will be posted each spring but shall
follow the following guidelines:
a) McAuley: waterlines will be flushed on the last Wednesday of each month between the hours of 8:00 am -
12:00 noon
b) St. Lazare: waterlines will be flushed on the last Tuesday of each month between the hours of 1:00 pm -
3:00 pm
Water will be available during the line flushing; however, it may be dirty. Please set aside drinking water prior to the
water line flushing.
10. SUMP PUMPS / WEEPING TILE:
No new building development shall be permitted to have a sump pump, weeping tile, or like device be connected to
the sewer collection system in any way.
11. WATER ALLOWANCE DUE TO LINE FREEZING
That in any case where upon written request to the CAO, a customer allows water to run continuously for any period
of time to prevent the water lines in the water system from freezing, the charge to that customer for the current
quarter shall be the average of the billings for the last two previous quarters to the same customer, or to the same
premises if the occupant has changed.
(Amendment approved by Resolution #265-17)
12. APPROVED VARIANCES
This policy provides a standard by which the RM handles any management and regulation for the utility systems
within the RM. Should any variances arise, a written agreement must exist which is approved by council via
resolution and signed by both the landowner, Reeve and CAO.
This policy shall replace all previous Water and Sewer Policies. This policy shall not contravene any part of the
current Water and Sewer Rate By-Laws in effect for either utility.