Septic & Well Services in New Hope & Solebury, PA

Areas covered on this page: Solebury Township, New Hope Borough, Lahaska, Carversville, Lumberville, Phillips Mill (Bucks County).

Solebury's Sewage Management Program

Solebury rewrote its Act 537 sewage plan in 2013 and adopted three ordinances in June 2014 covering on-lot systems, holding tanks and permitting. The centerpiece is a Sewage Management Program: every septic system must be pumped and visually inspected at least once every three years (Solebury Township: Sewage Management).

The ordinance spells out a few details owners often miss (Solebury Code, Ch. 18 Part 1):

• Pumping is due every three years, or sooner if an inspection finds solids or scum filling more than a third of the tank's liquid depth.
• You, not the hauler, must send a copy of the pumping receipt to the Township within 30 days.
• Sand filters on spray-irrigation (IRSIS) and similar systems must be inspected every year.
• Non-routine repairs must be reported to the Bucks County Health Department and the Township for approval before the work starts.
• Garbage disposals are prohibited in new construction and strongly discouraged on existing septic systems.

New Hope Borough homes are generally on public sewer, but older properties at the edges of town and along the river are worth checking. Your tax or utility bill will show whether you pay a sewer fee.

Private wells in Solebury

Because most Solebury households drink from their own wells, the Township treats groundwater protection as a top priority. USGS included a New Hope study area when it looked at naturally occurring arsenic and boron in Newark Basin wells. About 10 percent of wells basin-wide exceeded EPA's arsenic limit, and the rate was higher near diabase rock (USGS SIR 2006-5261). Test every year for coliform bacteria, nitrate, total dissolved solids and pH (PA DEP), and consider a broader panel that includes arsenic at least once.

Who issues permits

In Bucks County, the Bucks County Health Department is the sewage enforcement agency. It permits new and repaired septic systems, holding tanks and alternate systems under PA Code Title 25, Chapter 73, investigates malfunctioning systems, and licenses every sewage pumping truck that works in the county. Its Sewage Program can be reached at 215-345-3318. Since 2007 the department has also set location and construction standards for new and modified private wells through its Residential Well Inspection Program, so a new well needs a county permit before drilling.

Before you call a provider

• Find your last pumping receipt and, if you have it, your septic permit or system drawing. It shows the tank location and size.
• Ask whether the pumper's truck is licensed by the Bucks County Health Department and whether they will file or give you the receipt your township needs.
• For a home sale, ask whether the inspector is PSMA-certified and what the written report covers.
• For a well, note the pump age, the well depth if known, and what you are seeing (pressure, color, odor, no water).