Im considering buying some property that does not have access to city sewage. Can someone tell me how many acres I need for a septic system.
If I remember it goes by county..... You should call the health dept for the county..... JBrown I think is the person who knows more about it I think.....
Milo
Tatonka guide.
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depends on soil profile and type as well as a few other limiting factors. Your Health department deals with those issues and can help with some guidance but you should check with a few installers also to balance out the issue. Be sure to talk with them on who has a reputation for doing things right. Price is only one part of the equation because messing this up can get expensive quickly.
Save a couple of dollars now only too spend thousands later and a lot of unhappy people.....
Are you talking leech field or sand filter system? The smaller the property, the more likely its a sand filter system. Depending on the price of aggregate, I thought sand filter systems were a bit cheaper. I used to run the concrete side of a company that specialized in this stuff. I made the tanks and other stuff like catch basins, diverter boxes, etc. I helped put hundreds of sytems in but not 100% sure on prices
Buckmaster
Senior Member
For comparison:
Here in Portage Co. it is 900 linear feet for a 3 bedroom and 1200 linear feet for a 4 bedroom. Cost is about $ 12,500 for a standard system.
Here in Portage Co. it is 900 linear feet for a 3 bedroom and 1200 linear feet for a 4 bedroom. Cost is about $ 12,500 for a standard system.
saddlepants
Member
Acerage isnt really the issue It really depends on the size of the house (They go by the amount of bedrooms for septic) and weather or not the lot is big enough to contain a leach bed for that. Most septics will fit in under and acre for a single family home if the ground is right but Im no expert. I have a three bedroom home and the septic takes up less than half my front yard. I live on almost six acres but the "front yard" area is prolly 165ft X 165ft. =thats a guess based on the width which is known Now when You look it up most places say you need at least an acre.
Plenty of good advice here. System sizing is generally determined by the number of bedrooms and soil loading rates (hydraulic) for the particular lot. That being said, right now every county in Ohio is running their own specific set of rules... So what we do in Medina County may be worlds different from what is going on in Washington County. Requirements for isolation distances, soil separation distances, and system choices may all be different depending on the county you're in, which all effect the amount of space you need to install a sewage system.
Like was mentioned already, the best thing you can do is contact your local health department and some of the licensed installers. Pick their brains with as many questions as you can think of. A new sewage treatment system is an expensive investment... one that you want to be happy with for the life of it... If you don't ask enough questions up front, you might end up with a system ora system location that you're not happy with. Also, as Milo said, price IS NOT the most important factor to consider. IMO, quality of work is extremely important. If you talk to some installers, try to get addresses of previous (recent) jobs that they've done. You want to see what the finished product looks like at these properties. Usually, the difference between a good installer and a half-ass installer is easily seen by looking at a finished product.
If you talk to the health department, they should be able to guide you in the right direction. You may need a site and/or soils evaluation done first, but once they give you some feasible sewage system choices, let me know and I can give you my opinion on them. There are a ton of different systems out there... septic, aeration, types of aeration, concrete vs. plastic tanks, mounds, tile fields, drip distribution, and on and on and on... I can try to give you some pros and cons of these different components.
Like was mentioned already, the best thing you can do is contact your local health department and some of the licensed installers. Pick their brains with as many questions as you can think of. A new sewage treatment system is an expensive investment... one that you want to be happy with for the life of it... If you don't ask enough questions up front, you might end up with a system ora system location that you're not happy with. Also, as Milo said, price IS NOT the most important factor to consider. IMO, quality of work is extremely important. If you talk to some installers, try to get addresses of previous (recent) jobs that they've done. You want to see what the finished product looks like at these properties. Usually, the difference between a good installer and a half-ass installer is easily seen by looking at a finished product.
If you talk to the health department, they should be able to guide you in the right direction. You may need a site and/or soils evaluation done first, but once they give you some feasible sewage system choices, let me know and I can give you my opinion on them. There are a ton of different systems out there... septic, aeration, types of aeration, concrete vs. plastic tanks, mounds, tile fields, drip distribution, and on and on and on... I can try to give you some pros and cons of these different components.
Huckleberry Finn
Senior Member
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Move to Morrow County! Take a shit in a bucket and throw it out the back door, we don't care! Put in a million dollar system, we still don't care! Ducktape your shit pipes together and we still really don't care!
(our 3 bedroom house has a tank and leech field all on an acre...and given that it's behind the house that's more like the house and system on 1/2 acre)
(our 3 bedroom house has a tank and leech field all on an acre...and given that it's behind the house that's more like the house and system on 1/2 acre)
lmao
That type of system was fairly common years ago, and still is in some counties. Over the past decade, research has led to soil separation distance requirements (to allow for more effective wastewater treatment) and other things like soil loading rates and replacement areas... These all determine what type of system can go in, how deep, how big the absorption area is, and how big the replacement area must be. Usually, 2 acres is enough room to get it done... but elevation contour of the land also plays a big part. You can have 100 acres of land, but if there's not enough space along a contour it isn't worth a damn for wastewater treatment.
Thanks JB. This property joins mine and I was wanting to know so I could use this in negotiating a price.
My place in Cardington (sold) was backed to the Whetstone river. I would take a paddle or fish often (4 times a week) and you could tell when some neighbors were doing laundry as soapy foam would be running down the rock faces...
saddlepants
Member
another good question for system owners is how often they have to have it serviced. I know some who seem to have there system serviced an awful lot but as far as I have learned a good system shouldnt need anything done. I have lived here 12 years and the system is 17+. It has never ever needed pumped out or additives added. Knock on wood but I do have a garbage disposal and take care what goes down it yet still allowing the right things to go down it to maintain a good bacteria flora. Ive heard ppl say you cannot have a garbage disposal with a septic but from what Ive studied that is just plain untrue and that the proper "garbage" is actually beneficial. This is the third system Ive lived with and never any "service" needs where as my husbands old system needed pumped out regularly with only two people living in a four bedroom home system. AND he was told to use rid ex all the time???
Oh and I dont have 44 pipes, pillars and mounds all over the yard either, lol
Oh and I dont have 44 pipes, pillars and mounds all over the yard either, lol
Milo
Tatonka guide.
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you should pump your tank every year if you can. I go every 2. the only service there is to a septic leech field is to rotate fields every 6 months if you have a split system. Some do, some don't. you must pump the tank out no matter what BS people tell you. If you have a garbage disposal i suggest every year and sometime more depending on what you shove down there.
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saddlepants
Member
I had it looked at two years ago and the sludge level was way low, not even high enough to bother yet. Again it depends on the size, the usage, and the efficiency of your system.