Make or Modify a Connection

This guide covers three main subjects for single lot service connections, Steps to Connecting, Connection Eligibility, and Change in Use.

Those who currently have no sewer service available to them and are seeking to expand the LSDC’s service area should review the process of expanding the LSDC’s District Boundary and Service Area.   

If you are at all confused about the connection process after reading this guide, or if you have a connection that you believe to be complicated please contact us or attend a meeting to discuss. 

Steps to Connecting - Existing Properties, New Properties, and Service Modifications

First and foremost, confirm that the property is eligible to connect to the Commission’s sewer.  This is not necessarily as straightforward as making sure there is a sewer line in front of the property.  The LSDC must comply with the terms of an administrative consent order that complicates the process and drives the level of permitting requirement. 

For existing houses on septic systems it must be demonstrated that the septic system currently serving the property is no longer adequate.  For septic systems built before 1995, this will almost always be the case. 

Connecting new properties is a slightly different process than existing ones and we advise that before beginning you contact the LSDC and review your plans informally with the Commission.  Typically, these connections will require you to purchase sewer credits prior to any other steps.  The LSDC assumes that property owners seeing connections for new construction are being assisted by professional engineers, contractors, or builders.

This part of the process is described in more detail in the eligibility section of this guide.

For properties that need to modify their connection for some reason, a new addition, plumbing modification, etc., please contact the LSDC and review your plans with the Commission prior to proceeding.  You should also confirm whether or not the modification constitutes a Change in Use. 

The following steps are typical for completing the connection process:

1. 1.Hire a professional to assist.  Property owners will find that hiring a professional to assist from the beginning on will help tremendously.  Although you can wait until you have all approvals in hand you will find that professionals who work regularly with the LSDC understand the connection process and can assist you with the permitting.  For those who have a typical connection - a gravity connection with easy access to service stub in street, no indoor plumbing issues, etc., we recommend that you call three or more drainlayers from our licensed contractor list to discuss the work and provide you with a cost estimate.  Make sure that you fully understand the service they are providing.  Typically, drainlayers will provide permitting assistance (optional), materials and labor, removal of the old septic system, and restoration of your property.   More complicated connections may require the assistance of a professional engineer.
   

2. 2.Prepare Permits.  Download and complete the LSDC Service Connection Application Multiform.  If your connecting a property with a septic system you must bring the form to the Lancaster Board of Health for certification before you submit your permit to the LSDC.  Next, the owner, or owners representative, submit the full permit package to the LSDC for review.  Be sure that a check for all permit costs is attached to the submission.  These permits do not cover you for other permits that may be required such as street opening permits and wetlands permits.
   

3. 3.Permit Approval.  Permits are typically signed off on every two weeks at the commission meeting.  Once a sign off occurs the LSDC will send an email to the applicant noting that the permit was approved and that arrangements for construction can begin.  Applicants who do not provide an email address must call the LSDC’s office to confirm that the permits were approved.
   

4. 4.Arrange Inspection.  At least 48 hours in advance of the commencement of construction the contractor must arrange for inspection with the LSDC Inspector.  There are no exceptions to this rule.  The LSDC must inspect the connection or it will be ordered removed.
   

5. 5.Construction of the Connection.  Most services connections can be constructed in a day or two.  Usually, the existing septic tank is pumped out, the connection stub is exposed at the street line and also at the house, and trench is excavated between the two.  The contractor will then install the connection piping and make the final plumbing connection.  The LSDC’s inspector will spot inspect critical steps along the way for compliance.
   

6. 6.Removal of old septic system and Restoration.  Typically, for existing houses with septic systems, the final step in construction is eliminating the old septic tank.  Typically, the septic tank is crushed in place and the hole it was in is backfilled.  At this stage any restoration to the property, such a replacement of loam and seed, is completed.
   

7. 7.Certificate of Compliance.  All completed connections will receive a certificate of compliance.  This certificate serves to demonstrate to lenders and others that the connection was made in accordance with the LSDC’s standards.
   

Connection Eligibility and Administrative Consent Order
The Lancaster Sewer District Commission must comply with an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) issued in 1986 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.  The ACO requires that the LSDC shall not allow new connections to its sewer system, nor allow increases in flow or changes in use of existing connections. 

This ACO was issued in response to increasing flows occurring at the MWRA Clinton Waste Water Treatment Facility which accepts all of the LSDC’s flows as well as flows from the Town of Clinton.  The increased flows were suspected to be the result of Infiltration and Inflow (I&I), or leaky pipes, emanating from within the Lancaster Sewer District and the Town of Clinton.

In complying with the terms of the ACO the LSDC will only allow increases in flow or connections if they meet the following conditions:

Owners of existing premises should use the LSDC Service Connection Application Multiform which contains a subsection used to demonstrate that the property meets the criteria for connection.  Connections of existing premises may be allowed when it can be certified that a connection is necessary to abate an imminent hazard to public health by inadequate sewage disposal.

The LSDC will allow connections when presented with evidence that the on-site system is in failure by way of the following:

1. •   A Title 5 test indicating a failed septic system failure. 
   
   

Or, in lieu of a Title 5 test the following criteria will be acceptable pending verification by the Lancaster Board of Health:

1. •   Effluent breakout or odor is observed at the applicant's premises 
   

            This must be verified by the LSDC or the Lancaster Board of Health. Effluent breakout and odor are automatic failures per Title 5.

1. •  Applicant must supply design drawings or inspection reports, on file with the Town’s Agent, the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health, showing that the system was installed prior to 1995. 
   

            If a system is found to be installed prior to 1995 it will be deemed to be in technical failure
            because it will not meet the standards of the current Title 5.

1. •   Applicant must provide pumping records showing that a volume of effluent greater than the septic tank volume has been pumped from the system or that it was necessary to pump system more than once within the previous calendar year.
   

            A high volume of pumped effluent shows that the system is not properly functioning and will be deemed to be in failure.

Change In Use
Changes in use are when a property owner proposes changing the use of the premises from one use to another.  For example, if a single family home is converted to multi-unit condos or to a business.  These changes in use may be allowed only when it is certified that the change will not result in any increase in wastewater flow or contaminant loadings to the sewerage system.  All changes in use must be first approved by the Commission.  If it is determined that the change will increase flows, then the applicant may be denied.  A change may also be subject to a Change In Use Fee.