8'11 BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I COMPREHENSIVE PLAN . { ( 1'- SEWER FACILITIES Final Report REPORT Nol2 June I 9 70 County Planning Board, County of Bergen, New Jersey BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REPORT SANITARY SEWER FACILITIES - FINAL REPORT The preparation of this report was financially aided through a Federal grant from the Urban Renewal Adminis­ tration of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the Urban Planning Assistance Program authorized by Section 701 of the Housing Act of 1954, as amended. The remainder has been financed by local funds and by an appropriation of the State of New Jersey as part of the Cooperative Governmental Planning Program. REPORT NO. 12 June, 1970 BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS PLANN I NG BOARD FRANK A. BUONO, JR., DIRECTOR JAMES R. SUTPHEN, CHAIRMAN WILLIAM D. McDOWELL, DEPUTY DIRECTOR WAL TER MARUT BERNARD A. SCHWARTZ, VICE-CHAIRMAN WILLIAM D. McDOWELL JUNE M. CLARK HARRY RANDALL, JR. F. WILLIAM BALLOU, SECRETARY MATTHEW J. BINDER FRANKLIN H. COOPER KEVIN J. McDERMOTT FRANK A. BUONO, JR. JOSEPH A. CARUCCI HENRY L. HOE BEL VICTOR M. WILLIAMS EDWARD R. RANUSKA FREDERICK W. BRANDT prepared by ELAM AND POPOFF ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES GLEN ROCK, NEW JERSEY COUNTY PLANNING BOARD, COUNTY OF BERGEN 29 Linden Street, Hackensack, New Jersey SUMMARY OF REPORT INTRODUCTION The accelerated growth of population, commerce and industry is rapidly leading to the emergence of Bergen County as the most populous county in the State. The County Comprehensive Plan was initiated to provide orderly, logical and economically sound development within the County. An essential element of such a plan is the estab­ lishment of adequate facilities for the collection and disposal of sewage from within the County. PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this study is to develop feasible alternative solutions to provide adequate sewerage facilities for all the municipalities within Bergen County for the study period (to the year 2010) and to recommend the best and most economical one for adoption by the Board of Chosen Freeholders as a master sewerage plan. The scope of the study includes: 1. Evaluation and analyses of existing sewerage facilities. 2. Establishment of the future needs for wastewater collection and disposal within the County. 3. Studies of alternate solutions to establish the most economical and effective wastewater systems for all municipalities in Bergen County on a S-l multi-municipal, regional and Countywide basis, and development of General Plans for the recom­ mended systems, including integration of existing wastewater facilities with the proposed General Plans. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA The study area investigated in this Report comprises all of Bergen County which, because of its proximity to New York City, has been classified by the Regional Plan Association as one of the "inner ring" counties which lie within a 15-25 mile radius of Times Square. Within the County there are seventy individual munici­ palities ranging in area from South Hackensack, covering only half a square mile, to Mahwah, which encompasses 25.7 square miles. Population densities among these municipalities show a wide variation. The rural density of 0.5 persons per acre in the northwestern portion of the County and the metropolitan density of 30.0 persons per acre in the south­ eastern section are clear indications of the County's diverse development character. The County contains nine natural drainage basins, excluding a small area west of the Ramapo Mountains which constitutes a part of the Wanaque River Basin. The Hacken­ sack, Ramapo and Saddle Rivers are the principal drainage S-2 basins which, in combination, drain 56% of the entire County. Industry in Bergen County provides a primary source of employment for the northeast section of the State and is approaching the lead in the State for industrial estab­ lishments and employment. By far the largest number of industrial establishments are located in the southerly section of the County, roughly below Route 4. Well over half the industries and two-thirds of the employees are located in this area. The central section of the County accounts for approximately one-third of the industries and one-quarter of the employees. The northern section has sparse industry and, with the exception of the Ford Motor Company plant in Mahwah, employs a small percentage of the work force. Insofar as future expansion of industry, it may be considered that growth in the southern section is dependent upon development of the Hackensack Meadowlands, that the central section is exhibiting the most rapid of growth, and that the northern section, containing most of the remaining open land, has considerable growth potential. Centers of commercial developments have occurred along the major transportation routes, primarily Route 3, 4, 17 and 46, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. 