Front pageThis site
Everything on this site
On a well
- A well must be tested before a sale can close
- Your well report has two kinds of limits, and they mean different things
- The aquifer under Ocean County is acidic, and copper plumbing feels it
- Blue-green marks in the tub usually mean copper is leaving the pipes
- Your pH reading picks between a calcite tank and a soda ash feed
- Radium comes with the aquifer, and a 48-hour test finds it
- New Jersey's sale test has checked wells for three PFAS since 2021
- A well report's lead number depends on when the water was drawn
- Orange and black stains point to iron and manganese in the well
- Two yearly tests catch the problems a well owner cannot taste
- After floodwater reaches a well, the pump stays off until someone checks wiring
- Well pump and tank work as a pair, and licensed people fix them
- Deep wells on the coast draw on sands the state is watching
- If road salt worries you, add chloride to the test
On town water
- Ocean County's water comes from many suppliers and several different aquifers
- When the utility's PFAS notice arrives, start with the limit it names
- Your water report is mostly one table, and it reads left to right
- The letter about your service line comes from a 2021 state law
- Go on town water and you still have a well to deal with
- Somewhere near the curb, the water line becomes yours
Septic & sewer
- On Ocean County sand, septic rules begin with distance from the well
- The board of health signs off on septic work, and owners report trouble
- Selling a house with a cesspool usually means the cesspool has to go
- Three years for a look, three to five for a pump, EPA says
- After a flood, leave the septic tank alone until the field drains
- Septic or sewer? The bill and the health department file can settle it
- A sewer-line valve can stop a backup, if the house has sewer
Raised houses
- Lifting a house moves the plumbing into the weather and the flood
- Those holes in the foundation wall are required, and must stay open
- A raised house puts its water lines out in the cold
- Where the water heater goes once the house goes up
- After the water drops, leave the switches and pilot lights alone
- Salt air works on the metal holding your pipes up
- How a house goes up, and what happens to its pipes
Lagoons & bay
- On a lagoon lot, the low parts of the plumbing take the hits
- As tides rise, low drains and valves are where a house feels it
- A shallow bay and the more than 600 square miles draining into it
Permits & pros
- New Jersey's plumbing permit rule, and the short list of jobs outside it
- Before you hire, find out which license the job actually calls for