Subject: French Drains? Are french drains allowed in our town?

RESPONSE: GadFly lost two emails that were sent in...this was one that has been reformulated to the best of my memory. French drains or dry wells are not regulated locally...however in some cases Pinelands approvals with building plans have been required. Say rain water sits on the ground and one digs a french drain to remove the standing water...there does not seem to be any kind of permit or regulation required. Say at the point of house gutter runoff one digs a dry well to again remove or divert the accrued standing water...Pinelands in plans for the house may or may not choose to address this in some way. Say a grey water line that is from a sink or washing machine does not drain into the septic system and one digs such a dry well or french drain...this is not acceptable to the Atlantic County Health Department which would want this discharge of water to connect to the septic system...were this a pre existing situation it could continue to operate but could not be repaired according to the Health Department.