Water heater repair in Clifton, NJ

Water from Little Falls and the Wanaque

Clifton is one of the three cities that own the Passaic Valley Water Commission, alongside Paterson and Passaic. PVWC takes water from the Passaic River above the dam at Little Falls and treats it at the Alan C. Levine Little Falls Water Treatment Plant, which sits just upriver from Clifton's northwest corner. For most of Clifton, that water is blended with treated water bought from the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, whose Wanaque Reservoir system lies up in the Highlands.

The result is moderately hard water that changes slightly with the season and the blend. A tank in Richfield or Athenia will collect a layer of mineral grit over several years, and tankless owners in Clifton generally find their heat exchangers want descaling every year or so. Main breaks on PVWC's older lines can also kick loose rust that turns hot water tea-colored for a day.

Botany Village two-families and Allwood colonials

Botany Village, the old mill neighborhood along the Passaic border, grew up around the Botany Worsted Mills and still has blocks of tightly spaced two-family and three-family houses. Each unit commonly has its own gas heater in a shared basement, often next to a boiler that once burned coal. Ceilings are low and the stairs come down from the side door or a rear porch, which turns any tank removal into a careful maneuver.

Allwood, near the Parkway and the Allwood Road circle, has brick and stucco Tudors and center-hall colonials built between the 1920s and the war years, with roomy basements and chimneys that have usually seen a furnace replacement or two. Athenia, Lakeview, Delawanna, Dutch Hill and Rosemawr fill in with capes, bi-levels and postwar ranches. Upper Clifton and the neighborhoods near Garret Mountain have more split-levels and larger lots, with heaters in lower-level laundry rooms or attached garages.

Clifton also has a good number of garden apartment complexes and newer townhouses, where an electric or gas tank lives in a closet off the kitchen or beside the furnace.

Flood risk from the Passaic, Weasel Brook and Ida

Water is Clifton's most dependable source of emergency calls. The Passaic River runs along the city's eastern edge, and heavy rain backs up the smaller streams that cross town. Weasel Brook regularly floods the stretch of Clifton Avenue near the railroad underpass in Athenia, and the Third River can overflow its banks in sections near Richfield and Allwood. Basements on those blocks often hold several inches of water after a severe storm.

The remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021 brought flash flooding across Passaic County and a boil-water advisory that reached parts of Clifton. Plumbers spent weeks afterward replacing heaters whose burners and gas controls had been under water. Any Clifton heater that sat in floodwater should be examined by a licensed plumber before it is relit, and in most cases it should be replaced.

The problems plumbers see most in Clifton

• Flood-damaged burners and gas valves in basements along Weasel Brook, the Third River and the Passaic.
• Multiple heaters on one chimney in Botany Village two-families and three-families.
• Scaled heat exchangers on tankless units that have gone too long without a descale on the PVWC blend.
• [Leaking tanks](/services/leaking-water-heater/) in older Allwood basements where a heater outlived its warranty by several years.
• Relief valve drips after a new water meter or backflow preventer closes off the home's plumbing.
• Not enough hot water in two-family units where one 40-gallon tank now serves a renovated second floor.

Typical water heater prices in Clifton

Passaic County labor rates are close to those across North Jersey. In Clifton, the bigger price swings come from access: a narrow Botany Village stairway, three tanks to swap in one basement, or a flooded cellar that needs pumping before anyone can work.

Clifton permits and New Jersey licensing

Under the state Uniform Construction Code, swapping a water heater in Clifton calls for a plumbing permit, issued by the construction code staff who work out of City Hall on Clifton Avenue. A city inspector then visits to check the gas connection, venting, the relief valve drain and any expansion tank. Gas tanks on a different footprint or a new vent route can trigger extra review, so it pays to describe the job accurately on the permit.

Only a New Jersey master plumber may legally take on this job, credentialed by the State Board of Master Plumbers. When you call around, find out whether the quote covers the permit fee and the inspection visit. Owners of two-family houses should know that each unit's heater is permitted separately in many cases.

PSE&G gas and choosing a replacement

PSE&G supplies gas and electricity throughout Clifton, and the overwhelming majority of homes use a gas tank. Electric tanks show up mainly in garden apartments. PSE&G and the New Jersey Clean Energy Program have offered rebates for efficient heaters, heat pump models especially, at times, so check current terms before committing to a model.

Heat pump water heaters do well in large Allwood or Upper Clifton basements, where they also pull humidity out of the air. A low-ceilinged Botany Village cellar packed with three tanks and a boiler is a different story. If flooding is a recurring risk, raising the new heater on a sturdy stand gives the burner a few extra inches of protection and is worth the small added cost.

Repair or replace in Clifton

If your tank is younger than about eight years and the trouble is a thermocouple, a sticking relief valve or a single bad gas valve, repair usually makes sense. Weeping seams, a puddle around the stand, or a unit that has already ridden out one flood point toward a replacement. In multi-family houses where all the heaters went in at the same time, owners often replace them together to save on labor and inspection visits.

Tankless heaters are increasingly popular in renovated Clifton two-families, since they free floor space in tight basements. They need a proper gas line, and on PVWC water they need yearly descaling to stay efficient.

Around Clifton

Passaic and Paterson, Clifton's partners in PVWC, have older, denser housing and their own construction offices. Nutley and Bloomfield in Essex County lie along the Third River with different water suppliers. Little Falls and Woodland Park sit near the PVWC plant, and Totowa lies just upriver. Each handles its own plumbing permits.

Water heater questions from Clifton