§ 9-8-15. Septic tanks and privies.

A.

No septic tank or vault, privy, sink, cistern, well or cesspool shall be constructed or rebuilt in the city except in accordance with the regulations of and pursuant to a permit from the department of health, nor shall any erection or cover be made or put upon or over the same, until the same has been examined by the health officer or an officer detailed by him or her, and found to correspond to such permit and regulations.

B.

No privy shall be built within four feet of the line of any lot.

C.

All septic tanks and privies for excrement shall be under the supervision of the health department. The department shall see that every septic tank and privy is kept in good working order and in a sanitary condition, and it is unlawful for any person to fail to keep his or her septic tank or privy in such clean and sanitary condition.

D.

The department of health shall make periodic inspections, as often as may be deemed necessary, of any septic tank or privy in the city, and where the inspector shall find any unsanitary condition, he or she shall at once condemn the same as a nuisance and notify the occupant or owner of the premises where such septic tank or privy is to clean out, disinfect and fill up the same within five days thereafter, or take such steps as may be necessary to render such septic tank or privy sanitary.

E.

Whenever the city's sanitary sewer system shall be extended into any unsewered portion of the city, it shall be the duty of every owner or occupant on whose premises there is a septic tank or privy to have the same cleaned out, disinfected and filled up as soon as possible after sewer connections are available, and it is unlawful for such owner or occupant to fail so to do after notice from the department of health. Connection with the sewer system shall be made as soon as possible.

F.

The type and methods of construction of receptacles for excrement and the methods of providing for the reception, collection and disposition of excrement, shall be under the supervision of the department of health. The department may from time to time make such rules and regulations for the building of such receptacles, the collection and disposition of excrement, in such parts of the city as are not supplied with sanitary sewers, as it may deem best suited for the protection of human life and the public health.

G.

All excrement collected in any receptacle shall be carried off at the expense of the city and removed to such place as the department of health may designate.

H.

No person shall empty or attempt to empty any septic tank or privy in the city, except under the permit therefor first obtained from the department of health. The department of health is required to keep a record of all septic tanks and privies emptied, and when any are emptied they shall be reported to the department of health so that the same may be inspected.

I.

No part of the contents of any septic tank or privy or any accumulation of any offensive fluid, liquid or semi-liquid substance material, being in any excavation, cellar or place within the city, shall be removed therefrom, nor shall the same be transported through any of the streets or avenues of the city, unless and except the same shall be removed and transported by means of airtight apparatus, or in such manner as shall prevent entirely the escape of any noxious or offensive odors therefrom, and by a permit from the department of health.

J.

No person shall draw off, or allow to run off, into any ground place of the city, the contents of any septic tank or privy, nor shall any owner, tenant or occupant of any building to which any septic tank or privy shall appertain or be attached, permit the contents, or any part thereof, to flow therefrom, or to rise within two feet of the top, or permit such contents to become offensive; nor shall any septic tank or privy be filled with or covered with dirt until its filthy contents shall be emptied.

(Code 1967, § 32-28; Code 1985, § 16-24)

State law reference

Subsurface sewage disposal systems, T.C.A. § 68-221-401 et seq.