At a Glance
Natural wastewater treatment system helps development set a green standard in New Jersey.
Project Description
The Mine Brook Road Project is a 12-home cluster development striving to become a precedent for green community design in New Jersey. Biohabitats collaborated with Back to Nature and Ecological, both important sustainability partners, to guide the design process and facilitate an innovative and regenerative development. The development was guided by smart growth concepts, including natural resource enhancement, land preservation, groundwater recharge, soil health, sustainable agriculture, green building and energy-efficient design, character preservation and viewshed protection.
Biohabitats designed an onsite wastewater treatment system that uses various natural systems to achieve an effluent quality that meets or exceeds strict state effluent requirements. The development contains five-bedroom homes and a community center with a wastewater design flow of 5,000 gallons per day. The wastewater system consists of a small-diameter collection network, trickling filter, subsurface flow constructed wetlands with recirculation, sand filtration and subsurface drip dispersal. The onsite treatment system provides a natural, low maintenance, low-cost solution while adding an ecologically beneficial landscape feature and avoiding expensive municipal sewer infrastructure expansion.
The Mine Brook Road Project serves as a green standard for decentralized developments in New Jersey.