Whatever broke, we answer, day or night.
A broken sewer or water line, a cut fiber run, a washed-out road or parking lot, a flooded property. If we do the work, we do it 24/7. JWSR responds fast across Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon, Somerset, Passaic & Bergen County, NJ with the crew and equipment to dig it out, fix it, and get you back to normal.
Water emergency in northern New Jersey: two calls, in this order. First your water purveyor, the name on your water bill, because they hold the curb key and shutting the valve is what stops the damage. Then JWSR at 862-268-2510, day or night, because shutting the water off fixes nothing, and we are the ones who dig, repair the line and put the ground back. On a private well there is no curb valve: kill the well pump breaker, then call us. Town-by-town shutoff numbers are on our water service page.
Emergencies we respond to
Sewer line emergencies
Collapsed, backed-up, or broken sewer lines dug out and repaired fast.
Water main & service breaks
Located, exposed, and repaired so you get running water back.
Fiber & utility strikes
Fast, safe response when a fiber run or utility line is hit or exposed, on a jobsite or a state highway.
Asphalt & road failures
Washouts, sinkholes, and collapsed pavement on driveways, roads, and parking lots patched and stabilized.
Storm damage
Trees, flooding, and washouts cleared and stabilized, documented for insurance.
Failed septic
Emergency excavation for failing tanks and fields.
Flooding & drainage
Emergency grading and drainage to move water away from your home.
From your call to a crew on site
First, a real person answers, day or night, and asks the questions that matter: what failed, where, and how bad. If water is running where it should not be, we walk you through shutting it off at the curb or the main while the crew loads up. We reach most emergencies in our area in under an hour, drive time deciding it.
The first visit stops the damage, and we are honest that it may not finish the repair. Where the layout allows, we can backfeed your house from a neighbor’s outside spigot so the taps and toilets work tonight, then schedule the dig within days, once 811 markouts are done and the right crew and machine are on it. We move the schedule for genuine emergencies, and we triage honestly, because calling everything an emergency helps nobody. What this looks like in February, ground heaters and a spring restoration, is in replacing a water line in January.
Then we roll with the right equipment for the problem, not whatever happens to be free. Emergency markouts get called in where the utility companies offer them, the dig is opened safely, and the repair gets made or coordinated on the spot. Before we leave, the hole is backfilled and the site is safe, with any finish restoration scheduled in daylight if the emergency ran overnight.
You get a straight price before the machine starts wherever that is possible, and honest talk when the situation will not wait for paperwork. Nobody plans for a 2 a.m. water main break. The least we can do is make the next few hours predictable.
The first five minutes, by what broke
Some of these you handle yourself and some of them you should not touch. The two at the top are the ones where you call 911 before you call us, and we would rather say that plainly than have you wait on an excavator.
| What happened | Do this now | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A gas line got hit | Get everyone away from it, upwind, and call 911 from a safe distance. Do not create any source of ignition: no open flame, no electrical switches, do not start vehicles or equipment, and do not use a phone until you are well clear. If you are warning neighbors, knock with your hand rather than ringing the doorbell, because a metal knocker or a bell can spark. A static shock is more than enough. Natural gas ignites at about 0.28 millijoules, a static zap you can actually feel runs around 5 millijoules, and a person with no static precautions can easily put out 40. That is over a hundred times what it takes. | Call the gas utility once you are safe. Do not try to operate any valve yourself. Nobody digs again until the utility says so. |
| An electric line got hit | Treat it as live even if nothing is arcing, and keep everyone back, including from anything metal it may be touching. Call 911 and the utility. | If a machine is in contact with the line, the operator stays in the cab until the utility clears it. Getting out is the dangerous part. |
| Water is running where it should not be | Shut it off at the curb stop or the main. If you cannot find it or cannot turn it, call us and we will talk you through it while the crew loads. | Keep people away from any washout or hole. Moving water undermines ground faster than it looks. |
| Sewage is backing up inside | Stop using water. No laundry, no dishwasher, no showers, no flushing where you can avoid it. Every gallon that goes down adds to what is coming back. | Keep people and pets out of anything that has come up. If it is a septic system, the septic alarm walkthrough covers how much time you have. |
| Ground opened up, or a trench collapsed | Keep people and vehicles well back from the edge, not just off the hole. The ground around a collapse is the part that goes next. | If anyone is in it, call 911. Do not go in after them; trench rescue is a trained discipline for a reason. |
| A fiber or telecom line got hit | No immediate danger, but leave it where it is. Do not pull it, move it or try to tape it. | Call the owner of the line, then us. We have done emergency NJDOT telecom repairs and can coordinate the fix. |
| Storm damage you will be claiming | Photograph it before anything gets cleaned up or moved. Wide shots and close shots, with something for scale. | Then make it safe. We cover why in document it before you clean it up. |
The struck-line guidance follows PHMSA, the federal pipeline safety regulator, and 811 damage prevention guidance. This is general safety information, not a substitute for the instructions of the emergency services or your utility, who are the people to listen to on the day.
