* For statutory general provisions with regard to sewers, see Health & Saf. Code § 5400 et seq.; for the authority of counties to impose more stringent regulations, see Health & Saf. Code § 5415.

This article shall be known as and may be cited as the “Sewage Disposal Ordinance.” (Ord. 279 § 2, 1963).

It is the purpose of this article to provide for sewage disposal methods and systems within the unincorporated areas of the county which will safeguard the health and well-being of all of its citizens and encourage the orderly development of the resources of the county. The standards herein prescribed are intended as minimum standards applicable after adoption and continued full utilization of existing facilities is contemplated. It does not preclude the requirement to modify or replace existing facilities which are determined by proper authority to constitute a health or safety hazard to the citizens of the community. (Ord. 279 § 1, 1963).

For the purposes of this article terms used herein are defined as follows:
A. “Cesspool” means an excavation into the earth without watertight walls or bottom and used for reception of human waste in its raw state.
B. “Community sewage system “means any sewage disposal system operated and maintained by any municipality, district, public or private corporation serving a community or part thereof.
C. “Construction” means construction, repair, alteration, addition or relocation of a sewage disposal system.
D. “Department” means department of health, county of Madera.
E. “Director” means director of public health, health officer, public health officer of the county of Madera.
F. “Drainage system” means a system which includes all the piping within public or private premises which conveys sewage or liquid wastes to a point of disposal but does not include the mains or laterals of a community sewer system.
G. “Duplex” means a building occupied or intended for occupancy by two families living independently of each other but under one roof.
H. “Lot” means a portion of land separated from other portions by description as on a subdivision map, record of survey map, or by metes and bounds, or the purpose of sale, lease, or separate use, and having frontage on an approved street.
I. “Permit” means a permit issued by the department for any purpose pertaining to sewage disposal.
J. “Person” means any person, firm, association, partnership, business, trust, organization, corporation or any governmental agency.
K. “Privy” means a structure over a pit or vault used as a toilet and designed to receive human waste matter.
L. “Seepage pit” means one or more capped pits or vertical drains with open jointed walls, extending into the porous stratum but not into a subterranean water bearing stream.
M. “Septic tank” means a water tight receptacle which receives the discharge of a drainage system or a part thereof, which is designed and constructed to retain solids, digest organic matter through a period of retention and bacterial action and allows the liquids to discharge into the soil outside the tank through a subsurface drainage system.
N. “Sewage” means any and all waste substance, liquid, semisolid or solid as associated with human habitation or which contains or may be contaminated with human or animal excrement, wastes, offal or any feculent matter.
O. “Sewage disposal system” means any septic tank, privy, structure, vault, or pit for disposal or treatment of sewage and any drainage system or other type system used for the disposal of sewage.
P. “Sewer well” means any hole dug or drilled into the ground and intended originally for use as a water supply which has been abandoned as a source of water supply and is being used for the disposal of sewage, or any hole dug or drilled into the ground, used or intended to be used for the disposal of sewage, in which the hold extends to or into a subterranean water bearing stratum that is used, or was used, or was intended to be used, as a source of water supply for domestic purposes.
Q. “Single-family residence” means any structure occupied, intended or designed for occupancy by one family for living purposes as its principal use, and as further defined by Section 1401 of the building ordinance, adopted in Chapter 14.04 of this code. (Ord. 279 §§ l0-26, 1963).

Whenever a power is granted to or a duty is imposed upon the director of public health by provisions of this article, the power or duty may be exercised or performed by a deputy of the director, unless this article expressly provides otherwise. (Ord. 279 § 3, 1963).

Whenever reference is made to any portion of this article, such reference applies to all amendments and additions thereto hereafter made. (Ord. 279 § 4, 1963).

The director is authorized to issue a written order to any person violating any of the provisions contained herein commanding such person to cease and desist in any act governed by the provisions of this article, and the failure or refusal of such person to comply with said order, after service upon him of such order, shall make such person guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as provided herein. (Ord. 279 § 5, 1963).

Any county officer or employee authorized and directed to enforce the provisions of this article shall have the right to enter into or upon private property for the purpose of inspecting and examining any and all facilities to which the provisions of this article apply, as provided in Chapter 1.08. (Ord. 385 § 9, 1974: Ord. 279 § 6, 1963).

Inspectors will be provided with suitable means of identification and shall identify themselves upon request. (Ord. 385 § 10, 1974: Ord. 380 § 2, 1973: Ord. 279 § 7, 1963).

A. It is unlawful to maintain or use any residence, place of business or other building intended for human occupancy which is not provided with a means for the disposal of sewage meeting the standards of this article, or of the rules and regulations relating to sewage disposal established by the director and the Health and Safety Code of the state.
B. It is unlawful for any person to deposit or cause or permit to be discharged or deposited any sewage, sewage effluent, or human wastes from any dwelling, house or building, or appurtenance thereof upon the land surface of the unincorporated territory of the county, or into any stream or body of water, water course, or lake bed existing within the county, unless said sewage effluent meets the requirements of the California Water Quality Control Board.
C. It is unlawful for any person to dump, deposit or discharge or cause to be dumped, deposited or discharged into any wastewater treatment facility, interceptor system, collection system, sewer line or improvement appurtenant thereto any sewage or other waste from any cesspool, privy, seepage pit, septic tank or sewage vault without the prior written approval of the county engineer.
D. Any violation of the provisions of this article constitutes a nuisance. The remedy to abate the nuisance shall be according to Chapter 7.20 of this code, and shall be in addition to any other remedy provided by this code or by law. (Ord. 363A § 1, 1982: Ord. 363(part), 1972: Ord. 279 § 43, 1963).

Every person violating any provision of this article, or any order of the director authorized by this article, or any provision of any permit issued pursuant to this article, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both fine and imprisonment.
In addition to any other remedy provided by this article, where by statute the director may order compliance with any provision of this article, such order shall prescribe the time for compliance and shall be served personally or by certified mail upon any person, owner, occupant, lessee or tenant violating the provisions of this article.
If said person does not comply within the time required, the director may proceed to file an action in the superior court in and for the county for a writ of mandate to command performance of said provision or punishment therefor as prescribed by the court. (Ord. 363(part), 1972: Ord. 279 § 8, 1963).