Go on town water and you still have a well to deal with

State agencies list this move as one choice among several, and whether it is open to you depends on your street. Prices differ by utility and by lot, so this story gives none.

Why do owners make the switch?

The state health department's private well FAQ lists connecting to public water among the options when contaminants are found, alongside retesting, treatment, a new or deeper well and septic repair. NJDEP's radium handout for South Jersey also lists a public water hookup, if one is available.

The water chemistry is the other pull. In NJDEP's Pinelands data, which runs through March 2014, 78.7% of the 12,510 wells sampled fell outside the pH 6.5-8.5 range, almost all on the low side, which is the subject of our story on acid water and copper. For comparison, Lacey MUA's 2025 data puts pH at 7.30 to 7.90. That is one system, and yours may differ, so read your supplier's report before you compare.

Is the main close enough to reach you?

Only the utility can say, so start there and ask before anything else. Give the address, ask whether a main runs along your frontage, and ask what the utility requires of a new customer.

Ask also where its responsibility stops. Stafford's page puts that point at the curb stop or meter pit. Owners carry what lies past it. That tells you which run of pipe on your own land you would be paying for.

Can a well stay connected to the house?

Not without a state physical connection permit and approved protection. Under N.J.A.C. 7:10-10.2(a), a facility with an unapproved water supply such as a well must have that permit and an approved installation at each connection to a public community water system. The same goes where dual, physically separate lines run in one building. The rule has exceptions in a later section, so ask before assuming yours is covered either way.

The concern is well water getting back into the public main. Plumbing the two together with a simple valve is the arrangement this rule is there to control.

What must happen to an abandoned well?

It must be decommissioned. N.J.A.C. 7:9D-3.1 puts the duty on the owner when a well is abandoned, destroyed, lost or a threat to groundwater, and says NJDEP may order it, including when a well is replaced.

The work has its own named workers: "All wells and boreholes shall be decommissioned by, or in the presence of and under the onsite supervision of, a well driller of the proper class." A well is a direct path into the aquifer, so this is a job for that license. Until then, another section of the rule has the casing kept "securely capped."

Can you keep the well for the lawn?

You may be able to, with the old line fully separated or protected as the state requires. The permit rule above still applies where the well touches public water or sits on dual lines in one building. Ask NJDEP what counts on your layout and have the answer in hand before the plumber arrives. County advice on testing remains in force for a well you keep: the health department calls your private well "YOUR responsibility."

Who does the new connection?

A licensed plumber does the permit work inside the lot, under the state's licensing rule, which sets aside owners working on their own single-family homes. See our story on permits. Service line work is no place for a weekend project, whatever the exception allows. Street valves belong to the utility, so leave them alone.