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Borough of Hawthorne, NJ
Passaic County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with nor opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a permit from the appropriate municipal official.
A. 
There shall be two classed of building sewer permits:
(1) 
For residential and commercial service.
(2) 
For service to establishments producing industrial wastes.
B. 
In either case, the owner or his agent shall make application for the permit on a form furnished by the Building Department or DPW Director. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Director. Permits shall be issued by the Director upon the approval of the plans and specifications by the Director and the payment of permit, inspection, installation and connection fees and charges as hereinafter provided.
The permit and inspection fees to be paid to the Borough upon application for a building permit shall be as set forth in Chapter 220, Fees.
The permit will expire 120 days after the date of official notice to connect but will be subject to renewal for not to exceed 60 days with the approval of the Director.
A. 
The cost of any connection and installation shall be at the cost and expense of the property owner. In the event that the Borough through its DPW is required to undertake any portion of the installation, the cost incurred by the Borough for installation of the connection and restoration of the area following installation shall be paid by the property owner. The property owner shall be required to deposit with the Borough Treasurer, before commencement of work, an amount estimated by the Director as necessary to cover the cost of the installation. The property owner shall thereafter, upon completion of the installation, supplement such deposit or be reimbursed in the event of a difference between the actual and estimate costs.
B. 
All costs and expenses incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the applicant, and the applicant shall indemnify the municipality from any loss or damage that may be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer. All sewer connections shall be in accordance with the requirements of the municipality as otherwise provided by ordinance. In the case of connection into the PVSC sewer, the connection shall be in accordance with the conditions contained in the approval of the PVSC.
C. 
The Borough shall in every instance install the service connection at a place and in a manner determined by the Engineer, and the building sewer shall in every instance be installed by the property owner subject to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:63-52 through 40:63-64.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: N.J.S.A. 40:63-52 through 40:63-64 was repealed by L. 1991, c. 53, § 1, eff. 1-1-1992.
D. 
If more than one sewer connection is required by a property owner, the cost of the additional sewer connection shall be paid for by the property owner under the same terms and conditions of payment as described above.
E. 
The obligation to perform any repair, care, maintenance or replacement of any connection from the building to the sewer main, commonly referred to as the sewer lateral, and responsibility for the payment of any cost thereof, shall be the obligation of the property owner. This includes any connection from the building to the curb line or property line as well as any service connection from the curb line or property line to the sewer main. All work shall be undertaken in the same manner as set forth in this chapter for installation of a new connection.
[Added 3-6-2019 by Ord. No. 2224-19]
A separate and independent building sewer and service connection shall be provided for every building and for each unit in a townhouse.
Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings, only when they are found, on examination and test by the Engineer, to meet all requirements of this chapter.
A. 
The service connection pipe shall be six-inch, extra heavy class, cast iron soil pipe and fittings, conforming to ASTM Designation A-74, or six-inch, polyvinyl chloride sewer pipe with bell and spigot and zero-ring rubber gasketed joints with fittings conforming to ASTM Designation D-3034 with a wall thickness designation of SDR-35.
B. 
The maximum laying length for cast iron soil pipe shall be five feet. The PVC pipe shall be installed as per manufacturer's recommendations and as specified in ASTM Designation D-2321.
C. 
The building sewer from the property line or easement line to the building shall be constructed from one of the materials previously mentioned and shall be either six inches or four inches in diameter.
D. 
Particular care shall be employed to secure thorough compaction under, around and over the pipe at least 12 inches above the top of the pipe. Under driveways and sidewalks the pipe shall be completely enclosed in three-quarter-inch crushed stone to 12 inches above the top of the pipe.
E. 
The slope of four-inch pipe shall not be less than 1/4 inch per foot and of the six-inch pipe not less than 1/8 inch per foot.
F. 
The Engineer shall determine whether any commercial or industrial sewer and building sewer necessitates a larger pipe diameter or higher standards based on the use to be made by the property owner.
G. 
All construction shall be in accordance with the Code of Standards for Installation of Wastewater Facilities for Buildings and Connection Thereof With Outside Sewers or Other Receptacles, adopted by the Borough and with the National Standard Plumbing Code as the same may be amended from time to time.
Whenever possible, the building sewer for new construction shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In existing buildings where no plumbing facilities are provided in the basement, the building sewer may be above the cellar floor. Building sewers shall not be laid parallel to or within three feet of any bearing wall, which might thereby be weakened. The building sewer shall not be laid in the same trench with the water service connection and shall be provided with a minimum horizontal separation of 10 feet and normally shall be placed at a lower elevation and at least 18 inches below the bottom of the water service line. The depth shall be sufficient to afford protection from frost. The building sewer shall be laid at uniform grade and in straight alignment insofar as possible. Changes in direction shall be made with properly curved pipe and fittings. A standpipe or cleanout with brass plug shall be furnished at the property line or easement line.
No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer, which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer, unless approved by the municipality for purposes of disposal of polluted surface drainage.
