Bloomfield, NJ Landscaping Rules: Water Restrictions (2026)

Section 556-33.1 of the Bloomfield Township Code, added by Ord. No. 09-52 on September 8, 2009, sets standing lawn watering rules for every user in Bloomfield Township: residential, commercial, academic and municipal properties and parks and recreation fields. The rules apply regardless of whether the water source is public or private, so a private well gets no exception.

Three limits govern lawn watering: two days out of the seven days in the week, only between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., and no more than 30 minutes per day on any single area. Lawn watering is also prohibited while it is raining or on days when it has already rained for 30 minutes or longer. Flowers and shrubs can be watered as needed with a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shutoff nozzle, and vehicles can be washed any day with the same kind of nozzle. Sprinkler and irrigation systems installed after September 8, 2000 must have an operational automatic rain sensor, and older systems should have one.

Exemptions in § 556-33.1D cover commercial crop and sod farms, nursery stock at nurseries or retail outlets, commercial golf courses, one day of irrigation after a chemical application that requires immediate watering, watering newly sodded lawns or landscaping within the first 21 consecutive days of planting, supervised system checks by a New Jersey licensed irrigation contractor, and reclaimed water for beneficial reuse. State of New Jersey requirements supersede the Township rules when more stringent.

Enforcement belongs to local authorized officials, including the Health Department, the Police Department and code officials, who give a written warning for a first offense and are empowered to write summonses. Section 556-33.2 adds an emergency tier: the Township Council declares a water emergency by resolution, effective on publication for 90 days unless a lesser time is specified, and its restrictions supersede those in § 556-33.1. An extension runs for no more than 90 days.