The pipe from the street is yours, and it is the one nobody thinks about
Most people find out they own the water service the day it fails. This is what a failing one looks like, what replacing it costs, and who pays, written by the crew that digs them.
Replacing a residential water service line in northern New Jersey runs $8,000 to $10,000 for a 200 foot service as of August 2026, which works out to roughly $35 to $50 a foot, cheaper per foot on longer runs because mobilization is spread further. The line is almost always the homeowner’s property and the homeowner’s bill. The most reliable sign one is failing is ground that stays wet during a dry spell. New Jersey services are set at 42 inches deep on a bed of sand, and the schedule is usually driven by the 811 markout rather than by the digging.
Think yours is leaking? Call 862-268-2510 or get a free on-site estimate. We locate the leak before opening the ground, so you are not paying to dig up a guess.
What a failing water service actually looks like
A service line leak underground does not announce itself the way a burst pipe in a wall does. There is no sound, often no pressure complaint worth calling about, and nothing visible indoors. These are the signs, in the order they are usually noticed:
| Sign | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ground that stays wet in a dry spell | The most reliable sign there is. If one patch of yard stays soft while everything around it hardens off, that water is not coming from the sky. On a job in Andover the homeowner had lived with it for five months and only became certain during a drought. |
| A water bill that jumped without a reason | A service line leak runs 24 hours a day. Nobody is home to hear it and nothing shows indoors, so the bill is often the first hard evidence. |
| Pressure that has fallen off | Usually gradual, so people adapt to it without noticing. Worth ruling out at the meter first, because low pressure can also be a valve or the utility side rather than your line. |
| An area that stays green, or stays unfrozen | Grass over a leak grows better than the grass around it. In winter, a strip of ground that stays clear of snow or free of frost is telling you something is warm and wet underneath it. |
| Air or discolored water at the tap | Can point to a line drawing air through a break, particularly on an older galvanized or poly service. |
Not sure it is even the water line? A wet spot in the yard is one of three different problems with three different answers, and telling them apart is a wet spot in the yard that never dries. If what set this off was the bill rather than the yard, start with your water bill doubled and nobody can find a leak, because a jumped bill usually points somewhere much cheaper than a trench. If the symptom is weak pressure rather than water on the ground, low pressure through the whole house covers galvanized and who is on the hook to replace it. A worked example of all of this on one property, with the numbers: a 500 foot water line in Andover.
Who shuts the water off, town by town
This is the part that matters in the first ten minutes, and it is not us. A service line leaking under a lawn washes ground out from under whatever is above it and fills basements while people look up phone numbers. The person who can stop it is whoever holds the curb key, which is your water purveyor. Get the water off first. We come after that.
Around here that is a harder question than it sounds. There is no single answer per town. Sparta is three separate systems. Andover Township has no water department at all and is split among four companies. Byram is a patchwork. Montague changed hands in June. Every number below was read off that provider's own published page.
| Town | Who to call | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Sussex County | ||
| 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 |
| Andover Borough | Andover Borough Water Department Ask for Adrianna Smith, Water Administrator, at 137 Main Street. The borough's own ordinance refers to a water superintendent but does not publish a name or a direct line, and it publishes office hours only for this number, not an after-hours route. Do not confuse this with Andover Township, which has four different water companies. | 973-786-6688 ext 7 |
| Warren County | ||
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Alpha | Alpha Borough Department of Public Works The borough names this line for meter faults, water quality and technical questions, weekdays 7 to 3. Billing is the Utility Collector at 908-454-0088 ext 120, which is not who you want with water running. | 908-454-3143 |
| Hackettstown | Hackettstown MUA HMUA's 24-hour emergency dispatch, water and sewer both. Say which one it is so they page the right crew. Routine business is 908-852-3622. HMUA is the town's own system here rather than the fringe coverage it gives Independence and Mansfield. | 908-246-9520 |
| Morris County | ||
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Morristown | Southeast Morris County MUA That is SMCMUA's 24-hour emergency line and the one to use for water in the ground. Billing and new accounts are 973-326-6880 during the day. SMCMUA serves the whole town from Cedar Knolls. | 973-867-1758 |
| Morris Plains | Southeast Morris County MUA SMCMUA's 24-hour emergency line. Daytime billing questions go to 973-326-6880. Nearly the whole borough is on this system. | 973-867-1758 |
| Hanover | Southeast Morris County MUA SMCMUA's 24-hour emergency line, and its offices are in Cedar Knolls inside the township. Daytime billing is 973-326-6880. | 973-867-1758 |
| Madison | Madison Borough Water Utility The borough says outright that this line is answered 24/7/365, which is rarer than it should be. The water crew sits inside Public Works and does its own main and curb box repairs. Billing is a separate number, 973-593-3045. | 973-966-7330 |