Who can actually shut it off
This is the part people lose time on. A leaking water service undermines ground and fills basements while somebody looks up phone numbers, and the person who can stop it is your water provider, because they hold the key for the curb valve at the street. Call them first. We come after the water is off, and we would rather arrive to a smaller hole. One thing to be clear about while you wait: shutting the valve is their job, but the pipe running from the street into your house is normally yours, and so is repairing it. They stop the flow; they do not fix your line.
| Town | Who to call | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Sparta | Sparta Township Water & Sewer Utility Sparta runs its own water and sewer as a township department, so one office covers the mains, the hydrants and your curb valve. Note that Sparta is not one water system but three, Lake Mohawk, Sunset Lake and Highlands, so say which one you are on. | 973-729-7133 |
| Hamburg | Borough of Hamburg, Water Superintendent The borough publishes this number directly on its water line survey correspondence to customers. | 973-832-9886 |
| Newton | Newton Water & Sewer Utility Newton runs its own water and sewer utility on a self-sustaining basis, out of 39 Trinity Street. | 973-383-3521 |
| Hopatcong | Hopatcong Borough Water Utility The borough utility is at 111 River Styx Road. Outside office hours, ask them or the borough for the after-hours route rather than waiting for the morning. | 973-770-1200 |
| Vernon | Vernon Township Municipal Utilities Authority (sewer) Vernon splits it: sewer sits with the MUA, created under Township Code Chapter 528, while water in parts of the township is a private company. For a water leak, check the name on your bill first. | 973-764-4055 |
| Franklin | Franklin Borough Water & Sewer Department The borough names this line for exactly this: water and sewer connections, watermain leaks, sewer line blockages and meter questions. Billing is a different number. | 973-827-7060 |
| Ogdensburg | Ogdensburg Borough Water Department Press extension 2 for the Water Department. For a break or a repair in the ground, the borough also lists DPW at 973-827-0166. | 973-827-3444 |
| Stanhope | Stanhope Department of Public Works Stanhope splits the job: DPW runs the physical water system, while the Water & Sewer office at 973-347-0159 ext. 10 handles billing. For water in the ground, call DPW. | 973-347-6368 |
| Hardyston | Hardyston Township Municipal Utilities Authority Press 3 for the HTMUA. It serves the Crystal Springs and Indian Field water systems, not the whole township, so much of Hardyston is on private wells with no curb valve to shut. | 973-823-7020 |
| Byram | Byram Township Byram is served by a patchwork of small water companies and lake-community associations rather than one township utility, and Sparta's utility serves part of it. The township keeps the current roster and will tell you which one is yours. Check the name on your bill first. | 973-347-2500 |
| Branchville | Branchville Public Works Water Department Branchville puts this in writing where other towns leave it unsaid: only the borough's Public Works Department may shut off water to your property. Doing it yourself carries a fee each time and leaves you liable for any leak it causes. Call them. | 973-948-4626 |
| Sussex Borough | Sussex Borough Department of Public Works Public Works at 33 Brookside Avenue runs the physical system. The Tax and Utility Collections office at 973-875-4831 handles the bill. For water in the ground, call the first one. | 973-875-4202 |
| Montague | New Jersey American Water New. On June 1, 2026, New Jersey American Water completed its purchase of the Montague Sewer & Water Company's water and wastewater systems, and the township posts it on its own utilities page. This line runs 24 hours. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Stillwater | Water District #1 of Stillwater Township Public water here is a water district running its own wells, not a township department, and it covers only part of Stillwater. Outside the district you are on a private well, and there is no curb valve for anyone to shut. | 973-579-1579 |
| Andover Township | Andover Township The township's own Who to Call page lists four separate water companies: Forest Lakes at 973-786-6600, Lake Lenape at 973-786-7412, Newton Water at 973-383-2090, and 1-888-770-6030 for Sussex Park Homes. Read the name off your bill before you dial, because only that company has your curb key. | 973-383-4280 |
