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Before you design your new house, first hire a
good septic designer to do the soil tests and design the drain field!
Show him where you would like to put your
house, but ask for his input. Sometimes moving the house a few feet in
one direction or another will make all the difference between an
efficient gravity-fed system and having to install an expensive pump
system.
A case in point: Some friends were planning to build a house, and I
advised them to do just this, but they wouldn’t listen. If they had
listened and moved the house about ten feet to the west, they could have
had a gravity-fed system for about $3,500, but instead they had to go
with an $8,000 pump system. They had put the house where the drainfield
should have been.
If you are told that you cannot go with a regular septic system design,
ask about all your options. There are different types of septic systems
you may be able to use, and you should know the advantages and
disadvantages of each type. If you feel you are being pushed to accept a
particular type, it may be because that is the only type the company
does. It might be wise to take your copy (be sure you get one) of the
site and soil conditions report and call a few other contractors for
their opinion.
When you buy property and are ready to have a septic system put in,
there are safeguards you should know about that are supposed to protect
you. The process is supposed to work this way: As the property owner,
you hire a septic designer to evaluate the site and design a system that
will meet the needs of your home and will work with your site and soil
conditions. The contractor presents this plan to the local agency,
usually the health or zoning office, in charge of septic systems, which
then approves or disapproves the plan. Next, a septic system installer
installs the system according to the specifications of the plan. A
building inspector comes to the site and inspects the system to make
sure it was installed properly in accordance with the plan.
In theory, this is the way the process is supposed to work, but things
don’t always go according to plan. The skill level of designers,
installers, and inspectors varies greatly from one state to another.
Some states, such as Massachusetts, are very progressive and require
contractors and inspectors to be well trained and certified with regard
to septic systems. They are also open to the use of new technologies to
solve problem sites.
However, in some areas the contractors and the government inspectors are
behind the times. In some regions, anyone with a dump truck and a
backhoe can dig a septic system. Some state agencies still allow systems
to be installed that will be illegal within a few years when the local
regulations catch up to the present and are enacted. For example, deep
systems like cesspools and drywells have been outlawed in most areas of
the country, but they are still allowed today in some places. What this
means is that you can have a cesspool put in now, but when the building
codes change in a few years, you will have to put in a new system at
your own expense. Some of the systems going in today are failures in the
making. As the homeowner, you must take an active role in the design of
your septic system.
When you have found property you want to buy, first talk to neighbors
that have built in the area over the last few years and ask them what
kind of septic system they had installed. Don't rely on the advice of
someone who had a system installed a decade or more ago; the codes have
probably changed since then and their type of septic system is likely to
be outdated. Also, consult with your local board of health, as it can be
a valuable resource. They can’t tell you who not to do business with
because that would be preventing someone from making a living, but often
they will point out the better contractors. A contractor installing bad
systems makes their job tougher.
It’s also wise to hire a septic system contractor who can do your other
dirt work such as landscaping and excavating the basement and footings.
If you use several different contractors, the contractor digging your
footings might drive over the area where the septic system is supposed
to go and damage it. If a septic system person is doing all the dirt
work, he will know to protect the area.
References
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