(a) As used in this Article the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning or intent:

(1) “Board of commissioners” or “commissioners” shall mean the duly elected board of commissioners of the county in which a metropolitan water district shall be created under the provisions of this Article.

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(2) “City council” or “council” shall mean the duly elected city  council of any municipality located within the State.

(3) “Cost” as applied to a water system or sewerage system shall  mean the cost of acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, extending, enlarging, repairing and equipping any such system, and shall include the cost of all labor and materials, machinery and equipment, lands, property, rights, easements and franchises, plans and specifications, surveys and estimates of cost and of revenues, and planning, engineering, financial advice, and legal services, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and, if deemed advisable by a district board, for one year after the estimated date of completion of construction, and all other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of any such undertaking, administrative expense and such other expenses, including reasonable provision for working capital and a reserve for debt service, as may be necessary or incident to the financing herein authorized, and may also include any obligation or expense incurred by a district or by any political subdivision prior to the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this Article in connection with any such undertaking or any of the foregoing items of cost.

(4) “District” shall mean a metropolitan water district created under the provisions of this Article.

(5) “District board” shall mean the district board of the metropolitan water district created under the provisions of this Article.

(6) “General obligation bonds” shall mean bonds of a metropolitan water district for the payment of which and the interest thereon all the taxable property within said district is subject to the levy of an ad valorem tax without limitation of rate or amount.

(7) “Governing body” shall mean the board, board of trustees, commission, board of commissioners, council or other body, by whatever name it may be known, of a political subdivision including, but without limitation, other water or sewer districts or the trustees thereof within the State of North Carolina in which the general legislative powers thereof are vested.

(8) “Person” shall mean any and all persons including individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions, municipalities or political subdivisions, governmental agencies or private or public corporations organized and existing under the laws of the State or any other state or county.

(9) “Political subdivision” shall mean any county, city, town, incorporated village, sanitary district, water district, sewer district, special purpose district or other political subdivision or public corporation of this State now or hereafter created or established.

(10) “Revenue bonds” shall mean bonds the principal of and the interest on which are payable solely from revenues of a water system or systems or a sewerage system or systems or both owned or operated by a metropolitan water district created under the provisions of this Article.

(11) “Revenues” shall mean all moneys received by a metropolitan  water district from, in connection with, or as a result of its ownership or control or operation of a water system or systems or a sewerage system or systems, or both, including, without limitation and as deemed advisable by the district board, moneys received from the United States of America or any agency thereof, pursuant to an agreement with the district board pertaining to the water system or the sewerage system or both.

(12) “Sewerage system” shall embrace sewage collection and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank systems or other on-site collection or disposal facilities or systems and any part or parts thereof, either within or without the limits of a district, all property, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto, and any and all buildings and other structures deemed necessary or useful by a district board in connection with the operation or maintenance thereof.

(13) “Sewers” shall mean any mains, pipes and laterals, including pumping stations for the reception of sewage and carrying such sewage to an outfall or some part of a sewage disposal system, and all property, rights, easements, and franchises related thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by a district board for the operation and maintenance thereof.

(14) “Water distribution system” shall include aqueducts, mains,  laterals, pumping stations, distributing reservoirs, standpipes, tanks, hydrants, services, meters, valves, and all necessary appurtenances, and all property, rights, easements, and franchises related thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by a district board for the operation and maintenance thereof.

(15) “Water system” shall mean and include all plants, systems, facilities or properties used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply or distribution of water, and any integral part thereof, including but not limited to water supply systems, water distribution systems, sources of water supply including lakes, reservoirs and wells, intakes, mains, laterals, aqueducts, pumping stations, standpipes, filtration plants, purification plants, hydrants, meters, valves, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and all properties, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by a district board for the operation or maintenance thereof.

(16) “Water treatment or purification plant” shall mean any plant, system, facility, or property, used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the treatment or purification of water, or any integral part thereof; and all necessary appurtenances or equipment, and all property, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by a district board for the operation thereof.

(b) Whenever this Article requires that the boundaries of an area be described, it shall be sufficient if the boundaries are described in a manner which conveys an understanding of the location of the land and may be

(1) By reference to a map,

(2) By metes and bounds,

(3) By general description referring to natural boundaries, boundaries of political subdivisions, existing water or sewer districts, or portions thereof, or boundaries of particular tracts or parcels of land, or

(4) Any combination of the foregoing. (1971, c. 815, s. 2; 1979,  c. 619, s. 9.)