| Butler | Borough of Butler Water & Sewer Department Butler is one of the few here that publishes a real after-hours number rather than telling you to wait: 973-838-0063 before 8:30am, after 4:30pm, weekends and holidays. Butler is also unusual in drawing from a surface reservoir, the Kakeout, which sits over in Kinnelon. | 973-838-7208 |
| Dover | Dover Water Commission Extensions 2126 and 2127 in office hours. After hours the town routes water emergencies through the Dover Police non-emergency line, 973-366-0302, which is not where most people would think to start. | 973-366-2200 |
| Mount Arlington | Mount Arlington Borough DPW The borough runs the pipe in the ground but buys all of its water wholesale from the Morris County MUA, so the distribution side is local even though the supply is not. | 973-398-4200 |
| Rockaway Township | Rockaway Township Municipal Utility One utility covers both water and sewer here, out of 65 Mount Hope Road, and it runs as a 24/7/365 operation. Note that Picatinny Arsenal inside the township is a separate federal system operated by American Water and is not the township's to shut. | 973-983-2825 |
| Allamuchy | Allamuchy Township Department of Water and Sewer Utilities Township department since 1969, when it took over from the Pequest Water and Sewer Co. Office hours are weekdays 8 to 4, so for anything outside those, say it is a leak when you call. | 908-852-6356 |
| Wharton | Borough of Wharton Water and Sewer, through Public Works The borough runs three of its own wells and also buys water from the Morris County MUA, but the pipe in the ground is the borough's either way, so this is the number for a leak. | 973-361-8444 |
| Greenwich | Aqua New Jersey Aqua's one national line, answered around the clock, covering its Phillipsburg-area systems. The sewer side is the township's own, treated at the Phillipsburg plant, so a sewer problem is a different call than a water one. | 877-987-2782 |
| Lopatcong | Aqua New Jersey One national Aqua line, staffed 24/7. About half the township's ground sits in the delivery area; outside it you are on a well. | 877-987-2782 |
| Pohatcong | Aqua New Jersey Aqua serves the developed pockets; most of the township's ground is wells and septic. The 24/7 number is the same either way, but check the name on your bill before assuming Aqua is yours. | 877-987-2782 |
| Harmony | Aqua New Jersey (Harkers Hollow and Brainards systems) Two tiny Aqua well systems cover well under one percent of the township's ground. Nearly every home in Harmony is on its own well, with no curb valve for anyone to shut, so this number only helps the handful of Aqua-served properties. | 877-987-2782 |
| Independence | Hackettstown MUA That is HMUA's dedicated emergency line, answered by a dispatcher around the clock. Say straight away whether it is a water or a sewer problem so they page the right crew. Routine business goes to 908-852-3622. HMUA reaches only the corner of the township nearest Hackettstown; most of Independence is on wells. | 908-246-9520 |
| Mansfield (Warren) | Hackettstown MUA HMUA's 24/7 emergency dispatch line, water and sewer both, and they will shut a curb valve at no charge if your house valve has failed. HMUA covers the eastern edge near Hackettstown; much of the township is wells, and the Route 57 corridor splits between systems, so read your bill first. | 908-246-9520 |
| East Hanover | East Hanover Township Water & Sewer Department The township's own utility at the DPW building on Melanie Lane, staffed weekdays 7 to 3:30. The township publishes no after-hours water number, so outside those hours say it is an emergency when you call and be ready to try the police desk if it rings out. | 973-888-6080 |
| Lincoln Park | Borough of Lincoln Park Water & Sewer Department That reaches water and sewer operations during business hours. After hours and on holidays the borough's own instruction is to call the Lincoln Park Police at 973-694-5533, and they will raise the on-call utility crew. | 973-270-2055 |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills | Parsippany-Troy Hills Water Utility The township runs its own water utility and says it plainly: report a leak or main break to the Water Department during business hours, and to the Parsippany Police at 973-263-4300 after hours. Utility hours run Monday to Thursday 7:30 to 4, Friday mornings only. | 973-263-7099 |
