What does a design entail?

A working septic field is more than just one that isn’t backing up

A working septic field is one that treats the waste in the septic effluent before it enters a water source. Soil has the ability to treat the bad components of the septic effluent but must have the effluent move through the soil at the right rate. Soil that is too sandy will have the effluent move through it too fast so it doesn’t get treated before it reached water. Soil that has too much clay will be too slow and won’t drain well.

A proper septic design will determine the peak (high) daily flow that a fully occupied building will generate. It will then determine what type of field is needed based on the soil properties. The next step is to size that field so that the effluent will all be disposed of whether the building is full or just partially occupied.

Some municipalities are now requiring a septic soils evaluation and design before building and development permits are granted. This will reduce a lot of problems where the septic field is not considered initially and there is no good location for a properly sized field.

Make sure that your septic design complies to the codes at the time of install so that you don’t have issues as time progresses.