In all buildings in which any building sewer or piping or drainage facilities connected thereto are too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such drain shall be lifted by a grinder pump of a type and size acceptable to the Engineer and discharged to the service connection or building sewer. The Borough shall in every instance supply and install the grinder pump system at a place and in a manner determined by the Engineer, and the property owner shall bear the cost to connect to the building and the private sewerage system, to power and to maintain said grinder pump, including any backup or emergency power source made part thereof.
All excavation required for the installation of a building sewer shall be open trench work or other method which would permit property inspection. Pipe laying and backfill shall be performed according to the manufacturer's recommendations, however, no blocking of pipes will be allowed except under fittings. Backfill shall be placed by hand and tamped to a height one foot above the pipe. No backfill shall be placed until the piping has been inspected, tested and approved.
A. 
All joints and connections shall be made gastight and watertight.
B. 
Caulked joints for cast iron, bell-and-spigot soil pipe shall be firmly packed with oakum or hemp and secured with molten lead. At least 12 ounces of soft lead shall be used for each inch in diameter of the pipe used. Lead shall be run in one pouring and caulked tight.
C. 
As an alternate to lead-type joints for cast iron soil pipe, push-on-type joints conforming to ASTM Designation C-564, Rubber Gaskets for Cast Iron Soil Pipe and Fittings, may be used.
D. 
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sewer pipe joints shall be made with rubber-ring-compression-type joints, conforming to Joints for Drains and Sewer Plastic Pipes Using Flexible Elastomeric Seals, ASTM Designation D-3212.
E. 
Joints between asbestos-cement pipe and metal pipe shall be made by means of an adapter coupling approved by the Engineer and caulked as specified above.
F. 
Alternative methods for making joints and connections are subject to review and approval of the Engineer in his sole and absolute discretion.
The holder of a building sewer permit shall notify the Department when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the service connection. A minimum notice of two working days must be provided before inspection. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Director.
A. 
All excavations for building and sewer and service connection installations shall be adequately guarded with barricades and electric lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the Engineer. No person shall perform any of the work set forth in this chapter for any other person in the Borough of Hawthorne unless he shall be a licensed plumber or sewer contractor in the Borough and shall first file an individual surety bond in the penal sum of $3,000 payable to the Borough of Hawthorne, and must extend at least one year after the date of completion, the amount of the bond may be increased in the discretion of the Engineer where circumstances so warrant.
B. 
Individual property owners or members of their families may install their own building sewers after prior approval by the Borough of Hawthorne based on evidence of competence in performing such work. However, in the event that an individual property owner or members of his family shall elect to install their own building sewer rather than use a licensed plumber or sewer contractor, the individual property owner must file an individual surety bond in the penal sum of $3,000 or such other sum in excess thereof as determined by the Engineer. In lieu of filing the three-thousand-dollar surety bond, an individual property owner may execute an agreement with the Borough of Hawthorne at the time of application agreeing to the following conditions:
(1) 
The Borough shall have the right and authorization to do such work or repairs as may be required as a result of the installation of the sewer connection by the individual property owner. If the Borough shall undertake such corrective work or repairs, the individual property owner shall reimburse the Borough for the cost of the same.
(2) 
The individual property owner shall indemnify and save harmless the Borough and its agents and employees from any liability that may occur as a result of the installation of the sewer connection by the individual property owner.
(3) 
The individual property owner shall restore, in a manner satisfactory to the Borough, the streets, sidewalks and other public property which may have been disturbed in the course of the work.
(4) 
The individual property owner shall notify the Borough at least two working days prior to connection, which connection shall be made under the supervision of the Director of the DWP of the Borough or his designee.
In addition to the requirements of this chapter, where the applicant for the building sewer permit must connect to a public sewer discharging into the sewerage system of an adjacent municipality, the provisions of any ordinance or ordinances, rules and regulations of such municipality or governing body concerning the connection to a public sewer shall govern and apply, as well as the applicable terms of any agreement in connection herewith entered between the Borough and such adjoining municipality.
Upon approval for the completion of the building sewer, all existing private sewerage systems, such as septic tanks, seepage pits, cesspools or jet-air tanks, shall be pumped out and filled to the surface with an approved granular material within one week.
A. 
No person shall divert or pump the waste from any existing private sewage system, such as septic tanks, seepage pits, cesspools or jet-air tanks, into any Hawthorne sewer line. All such waste must be eliminated by the use of tank trucks which shall transport the waste to a sewer plant equipped for the treatment and elimination of these wastes.
B. 
The diverting and pumping of waste from the private sewage system and the transporting of the same to a sewer treatment plant shall be performed by a contractor who has been duly licensed to perform such services.
C. 
Penalties.
(1) 
Any property owner or contractor or other person violating this section shall be subject to arrest as a disorderly person and be subject to the same penalties imposed by Article XI.
(2) 
In addition to the prescribed penalties, a contractor who shall violate this section shall have his license to perform such services in Hawthorne subject to suspension or revocation