Septic System Installation in Greentown, PA

Lake Communities and On-Lot Septic in Greentown

Greentown is a village in Pike County, and it spans two townships. The southern part sits in Greene Township and the northern part in Palmyra Township. Greene Township's website points to the Pike County GIS map to check which township a property is in. The local permit rules on this page come from Greene Township.

Housing in Greentown sits mostly in communities like The Escape, Lake Paupack Club, Tanglwood Lakes and Paupack Hills. White Pines, Tranquility Falls, Sand Spring Acres and Lake Wallenpaupack Estates are on the list too. That last one is a Pike County community, separate from Wallenpaupack Lake Estates in Wayne County. Greentown also takes in the Ledgedale Recreational Area and parts of Lake Wallenpaupack.

Greene Township covers 62.1 square miles and has no public utilities. Questions about sewer and water go to the township's sewage enforcement officer. Outside The Escape, a new house in the township needs its own septic system and well on one lot.

Septic Setbacks From Wells and Lakes on Small Lots

The absorption area is the part of a septic system that spreads wastewater from the tank into the soil. Pennsylvania sets minimum distances for it. It has to sit at least 100 feet from a private well. It also has to stay at least 50 feet from a lake, pond or stream.

On a small lake-community lot, the well and the absorption area compete for the same ground. A shoreline or a stream can take another bite out of it. Planning both together keeps either one from boxing in the other. A new well goes through its own Greene Township application, the well permit.

An existing system has to work inside that same tight layout. Wet, spongy ground over the drainfield, sewage odors or backups in the house are signs of trouble. Those call for septic system repair, and sometimes a new absorption area placed where the setbacks still allow it.

Greene Township Sewage Permits Come Before Building Permits

In Greene Township, no building permit is issued without a valid sewage permit. The sewage permit application also serves as the application to soil test your property. On a new homesite, that makes the soil test the first real step.

The township's sewage enforcement officer handles questions on wells, septic systems and perc testing. The officer is at the Greene Township building on Wednesdays and keeps hours at other township offices on other days. Applications go back to the township by mail as a signed hard copy, with the fee paid by check. Cash and credit cards are not accepted.

We dig the soil test pits so the officer can read the soil profile. The steps are laid out in our perc test guide. The design comes through the officer, with a soil scientist or engineer where the county requires one. We install the tank, distribution box and absorption area to the approved design, then finish the grading.

Greene Township's location permit asks for the sewage permit number on new builds and bedroom additions. If an alteration or conversion may raise sewage flows, a permit to alter or replace the system comes first. Written notice from the officer that no permit is needed also works if it comes before any work begins. When an older system cannot carry the added flow, septic system replacement may be the answer.

Sand Mound Septic Systems on the Plateau Around Promised Land

Promised Land State Park has a Greentown address and sits along PA Route 390. The state puts the park on the Pocono Plateau, 1,800 feet above sea level. A U.S. Geological Survey report places Pike County's southwestern corner on the Glaciated Pocono Plateau. The county's highest ground, more than 2,000 feet up, is in that corner.

Less than half of Pike County has glacial deposits on it. Most of that is till, typically under 6 feet thick. In many areas without those deposits, bedrock is exposed at the surface.

Under Pennsylvania rules, an elevated sand mound is required where the limiting zone sits less than 60 inches down. With till that thin, rock can fall inside that depth. The same report notes sand mounds are used more often than conventional systems in Pike County's recent developments. A mound builds the absorption area up in sand, above that limit.

Rock also shapes the dig for tanks, absorption areas and foundations. We break out and remove ledge as part of the excavation. Every dig starts with a PA One Call (811) ticket. On a raw wooded homesite, land clearing takes out the trees, stumps and rock ledges first.