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Installation and service professionals review procedures for presale inspections of septic systems to verify working condition

Question:

Can someone tell me the steps to performing a septic system inspection that would certify a system’s working condition? Inspections are being required by lending institutions before they allow a mortgage. From what I’ve seen, the procedures seem to be arbitrary and determined by the contractor.

Answers:

I’m actually pleasantly surprised someone has asked this question. The very first step should be a visit or call to the local health department to get a copy of the sewage and well permits (and location drawings). In more than 20 years, I have never known a real estate inspector to ask the local health department for records.

The next step should be a visit to the site (yes, there are those who don’t even do this). Locate the septic tank. A soil probe is very useful for this. Locate the well. Be sure you understand the kind of sewage treatment system you’re evaluating. I had a real estate inspector dye-check an aeration system and fail it because dye appeared in the ditch!

We don’t “certify” anything. Our letter to the lending institution or buyer is a clear description of what we found, where it is located relative to the house and other landmarks, and lastly a disclaimer that this is simply a snapshot of what we found on the day of the inspection.

Consider using this language in your contract: “This report indicates the condition of the above onsite wastewater treatment system at the time of the inspection. It does not guarantee it will continue to function satisfactorily.” The good conditions we may find do not guarantee that the system will not fail tomorrow. No one can make such a guarantee.

We dig up the tank, then find the distribution box and do a water test on laterals to see if they are working. We pump the tank and box, and put a filter in the tank (we have to bring the tank to code). Then we call for the inspection. Those are the rules here — otherwise the bank won’t approve a loan.

Question:

In our area, they have been installing low-pressure systems in new residential neighborhoods when the city doesn’t want to put in large pump stations. Each home on the street has its own pump. Some use a septic tank, to a filter, to a pump station, and then up the street to a mainline sewer (100 to 200 yards or so).

Others have the household waste go straight to a grinder pump, then up the street to the mainline. The latter is the preferred system. As the city gets larger, there are more and more of these systems. Will these grinder pumps stand up to the average household’s abuse? How often should these pump stations be cleaned? Is the former system using the septic tank better? I would think the cost of cleaning the tank occasionally would be significantly less than the cost of replacing one of those pumps. Any thoughts?

Answer:

In my area, they are installing septic tank effluent pumping (STEP) systems. In some cases, this allows a developer to install a cheaper centralized treatment plant to treat effluent, while leaving the solids (the expensive part to treat) behind in the tank to be someone else’s problem.

The city takes over the plant in 10 or 15 years, and the real treatment plant then gets to deal with the tanks, which by then are full to the brim with anaerobic sludge. I would like to know: Why not just put a grinder pump in a lift station and get rid of everything, instead of leaving most of it behind?

For the record, those grinder pumps are pretty good. I have seen them at demonstrations chewing up diapers and leather gloves. In a lift station, the pump sucks right off the bottom, so there is not much need for cleaning.



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