Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires“aquifer” means a geological structure or formation or an artificial landfill permeated or capable of being permeated permanently or intermittently with water; “Authority” or “Water and Sewerage Authority” means the Water and Sewerage Authority established under section 3 of the repealed Act; “bore” means any bore, hole, well, excavation or other opening in the ground or any naturally or artificially constructed or improved underground cavity which could be used, is used or may be used for the purpose of intercepting, collecting, obtaining or using groundwater or for the purpose of disposing of any water or waste below the surface of the ground, or which extends to an aquifer; “charge” means any charge or rate levied by the P.U.C under this Act; “communication pipe” means– (a) where the premises supplied or to be supplied with water abut on the part of the street in 10 which the main is laid and the service pipe enters those premises otherwise than through the outer wall of a building abutting on the street and has a stopcock placed in those premises and as near to the boundary of that street as is reasonably practical, so much of the service pipe as lies between the main and the stopcock; (b) in any other case, so much of the service pipe as lies between the main and the boundary of the street in which the main is laid and includes the ferrule at the junction of the service pipe with the main and also– (i) where the communication pipe ends at a stopcock, that stopcock; and (ii) any stopcock fitted on the communication pipe between the end thereof and the main; “cut off”, in relation to the supply of water, means to stop the supply whether by operating a tap, by disconnecting pipes or otherwise; “drain”, subject to sub-section (4) means, a drain used for the drainage of one building, or of any buildings or yards appurtenant to buildings within the same curtilage; “effluent” means liquid waste or waste water produced as a result of any industrial or commercial process and includes “environment” means all aspects of the surroundings of man including the physical, biological, economic, cultural and social aspects; 11 “existing sewerage system” means the sewerage system that, at the commencement of this Act, is vested in the Water and Sewerage Authority under the repealed Act and any other system of sewers for the disposal of sewerage which may be vested in the Government; “gathering ground” or “catchment area” means any surface of land or device which collects rainfall for the purpose of the waterworks; “Government” means the Government of Belize; “groundwater” means all water occurring or obtained from below the surface of the ground other than water contained in works, not being a bore, for the distribution, storage or treatment of water or waste, and includes water occurring in or obtained from any bore or aquifer; “house” means any building or part of a building which is occupied as a dwelling-house, whether or not a private dwelling- house, or which, if unoccupied, is likely to be so occupied; “land” includes premises, any interest in land, and any easement or right in, to or over land; “licensee” means a person holding a valid and subsisting licence granted under section 15; “local authority” means any City Council or Town Council established under the Belize City Council Act, the Belmopan City Council Act, or the Town Councils Act; CAP. 85. CAP. 86. CAP. 87. “main” means a pipe for the purpose of giving a general supply of water as distinct from a supply to individual consumers and includes any apparatus used in connection with such pipe; “meter” means any apparatus used to measure, show, ascertain or regulate the volume of water supplied to, or of effluent discharged from, any premises; 12 “Minister” means the Minister responsible for water and sewerage, unless otherwise specified; “Ministry” means the Ministry responsible for water and sewerage unless otherwise specified; “notice” means notice in writing; “owner”, in relation to any building, land or premises means a person, other than a mortgagee not in possession, who for the time being is entitled to dispose of the right of ownership of the building or land whether in possession or reversion, and also a person holding or entitled to the rights and profits of the building or land under a lease or agreement the unexpired term whereof exceeds three years, or the landlord or his agent if the landlord is absent or under any disability, or if there be no such agent, the occupier of the building, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly; “potable water” means water which is satisfactory for human consumption and meets all health requirements; “premises” includes houses, buildings, land or any structure, whether of a temporary or permanent nature; “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act; “public standpipe” means any fountain, standpipe, stand-post, valve, tap or appliance used or intended to be used for or in connection with the supply of water directly to the members of the public generally or to the members of a section of the public from the waterworks; CAP. 223. “P.U.C.” means the Public Utilities Commission established under section 3 of the Public Utilities Commission Act; “records” includes computer records and any other records kept otherwise than in a document; 13 “repealed Act” means the Water and Sewerage Act repealed by this Act; CAP. 222. “rooftop catchment” means any installation or device suitable for the collection of rainwater on the roof of buildings or dwelling houses; “service pipe” subject to sub-section (4), means so much of a pipe which is; or is to be, connected with a water main for supplying water from that main to any premises as– (a) is or is to be subject to water pressure from that main; or (b) would be so subject but for the closing of some valve, and includes part of any service pipe; “services” includes facilities; “sewage” means any liquid waste or waste water; discharge