Exciting enhancements are coming soon to eCode360! Learn more 🡪
Township of Saddle Brook, NJ
Bergen County
By using eCode360 you agree to be legally bound by the Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the Terms of Use, please do not use eCode360.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (0) Index
[Adopted 12-27-2001 by Ord. No. 1248]
A. 
Each service section shall be metered. All meters installed subsequent to the effective date of this article shall be compatible with the current encoder and meter reading system and equipped with an encoder remote receptacle on the exterior of the building. The use of water without a meter, except as herein provided, makes the property owner liable for water consumed, as estimated by the Water Department, and for any penalties imposed under this article. The Township, upon repeated offenses, may discontinue the water supply. Water supply for municipal purposes shall be metered if practical, and the Water Department shall be paid for the water at its regular rates.
B. 
Reference in this article to meters shall be deemed to apply to remote encoder receptacles where appropriate.
C. 
All existing meters shall be upgraded to be compatible, with the current encoder type meter reading system. Conversion of all, existing meters must be completed within 180 days from the effective date hereof. Large meters. over one inch in size, must be upgraded and/or replaced by the building owners, at such building owners' sole cost and expense, at least once every three years.
A. 
Location designation.
(1) 
The location provided by a property owner for a water meter shall be readily accessible for reading and maintenance purposes and shall provide adequate protection against damage to the meter, after said location has been approved by the Water Department. All meters hereafter placed in buildings shall be located on the cellar floor, as near as possible to the point of entry of the service, in a clean, safe, dry place not subject to variation in temperature, easily accessible for reading, and shall be of a type suitable for the purpose and location. When no suitable location for the meter can be obtained in a building or when a building is distant from the street line or curbline, the consumer, after approval by the Water Department, may be required to provide a watertight pit, chamber or vault for the meter, including provisions for the remote receptacle, near the property line.
(2) 
The remote receptacle shall be located within three feet of the exterior Public Service and Gas and Electric or New Jersey Power and Light electric utility meter. Where no exterior electric utility meter exists, the remote receptacle shall be placed on the front wall of the building. In no case shall the remote receptacle be enclosed in a fenced area or rendered inaccessible by plantings or shrubbery. In such cases the consumer will be required to have a receptacle relocated at his expenses by the Water Department.
B. 
The consumer shall take proper precaution to protect the meter from injury, frost or freezing and damage from hot water and steam. The owners of the premises shall be liable for all damages to the meter or loss to the Township where damage or loss resulted from the negligence of the consumer.
A. 
Connections at the meters shall be arranged so that the Water Department will not be required to do any pipe fitting, but will only have to connect the meter by means of unions already in place. The union connections or any other piping required for installing the meter shall be installed at the expense of the owner and shall remain as part of the permanent piping of the building. All plumbing shall conform to the National Standard Plumbing Code as adopted by the Township of Saddle Brook.
B. 
A ball valve shall be placed on the service line on the street side of and near the meter and a ball valve on the other side of the meter. A backflow preventor shall be placed after the valve and the meter. An approved pressure-reducing valve shall be installed after the meter on the consumer side of the service. Cross-connections are prohibited except and when they are approved by the Township of Saddle Brook Water Department, and suitable protective devices are installed, tested and maintained to ensure proper operation on a continuing basis in accordance with the standard of the National Plumbing Code.
C. 
Provisions for remote readers shall include one-half-inch-diameter electrical thin wall steel or aluminum tubing where remote register wiring passes through masonry or finished dry walls. The ends of the tubing shall be furnished with fiber bushings. Three continuous eighteen-gauge single strand copper wires with red, green and black color-coded insulation complying with Bell Telephone material and specifications shall be furnished and installed by the applicant from a point within two feet of the meter location on the exterior of the building five feet above exterior finished grade and within three feet of the exterior electric company utility meter. A five-foot pigtail will be provided on each end of the wire run. Water meter and the water register shall be installed by the Water Department.
No fixture of any kind from which water might be drawn shall be connected to the street side of a meter. Water shall not be turned on unless the meter location and other facilities provided for meet the approval of the Water Department.
Except as otherwise provided by § 203-16C hereof, the Water Department, at its option, and in accordance with the American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards for length of time in services of various meters, (AWWA) Standard Number C700-71, shall repair, replace or exchange water meters. The expense of such repairs, replacement or exchange may, if the condition warrants, be charged to the building owner. No person except an employee of the Water Department shall connect, disconnect, repair, adjust or tamper in any way with the water meter or seal.
Failure of a meter to register properly shall be reported immediately to the Water Department. Charges for water during the period of such failure shall be computed on the basis of the average consumption over a reasonable period prior to the failure.
In accordance with the American Water Works Association Regulation Nos. C700-71, C701-70, C702-70 and C703-70, meters shall be tested at the following intervals by consumers: Three-inch meters shall be tested once every three years; four-inch meters shall be tested once every two years; and six-inch meters or greater shall be tested every year. If, as a result of the test, the meter is found to be inaccurate, it shall be properly restored to accurate condition by the owner or an accurate meter shall be substituted by the property owner, at such owner's sole cost and expense, within 20 working days upon written notice by certified mail. Any meter found to be inaccurate by more then ten-percent testing shall be considered inaccurate pursuant to C705-57. Tests shall be performed by a manufacturer's representative or a company certified by the Township Water Department as qualified to perform such tests. Such tests shall be performed in the presence of an official of the Township Water Department.
Meters will be tested at the consumers request. The customer will be charged for the test only in the event that it is determined that the meter is in good condition.
A. 
The Water Department shall set meters and remote registers. The charge for setting meters and remote registers shall be set by the Township Council by resolution. Meters over one inch are set, operated and maintained in proper operating conditions by the building owner at his expense. The Water Department will install the remote receptacle on large meters (three inches or larger) after the owner has completed the upgrade of the meter, the cost of which is the responsibility of the owner.
B. 
In the event that meters and remote receptacles are requested to be installed after the normal working hours (evenings and/or Saturdays), an additional charge shall be added to any other charges in connection with setting the meters and remote.
C. 
There will be an additional charge in the event of a callback and/or rescheduling of meter installations.
[Added 7-9-2009 by Ord. No. 1472; amended 10-3-2019 by Ord. No. 1667-19]
A fee for water meters shall be applied to the sale of any home in the Township of Saddle Brook, in the amount of $200. Should the fee have been paid as of January 12, 2013, said fee shall be waived, and the fee shall be waived if the same has already been paid from the date of adoption of this Ord. No. 1667-19.