| Mountain Lakes | Mountain Lakes Department of Public Works DPW at 55 Pocono Road runs the water distribution system, weekdays 7 to 3. Jim Pappa is Director of Public Works. The borough publishes no separate 24-hour water line, so out of hours this is the police. | 973-334-1577 |
| Denville | Denville Township Utilities Robyn Begg is the Utilities Supervisor, weekdays 8 to 4. Denville is also under a state mandate to replace every lead and galvanized service line by July 2031, so there is a lot of digging coming. | 973-625-8300 ext. 274 |
| Florham Park | Florham Park Water Utility That is William Williams, the Water Superintendent, direct, weekdays 7 to 3 from the utility yard at 31 Vreeland Road. Out of those hours the borough's own water page says to dial 911 for an emergency. The utility maintains the mains, curb stops and hydrants itself. Billing is 973-520-1980, which is a different building. | 973-410-5471 |
| Netcong | Netcong Borough Department of Public Works Ask for Tim Hess, who is both DPW Superintendent and the borough's licensed water system operator, so he is the right person twice over. DPW is at 40 Maple Avenue. | 973-347-6664 |
| Randolph | Randolph Township That is the police number, and it is not a mistake: the township itself says to call the police for an after-hours water main break or loss of pressure. The division runs 145 miles of water main under the engineering department, so in office hours ask the municipal building for water and sewer instead. | 973-989-7000 |
| Pequannock | Pequannock Township Water Department The utility office. Public Works at 99 Alexander Avenue in Pompton Plains does the actual water distribution and maintenance with sixteen full-time staff across roads, water and sewer. The township runs two systems, Pequannock and Cedar Crest, so say which end of town you are on. | 973-835-5700 ext. 126 |
| Chatham Borough | Borough of Chatham Utilities The borough supplies its own water and bills it with sewer on one quarterly bill. This is the utilities office at 54 Fairmount Avenue, weekdays 8 to 4, and the borough publishes no separate 24-hour water line, so out of hours start with the police. | 973-635-0674 ext. 214 |
| Victory Gardens | Dover Water Commission The borough has no water system of its own. NJDEP's purveyor mapping puts all of Victory Gardens inside the Dover Water Commission service area. Extensions 2126 and 2127 in office hours, and after hours Dover routes water emergencies through its police non-emergency line, 973-366-0302. | 973-366-2200 |
| Boonton Town | Town of Boonton Division of Water and Sewer 124 North Main Street, and the town's own directory puts the hours at 8:30 to 3:30 weekdays. Directory sites list this same number as a 24-hour emergency line and they are wrong, so out of hours start with the police. Boonton Township buys its water wholesale from this system but bills its own customers. | 973-402-9460 |
| Riverdale | Riverdale Borough Department of Public Works Steve Schotanus is Superintendent of Public Works and that is his number. The DPW garage is at the end of Dalton Drive, and the borough runs water supply connections through this department. Borough hall is 973-835-4060. | 973-835-6077 |
| Montville | Montville Township Water and Sewer Department A township department rather than an authority, despite the MUA name that appears in state datasets. Zehra Karim is Director of Water and Sewer at 973-331-3334. The office is at 195 Changebridge Road and the township's directory lists 973-331-3331 for billing. | 973-331-3330 |
| Jefferson | Jefferson Township Municipal Utilities One department runs all three township systems, Milton, Lake Hopatcong and Vassar, so this number covers whichever one you are on. It serves about 4,000 water customers in the Oak Ridge, Lake Hopatcong and Vassar Road areas and the rest of the township is wells, so check the bill first. Office at 1033 Weldon Road, and the township says the water system itself runs 24 hours. | 973-208-6144 |
Then the second call, because the first one does not fix anything
Every number above stops the water. None of them repairs the line. The purveyor owns the main and the curb stop, which is the shut off valve at the curb that most people have never heard called that; from the curb to your house the service line is yours, so once the valve is shut their job is finished and yours is starting. That second call is the one that gets the water back on: JWSR at 862-268-2510, and we are the ones who dig, replace the service and put the ground back. Worth making both calls in the same ten minutes rather than finding out about the second one a day later.
One thing worth knowing before any of this happens: find out where your meter actually is. In our experience roughly a third of the meters we come across out here are not in the basement at all, they sit in a pit at the curb, and that changes the conversation. A pit meter means the utility can reach your meter without entering the house, it means the curb stop and the meter are often in the same hole, and it means the piece of your service line that fails is more likely to be the long buried run rather than anything you can see. That is our own field observation across Sussex, Warren and Morris Counties rather than a utility statistic, so treat it as a reason to go look rather than as a number. Lift the lid on a dry day, before it is the thing you are hunting for while water is running.
And five townships out this way have no public water at all: Hardwick, Hope, Liberty, Knowlton and Frelinghuysen. There is no utility to call there and no curb valve for anyone to shut. If water is running and you are on a well, the shutoff is yours: kill the breaker for the well pump, then close the valve where the line enters the pressure tank. Worth finding both of those on a dry day.
