Septic System Installation
New septic systems and full replacements, conventional and sand mound, installed to the approved design from the soil test pits to the final grading.
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Bushkill is the mailing address for most of Lehman Township, on US Route 209 in southern Pike County. The big private communities here were laid out as weekend and vacation lots. Plenty of those cabins are full-time houses now, and a system built for weekend use runs seven days a week. Add shallow rock and slow soil, and old absorption areas start showing wet ground and backups.
Sawkill Environmental is a septic system and excavation contractor based in Milford, a short run up US Route 209. We install new septic systems and full replacements on Bushkill lots. We also handle repairs on a failing system and general excavation work around the house. Call or text (973) 552-8580 for a free estimate.
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Saw Creek Estates is the exception around here. That gated community runs on central water and sewer through Pennsylvania American Water. The treatment plant sits on Winona Falls Road and discharges to Saw Creek. Houses inside the gate are on a sewer line, not a tank.
Outside that gate, most houses in Lehman Township sit on their own on-lot septic system. Lots in Pine Ridge, Pocono Mountain Lake Estates and Pocono Ranch Lands are on private systems. Pocono Ranch Lands alone counts 743 homes and close to 500 buildable lots still on the books.
A vacant lot in those communities needs soil testing and a township permit before a house goes up. That is where a new septic system starts, long before anyone breaks ground. On an older lot the question is different. Does the absorption area still have life left, or is the system done?
Bushkill sits on the Pocono plateau above the Delaware River. Bushkill Falls drops more than 100 feet on the Little Bush Kill, up Bushkill Falls Road toward Tamiment. Land along the river was taken in the 1960s for the Tocks Island Dam project. That ground is national recreation area now, so the houses sit back up on the plateau.
The soil up there is glacial till, full of stone and boulders, sitting on sandstone and shale. On many lots the rock is within four feet of the surface. Seasonal high water sits close to the surface too. Some soils hold a fragipan that water will not move through.
Pennsylvania calls that shallow rock or water the limiting zone, and wants 48 inches of separation above it. Without four feet of usable soil, the absorption area gets built up instead of dug in. That raised bed is an elevated sand mound. Better lots with deeper, faster soil still take a conventional in-ground bed.
Lehman Township has its own sewage enforcement officer. All soil testing gets scheduled with that officer, and the permit application is picked up at the township office. The forms are multi-part carbon sets, so there is nothing to download.
The township also asks for proof of ownership and a signed trespass waiver. It wants an original sealed survey of the property, completed inside the last three years. Owners of older Bushkill lots are often surprised by the survey, so it pays to start early.
We dig the soil test pits so the officer can read the profile. Once the design is approved, we set the tank and the distribution box. Then we build the absorption area to that design, backfill and finish the grading. Design and permitting stay with the sewage enforcement officer, plus a soil scientist or engineer where required.
The same rock that pushes a system to a sand mound turns up in every other dig here. Foundations, footings, utility trenches and septic beds all hit ledge on Pike County lots. We run our own excavators and equipment, so rock work does not stall the job.
Steep ground over thin soil pushes water sideways instead of down. That is where wet basements, soggy yards and washed out gravel roads come from. Fixing it means stormwater drainage repairs: curtain drains, catch basins, culverts, cross pipes and regrading.
Wooded lots in Bushkill sit close to the Delaware State Forest and the national recreation area. Building on one usually starts with land clearing: trees, brush, stumps and ledge out, debris hauled off. After that comes the building pad, the grading and the access lane. Call PA One Call at 811 before any of it starts.
Communities and areas we serve around Bushkill: Saw Creek Estates, Pine Ridge, Pocono Mountain Lake Estates, Pocono Ranch Lands, Tamiment, Bushkill Falls, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Delaware State Forest, US Route 209, Bushkill Falls Road, Winona Falls Road, Little Bush Kill.
Bushkill ZIP codes served: 18324, 18371.
Free estimates throughout Pike County and the surrounding area.
(973) 552-8580 New septic systems and full replacements, conventional and sand mound, installed to the approved design from the soil test pits to the final grading.
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Backups, wet ground over the drainfield and sewage odors mean a part of the system has failed. We dig it up, find the cause and repair or replace what quit working.
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We handle general excavation for homes and commercial sites around Milford: foundation and basement digs, footings, trenches and rock ledge. We run our own excavators and equipment, so the dig, the backfill and the compaction stay with one company.
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We install French drains, curtain drains, catch basins and culverts, and regrade wet ground. Exterior stormwater drainage for homes and commercial properties around Milford.
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We clear wooded lots and acreage for homesites, septic areas, roads and building pads. Trees, brush, stumps and ledge come out with excavators and leave the site.
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Site prep and grading for new homes, barns and commercial buildings around Milford. We build pads, cut and fill, place stone base and put in private roads and access lanes.
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We build block and boulder retaining walls that hold slopes, cuts and fills on hillside lots. Proper base, drainage stone and pipe behind the wall, then backfill and compaction.
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We repair and replace sewer laterals by open trench, from the building wall out to the sewer main. Broken, collapsed, root damaged and bellied lines come out, and new pipe goes in on a graded bed.
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We dig out contaminated soil after heating oil releases and spills. The material goes off to a permitted facility, then clean fill puts the site back.
Learn MoreReal reviews from real septic and excavation jobs on Google.
Great Service and workmanship I would use nobody else to service my grease and septic tanks
Top Notch & Very professional,showed up when was suppose to & it came out better then I could ever imagine… calling them anytime I need there services done
Returned phone calls immediately. Showed up when they said they would… very nice to deal with .. Excellent work
A few of the questions we hear most around Bushkill. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us about the property and what you need done, and we will come back with a free estimate. You can also call or text (973) 552-8580.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.