containing human, animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution, and may include liquids containing chemicals in solution; “sewer” includes all sewers and drains which are used for the drainage of buildings and yards appurtenant to buildings; “sewerage services” includes the disposal of sewage and any other services which are required to be provided by a licensee for the purpose of carrying out his functions; “sewerage system” means the existing sewerage system and any sewers hereafter constructed by any licensee or under any agreement between the Government, or a licensee and contractors relating to such system of sewers whereby sewerage is or is intended to be conveyed and disposed of; 14 “sewerage works” means any works for the collection, transmission, treatment and disposal of sewerage or any part of such works; “soil pipe” means the pipe forming the connection between a water-closet and the house sewer, and includes all necessary appliances; “stopcock” includes any box or pit in which a stopcock is enclosed and the cover to any such box or pit, for regulating the flow of liquid; “street” includes any highway, road, lane, footway, square, court, alley, passage, or thoroughfare whether adapted for vehicular traffic or not and includes any pavement or foot-path adjoining such street; “subsistence garden” means a garden appurtenant to, or used in connection with, a dwelling or group of dwellings for the subsistence of the residents thereof, the produce of which is predominantly consumed by such residents and is not sold or bartered; “supply of water for industrial or commercial purposes” means a supply of water used in connection with any profession, trade, business, industrial or commercial enterprise; “surface water” includes water from roofs; “use”, in relation to water, includes to withdraw, pump, extract, take, use or re-use or divert for the purpose of using or re-using, that water; “waste” includes sewerage and any other matter or thing whether wholly or partly in solid, liquid or gaseous state, which may cause water pollution; “water”, “waters” and “water resources” mean15 (a) water flowing or situated upon the surface of any land; (b) water flowing or contained in– (i) any river, stream, creek or other natural course for water; (ii) any lake or spring, whether or not it has been altered or artificially improved; (c) groundwater; (d) any water contained by works acquired, constructed, improved or operated by or on behalf of the licensee pursuant to Parts III and IV; or (e) any estuarine or coastal water prescribed by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette, as water to which this Act or any Part or provision thereof applies; “water-closet” includes the necessary pan, supporting base, fitting, cisterns and other flushing arrangements, soil pipe and ventilation shaft, and any other connection usually used for collecting and conveying sewage from one place to another, but does not include the enclosing structure; “watercourse” includes all rivers, streams, ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dykes and passages through which water flows, whether on the surface or underground, except water-mains and “water fittings” includes pipes, other than water mains, taps, cocks, valves, ferrules, meters, cisterns, baths, water-closets, soil pans and other similar apparatus used in connection with the supply and use of water; 16 “waterworks” includes all existing reservoirs, intakes, catchments, dams, tanks, cisterns, deep wells or boreholes, tunnels, pillar beds, conduits, aqueducts, pipes, fountains, sluices, valves, hydrant pumps, and all other structures or appliances which are used or intended to be used or constructed for the supply, storage, purification, conveyance, support, measurement or regulation of water by or on behalf of a licensee, or which may hereafter be used or constructed for the aforesaid purpose by a licensee and which belong to or are managed by or vested in a licensee; “works” includes waterworks. (2) In this Act, references to domestic purposes, in relation to a supply of water to any premises or in relation to any cognate expression, are references to the drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitary purposes for which water supplied to those premises may be used. Where the whole or any part of the premises are or are to be occupied as a house, those purposes shall be taken to include– (a) the purposes of a profession carried on in that house or, where, (i) that house and another part of the premises are occupied together; and (ii) the house comprises the greater part of what is so occupied, in that other part; and (b) such purposes outside the house, including the washing of vehicles and the watering of gardens, as are connected with the occupation of the house and may be satisfied by a supply of water drawn from a tap inside the house and without the use of a hosepipe or similar apparatus. 17 (3) No such reference, to domestic purposes shall be taken to include a reference– (a) to the use of a bath having a capacity, measured to the center line of overflow or in such other manner as may be prescribed, of more than two hundred and thirty litres; (b) to the purposes of the business of a laundry; or (c) to any purpose of a business of preparing food or drink for consumption otherwise than on the premises. (4) In this Act– (a) references to a pipe, including references to a main, a drain or a sewer, shall include references to a tunnel or conduit which serves or is to serve as the pipe in question and to any accessories for the pipe; and (b) references to any sewage disposal works shall include references to the machinery and equipment of those works and any necessary pumping stations and outfall pipes, and, accordingly, references to the laying of a pipe shall include references to the construction of such a tunnel or conduit, to the construction or installation of any such accessories and to the making of a connection between one pipe and another. 18