well vs. city water

[amcatl]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

A friend of mine (also in NJ) was just switched from well water to city water in her town. She was not given a choice in the matter, although she was allowed to keep a hose hookup to the well for outside use for a $100.00 fee.

I was trying to find laws about water rights in NJ, and can't find anything. Does anyone know where I'd look? I was under the impression that my well was mine and would like to know under what circumstances that would/could be changed...

thanks

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

A friend of mine (also in NJ) was just switched from well water to city water in her town. She was not given a choice in the matter, although she was allowed to keep a hose hookup to the well for outside use for a $100.00 fee.

I was trying to find laws about water rights in NJ, and can't find anything. Does anyone know where I'd look? I was under the impression that my well was mine and would like to know under what circumstances that would/could be changed...

thanks

What type of well is this? IOW...Is this a well that will stop producing water at some point?

Your friend should actually post for his/her self.

 

[FarmerJ]

The conditions used by cities /towns / counties to require hook up to city water and city sewer where available are all over the map. EG when I was growing up our burb wrote its ords that new homes built along streets that had city water & sewer had to connect, The homes built pre ordinance that had private well & septic had been given a chance to connect voluntarily with a much lower tap fee but many homes like ours had lots that were just too small , wells were too close to septic tanks , then later on they set a date and private well & septic systems could no longer be repaired if in failure one had to connect. Some areas may have other problems like ground water pollution problems that are more severe than people realize so they mandate connection to public system. I have seen postings here where some towns just mandated the connections and some property owners were just bewildered as to why. You know its possible the city this home is in can just tell them the history of ordinances addressing this issue and when the ord was passed that just required every one to be connected.

 

[amcatl]

Your friend should actually post for his/her self.

I was only talking about my friend for background... I want to look up the rules for MY well/town I'm just not sure how to find them... I didn't realize that it could change without my consent(we test our water periodically, so I'm not worried about contamination). If the town can just come through and mandate city hookup, I assume there's verbiage somewhere that gives them potential future rights?

thanks!

 

[FarmerJ]

Does your city /town have installed into your street city water and sewer lines ? yes or no ? if your street has city water or city sewer then what you will want to ask your city clerk /town clerk or public works desk -water department for a copy of ordinances that spell out under what conditions you must connect. ( now if your street does not have city water or sewer lines in it then it still would not hurt to know ) many cities that allow continued use of private well & septic have set conditions such as if you have a shallow well with a sand point and it becomes plugged that may be the trigger that requires you to hook up , another that does indeed happen is that thousands of homes with ancient cesspool tanks and in some cases even just metal tanks where should the tank or the lines fail/ clog /cave in/ ( same with standard drain fields) cease working or even I suppose cause your homes well or another near by well to become unfit for human consumption. No matter what you want is public information and your city staff are supposed to know this stuff especially in public works dept. BTW if your city does not have city -water sewer taps available to your home you are still free to ask things like ` has the city planning people set a possible date to try to get city water /sewer available to homes on my street ? and if so what would the projected assessments be and fees to hook up?