| Rockaway Borough | Rockaway Borough Water Utility (Public Works) The Water Utility Supervisor's line, weekdays 7 to 3:30. For anything outside those hours the borough posts 973-627-1314. This is the borough only: Rockaway Township next door is a separate municipality with its own water division. | 973-627-7025 |
| Franklin (Warren) | New Jersey American Water Where Franklin has public water it is NJAW's Washington system, the same interconnected system as Washington Borough and Township, which is why one main break there has put all four towns under a single boil advisory. NJAW's emergency line runs 24 hours. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Washington Township (Warren) | New Jersey American Water NJAW's Washington system, shared with the borough it wraps around. The emergency line runs 24 hours and they take reports online as well. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Chatham Township | New Jersey American Water Water is NJAW's Short Hills system, around the clock on the emergency line. The sewer is the township's own utility with its own plant, so a sewer backup is a call to the township, not to NJAW. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Chester Borough | New Jersey American Water The borough is nearly all NJAW water and nearly all septic underneath, an unusual pairing: the water main runs past houses whose wastewater never leaves the lot. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Mendham Borough | New Jersey American Water NJAW serves the borough; the sewer side, where a street has it, is the borough's own plant. Two different systems, two different calls. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Mendham Township | New Jersey American Water NJAW reaches a little under half the township's ground; the rest is wells, and nearly everything is septic. If no water bill comes to the house, there is no curb valve to shut and the well pump breaker is your shutoff. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Chester Township | New Jersey American Water Only small pockets of the township sit in NJAW's delivery area. Most homes are on their own well and septic, where the shutoff is the pump breaker rather than a curb valve. | 1-800-272-1325 |
| Blairstown | Blairstown Water Department (Township DPW) The township system is small, a couple hundred connections around the village, and there is no dedicated emergency line, so this is the DPW office. Two things worth knowing: outside the village area you are on a private well, and the township is selling the system under the Water Infrastructure Protection Act, so the name that answers may change. | 908-362-8119 |
| Mine Hill | Mine Hill Township Water Department Extension 1 at the municipal building, weekdays 9 to 4:30. The township publishes no leak line and no after-hours arrangement, so outside those hours the practical route is the police non-emergency desk, and say it is a water main. | 973-366-9031 |
| Washington Township (Morris) | Washington Township MUA (Long Valley) The MUA office for the Long Valley and Schooley's Mountain systems. It publishes no 24-hour emergency line anywhere on its site, which is worth knowing before you need one. Much of the township is wells regardless, so check the bill first. | 908-876-3145 |
| Boonton Township | Boonton Township Water Department The township buys every gallon wholesale from the Town of Boonton, but you are the township utility's customer, and its own materials say to call them, not Boonton. Office at 155 Powerville Road, weekdays 8 to 4. Most of the township is on wells regardless, so the bill decides. | 973-402-4002 |
| Much of the rest of NJ | New Jersey American Water Their emergency line runs 24 hours, and they also take water emergency reports online. Report online. | 1-800-272-1325 |
Not sure which one is yours? It is the name on your water bill. Some towns are not one utility at all: Byram is a patchwork of small water companies and lake associations, and in Hardyston the MUA serves two systems while the rest of the township is on wells. Every purveyor in every town we cover, and the six towns with no mapped public water system, is on who supplies water in your NJ town. If you are on a private well there is no curb valve to shut, and the shutoff is at your own pressure tank. If the leak is on your side of the street, that is a water service replacement. If you are not yet sure it is the water line at all, a wet spot in the yard that never drieswalks through telling a leak from a septic field from groundwater. Numbers verified from each provider’s own published source; confirm before you rely on one, because utilities do change.