Not on that list? A large share of New Jersey is served by New Jersey American Water, whose emergency line is 1-800-272-1325 around the clock. If you are not sure, the name on your water bill is the answer, and it is worth knowing before you need it rather than during. Which purveyor reaches which town, and the six towns around here with no mapped public water system, is on who supplies water in your NJ town. More on the first hour of a break is on emergency excavation.
What it costs, and why per foot is the wrong question on its own
$8,000 to $10,000 for a 200 foot service. That is roughly $35 to $50 a foot, and the longer the run the cheaper the foot, because getting a crew, a machine and materials to your property costs the same whether the trench is 60 feet or 400.
Four things move it: length, which is why we quote against a stated distance; the material going in, which changes both the pipe cost and what your town will accept; how hard the digging is, since rock, ledge and wet ground all slow the trench and the trench is the job; and what the line has to get under, because a driveway or a mature tree can turn an open cut into a bore.
Every range we publish is on what this work costs, and the boring detail is on directional boring.
Questions people ask before they call
How much does it cost to replace a water service line in NJ?
$8,000 to $10,000 for a 200 foot service as of August 2026 in northern New Jersey. Quoting it against a stated length is deliberate, because a price with no distance attached cannot be compared and services vary enormously in how far the house sits from the main.
What does water line replacement cost per foot?
Roughly $35 to $50 a foot in northern New Jersey, and the longer the run the cheaper the foot. A 200 foot service at $8,000 to $10,000 works out near the top of that; a 500 foot service we quoted at $17,400 works out closer to $35. The reason is mobilization: getting the crew, the machine and the materials to your property costs the same whether the trench is 60 feet or 400.
How do I know if my underground water line is leaking?
The most reliable sign is ground that stays wet when it has no reason to be. If one area of the yard stays soft through a dry spell while everything around it dries out, suspect the service line. Other signs are a water bill that jumped without explanation, pressure that has gradually fallen off, grass that is greener over one strip, and in winter an area that stays clear of snow or frost.
Who is responsible for the water line from the street to the house?
Almost always the homeowner. The pipe running from the main at the street into your house is your property and your bill when it fails, which surprises people the first time. Where exactly responsibility changes hands is set by your municipality or water utility rather than by any statewide rule, so it genuinely varies town to town. Some condo and HOA communities carry it through the association, so the governing documents are worth reading before you assume.
Who is responsible for the water line before the meter?
Usually still you, and this is the part that catches people. The meter marks where billing starts, not where ownership starts. The dividing line is more often the curb stop or the main connection, and it is set locally. Ask your water utility where their responsibility ends for your address before you assume the meter is the boundary.
Should I repair the leak or replace the whole line?
Repair a line that failed for a reason, such as dig damage or one bad section. Replace one that failed because of what it is: an old line, a wrong or unrecorded material, or a pipe that was never bedded properly. Those conditions have not gone anywhere and the next failure is a matter of when. On the Andover job the spot repair was $4,750 and the full replacement was quoted at $17,400, and we did the repair the homeowner asked for while telling him plainly it would happen again.
How deep does a water service line have to be in NJ?
The standard around here is 42 inches to the pipe. We dig the trench to at least 46 so there is a bed of sand underneath, which is what keeps the pipe off sharp stone. Your water utility sets the required depth for your address, so confirm it with them, but 42 inches is the number we build to.
Can you replace a water line without digging up my driveway?
Often, by boring underneath it. A pneumatic missile shoots 45 to 48 feet in one pass, which covers most driveways, and a directional drill reaches further. Two things force an open cut: an existing utility in the path, because New Jersey rules require a marked line to be exposed by hand rather than bored past blind, and a bore that meets rock and rides up. We price the open cut as a separate what-if line item before starting, so a failed bore is a plan rather than a surprise.
Do I need a plumber or an excavator to replace my water service?
Both, and that is the code rather than an upsell. The digging is excavation work; the connection is plumbing work, and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15 says plumbing work may not be undertaken except by someone licensed to perform it, with one exception for a single-family homeowner on their own dwelling. We bring in a licensed plumber, work in support of them, and because the excavation is usually the larger cost we invoice you and pay the plumber directly.
How long does a water service replacement take?
Most residential services are a one to two day job once the markout is back. The part that sets the schedule is not the digging, it is New Jersey's One Call requirement: notice not less than three business days and not more than 10 before excavation, and business days exclude weekends and holidays. A Monday call means Friday. On a genuine emergency, such as a line that cannot be shut off or a building left without water, there is a separate emergency route.
Ranges are ours in northern New Jersey as of August 2026 and are not a quote. Rules last checked 2026-08-23. More on the wider service on sewer and water line, and on materials in copper versus polyethylene. Whether your line can be replaced along its existing path instead of trenched is covered in pipe bursting, pulling in place, or open trench.
Wet patch that will not dry out?
Call 862-268-2510. We locate the leak first, then tell you honestly whether it is a repair or a replacement.
Call 862-268-2510