MIDDLESEX TWP — Township residents connecting to the new Saxonburg Area Authority sewer line will need a separate township inspection before they can be declared properly connected.

Township supervisors on Wednesday night said they will adopt an ordinance to change the plumbing section of the Universal Construction Code to make it match the specifications of the current Saxonburg sewer project.

The change requires that septic tanks are emptied and backfilled with dirt, sand, rock or other acceptable material. Residents can also make holes in the bottom of the empty tanks and add the proper aggregate to make a drainage bed for runoff and downspout water, which is not permitted to drain into the new sewer system.

In answer to a question by resident Mike Spreng, township manager Scot Fodi said the tanks must be inspected by either himself or the township's building codes consulting firm to ensure they meet the ordinance.

Fodi said an inside inspection may be included in certain cases to ensure floor drains and French drains are properly connected. Floor drains may drain into the sewer system if they are for gray water, but not if they drain only runoff or rainwater. French drains cannot be tied into the new sewer system.

Township solicitor Michael Hnath warned if floor drains carrying gray water are connected to French drains, that constitutes a violation of the ordinance.

Fodi said there will be a $20 to $25 fee for the septic tank/effluence line inspections, which is to be paid by the property owner. The system's tap-in fee is $6,000, and residents also must pay to have their septic systems pumped out.

Resident Jack Clifford asked how the new measure benefits citizens. Fodi said all municipalities are being asked to adopt the ordinance, it prevents people from reconnecting to the septic system once the public sewer system is in place, and it prohibits residents from using their former septic tanks to hold water.

Fodi said once the Saxonburg authority inspects a property to ensure it is properly connected to the sewer line, they will notify the township the resident's connection has passed inspection.

The township will then notify the resident the septic tank must be emptied and backfilled. When that work is done, the resident and the township will then coordinate an inspection.

The $52.5 million sanitary sewer project, which extends public sewer lines to more than 2,500 new customers in Penn, Middlesex, Clinton, Jefferson and Winfield townships as well as part of Richland Township, Allegheny County, is scheduled to be in use in April.