Diagnosis and repair of saturated or failing drain fields on Rockaway Township's rocky hillsides and small lake lots.
The drain field is where treated water from the tank soaks into the ground, and in Rockaway Township that ground is often thin. Much of the township sits on Highlands bedrock with stony glacial soil on top, and on hillsides the usable soil can be shallow. When a field clogs with solids after years of skipped pump outs, there is little room for the water to go. It surfaces as soggy ground, odor or extra green strips of grass, and it often appears first during spring snowmelt. By then, drains inside the house have usually started to slow as well.
Before anyone recommends a new field, a careful contractor will check the simpler causes. A blocked tank outlet, a distribution box that has settled on a slope, crushed lines under a driveway or roots in the pipes can all make a field look like it has failed. On sloped lots, water from roof leaders or a sump pump draining toward the field can overload it, and redirecting that water sometimes solves the problem. If the soil itself is spent, replacement is the real answer. A contractor who rules these out first can save you a very large bill.
Replacing a field in this township is where site limits show up. On a small Lake Telemark or Green Pond lot, the new field has to keep required distances from your well, neighbors' wells, the lake and property lines, which leaves very few places it can go. In the rockier northern sections, soil logs may find ledge or seasonal water close to the surface. Those conditions often lead to a raised bed or other engineered design prepared by a licensed engineer and reviewed by the Division of Health. That design work is a big reason replacement prices vary so much from one yard to the next.
A septic field needs enough suitable soil between the trenches and bedrock or seasonal groundwater. On rocky Highlands lots that soil is often thin, so designers build up a raised bed to create the separation the code requires.
It can. Sump and roof water discharged toward the field on a sloped lot adds load the soil was never designed for. Route that water away from the field where local rules allow.
That depends on the required distances from wells, the lake and property lines, plus what soil testing finds. An engineer lays out the options, and on tight lots the answer may involve a pump to reach a better spot.
About 60.6% of Rockaway Township is in the Highlands Preservation Area, where the Highlands Act sharply limits new sewer extensions, so much of the township's northern lake and woodland country stays on septic.
nj.govThe township's Highlands plan notes that the Green Pond lake management area is affected by many subsurface septic systems; at Green Pond, many homes sit on the lake side of the road while their septic systems are on the opposite side, which the Planning Board believes helps protect the pond.
nj.govThe Rockaway Township Division of Health advises homeowners to have a professional septic company pump the tank about every three years for a family of four, to keep fats, grease and toxic products out of the system, and never to drive over the disposal field.
rockawaytownship.orgPump outs for Rockaway Township tanks, from Lake Telemark cottages to larger lots off Green Pond Road, on a schedule that protects your field and your well.
Septic inspections for Rockaway Township home sales and refinances, with special attention to small lake lots and nearby wells.
Repairs to tanks, baffles, lines and pumps on Rockaway Township systems, including the older and improvised setups common in former summer homes.
Full system replacement and new installations in Rockaway Township, from soil testing around ledge and wells through Division of Health review and final inspection.