Asked at 2 a.m., answered here
Do you really answer at night and on weekends?
Yes. Emergencies do not keep business hours, so neither do we. We have replaced a restaurant's water main starting at 2 a.m. so the business never closed, and handled emergency telecom repairs on a state highway. Call 862-268-2510 any time.
How fast can you be on site?
For most of Sussex County we can be moving within the hour, and the rest of our seven-county area follows road time. Call and we will tell you exactly when we can be there, honestly.
What should I do while I wait?
It depends what broke, and the table above gives you the version for each. The short one: if a gas or electric line was struck, call 911 before you call us. If water is running, shut it off at the curb stop or the main. If sewage is backing up, stop using water entirely, because every gallon that goes down adds to what comes back. Keep people back from the edge of any hole, not just out of it. We will walk you through it on the phone.
Water is coming up in my yard. Who do I call first?
Your water provider, not us, because they hold the key for the curb valve at the street and can stop the flow. In Sparta that is the Sparta Township Water & Sewer Utility on 973-729-7133, in Hamburg the Borough Water Superintendent on 973-832-9886, in Newton the Water & Sewer Utility on 973-383-3521, and in Hopatcong the Borough Water Utility on 973-770-1200. Much of the rest of New Jersey is New Jersey American Water, whose emergency line is 1-800-272-1325 around the clock. If you are on a private well there is no curb valve and the shutoff is at your own pressure tank. Once the water is off, call us and we will find the leak and repair it.
Can a static spark really set off a gas leak?
Yes, comfortably. Natural gas has a minimum ignition energy of roughly 0.28 millijoules. A static discharge you can actually feel is around 5 millijoules, and a person taking no static precautions can easily produce 40. That is more than a hundred times what it takes to ignite it, which is why the guidance is no switches, no vehicle ignitions, no phones and no doorbells until you are well clear.
I hit a gas line. Should I call you?
No, call 911 first, from a safe distance, and then the gas utility. Do not create any ignition source: no flame, no electrical switches, do not start vehicles, and do not use a phone until you are well clear. We would rather lose the call than have you wait on an excavator. Once the utility has made it safe, call us and we will handle the repair and the restoration.
Will insurance cover the work?
Often parts of it, depending on your policy and the cause. We document the damage and the work with photos and provide the paperwork your adjuster asks for. Storm damage especially should be photographed before any cleanup starts.
When something breaks, you need a crew that actually picks up and shows up. We have handled 2 a.m. water main repairs at restaurants timed around business hours, and emergency NJDOT repairs on state highways. We keep excavators, skid steers, bucket trucks, and the right tools on standby, and we are available around the clock.
Call or text 862-268-2510 right now. Tell us what is happening and we will tell you exactly when we can be there.
We show up after dark, too
A broken line doesn't wait for business hours, and neither do we. That's our crew and equipment on a night call, lights on, cones out, getting it dug and fixed while everyone else is closed.
Emergency? Call now.
24/7 response across Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon, Somerset, Passaic & Bergen County, NJ. Call 862-268-2510.
Call 862-268-2510