8-3 To this must be added the proposed Meadowlands develop­ ment which could make Bergen County the center of business second only to New York City in the metropolitan area. Such pronounced growth may only be accomplished with adequate facilities for the disposal of wastewaters. LAND USE AND POPULATION Estimating future land use is essentia~ to the predic­ tion of future population, commercial and industrial develop­ ments, which, in turn form the basis for estimating the sewerage facilities to be required over the study period. The limiting factor to future development is the suit­ ability of the land in terms of topography, soil conditions, low lying lands subject to flooding and swamp areas. The Meadowlands in the southeastern portion of the County is the largest single area whose physical character­ istics place serious constraints on development. In fact, the primary limitation, poor soil conditions which do not permit proper surface drainage and give poor structural or pavement support, is compounded by a flat topography with less than a 1% slope. These two factors, in conjunction with the problem of tidal flooding, have resulted in impedi­ ments to development which have proven economically unten­ able until very recently when reclamation of this area for domestic, commercial and industrial use has become economic­ ally justified due to its strategic location in the heart of S-4 the metropolitan area. The Hackensack Meadowlands Commis­ sion has an estimated projection of some 175,000 jobs being created in the Meadowlands District. It is anticipated that the northern region of the County, which presently has the least amount of develop­ ment and the least amount of physical limitations, will absorb a major portion of the County's future population growth and urban development. This region could provide the areas required for the future single family, low den­ sity type of development. Population projections are necessary to insure that the design provides sufficient capacities for all potential users, during the study period, to estimate the timetable for staged construction, and also to determine the finan­ cial feasibility of each phase of construction. Projections indicate that the County population will increase to approximately 1,450,000 by 2010, an increase of over 55 percent from the present population. The follow­ ing tabulation shows projections by County Sectors: S-5 SECTOR POPULATION (THOUSANDS) 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Central 326 367 401 430 453 Northern District 145 166 187 207 227 Northwest Bergen 141 172 203 236 266 Pascack Valley 69 87 106 125 142 Southeast 121 139 154 167 175 Southwest 133 152 167 178 186 Total County 935 1,083 1,218 1,343 1,449 DESIGN CRITERIA Sewage discharged into the major sewer system presently serving the County are recorded on a 24-hour basis. These records have been evaluated in terms of per capita flow rate to form an accurate guide in determining future flows. In unsewered areas, which will be provided with sewers in varying stages over the next forty years, the per capita flow rate has been derived from flow rates experienced in existing systems in similar areas throughout the County. Accordingly, the following average daily flows have been used for design of new sewerage systems: Domestic Wastes - 100 gallons per capita per day Industrial Wastes - 2,000 gallons per industrial acre per day Commercial Wastes - 1,000 gallons per commercial acre per day S-6 The quality of the sewage is a most important factor in the design of sewage treatment facilities. The two most important parameters are the 5 day BOD and the suspend­ ed solids. Based upon the State requirements, records from existing systems, design of the sewage treatment facilities includes organic 5 day BOD loading of 250 ppm and a suspend­ ed solids loading of 270 ppm. Sewer Systems The alignment of all sewers has been predicated upon the advantageous use of the natural ground slopes to pro­ vide gravity flow at minimum depths. The pipes have been designed to provide the carrying capacity required for the peak flows estimated for the year 2010. Pumping Stations Pumping stations have been utilized where the economy of the capital costs of deep gravity sewers is outweighed by the total annual costs over the design period for pumping the sewage and where the topography precludes the use of gravity sewers. Permanent stations have been designed to remain in service for the entire study period and sized to accommodate the mechanical equipment required for the estimated 2010 flow. The initial mechanical equipment installed will have sufficient capacity to handle the estimated flow