Sand Mound Approval

[Cliff_Johns]

When a Real Estate listing says, "Perc Test: Sand Mound Approval," what does that mean exactly. I assume that means it has been perc-ed for this type of Septic, but does it mean a regular septic will NOT work, or does it mean that there are no codes against sand mounds if someone ants to do that?

Can anyone explain this for me?

Thanks in advance.

Cliff

 

[kennyd]

In my area (Maryland), it means the ground will not perk, so the only septic system that can be used is a sand mound. They are about 10K-15k MORE to install over the price of a normal system, and often need rebuilding in 15 or so years depending on usage (e.i. how people in you household). They also usually need an electric lift pump to get the water into the mound.

I would avoid it if all all possible...That's just my opinion-it's worth what you paid for it

 

[hockeyhead]

That's what it means,

I would avoid it if all all possible...That's just my opinion-it's worth what you paid for it

I have one, my land is close to lake Erie and the locals say solid bedrock 4' down. I've never found it, lots of rock and clay. Most home built within the last 15 years are built 5'to 6' out of the ground and filled around to get high enough so you don't have a hill for your septic system. Local code is now all fields in my area are of this constuction. Generally two tanks in series, 4' sand, gravel, pvc, gravel 18" sand , then topsoil
mine is pretty old, no problems, replaced to pump once about 5 years ago.
There is an alarm in the second tank wired in the garage, that sounded telling me the waste water was filling the second tank, time to have the pump replaced. It is more $$$ up front, but I don't buy the not lasting part.
compared to what was built in everywhere in years past they are good fields
I'm sure it cost a few extra bucks a month on the edison bill to run the pump.

 

[MikeD74T]

I'm sure it cost a few extra bucks a month on the edison bill to run the pump.

If you have a raised leach field with a lift pump make it a habit to look at your electric meter every time you walk by.
If it's spinning a little faster than usual & doesn't stop you could have a stuck pump switch. It'll cost a bunch of money to run that pump continuously for a month if the pump doesn't burn up first. You can cycle the pump breaker to confirm correct operation. MikeD74T

 

[InlineDieselFan]

I am with kennyd, on this one, if possible avoid a sand mound system.

The field guy that installed our drip system that has a pump on it (county minimum, no more pure drip type systems are allowed), was telling me how lucky I was to have this system over a sand mound. He said with just two of us a sand mound would last 10-15 years, get a whole family of 4-5, we would be under 10 years and probably closer to 5 years.

Also while building, one of the guys at work said his brother-in-law installs septic systems and tellls everyone looking at land to avoid a sand mound sytem if at all possible.

Certainly you have those that are real lucky and never have a problem and you have those that have problems right away.

Unless the land is absolutly everything that you want keep looking, if the entire area you are and shopping in needs a sandmound system, buy the land you like best.

steve

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Thanks all. That's what I wanted to know.

Cliff

 

[shaley]

I do a lot of septic design and you might look at the Orenco Advantex system which uses a recirculating sand filter packaged in a tank similar to a sand mound. It varies from state to state but your local health dept can tell you which alternative systems can be substituted for a mound. The Orenco is about 19K
Orenco Systems: AdvanTex Treatment Systems

 

[ultrarunner]

I will be in the same situation soon and looking for on-site options.

It looks like gravity septic systems are no longer viable in my part of Western Washington. I'm willing to spend the money upfront to insure a quality, long lasting, low maintenance system.

How are the folks at Orenco are to deal with and what would be a ballpark price of a typical system.

 

[DrainPondDesign]

Cliff,
I assume that this is a building lot that you are considering & not an existing home.

That the description says sand mound approved should mean that the building code will allow you to build a sand mound septic system.

The good part is that it is pre-approved for some kind of septic system without which you can't get a building permit. Check with your building inspector that the sand mound is recognised as an ordinary system and does not need a PE to design, install and monitor it over time.

Sand mounds may be required where the underlying ground does not drain well (rock, clay etc) or that the water table is too close to the surface for a normal burried system. So this may signal some sort of local drainage problem but to be fair some locales now require a recirculating sand system as the minimum for all new construction.

If you have a choice gravity works 24/7, if not make sure that you hook the ejector pump up to any emergency generator before the well pump.

Bill

 

[Paddy]

Have you ever heard of the Presby system? Out of NH. The concept is a large drain pipe, 12" I think, covered in geo fabric and filter material. This is replacing mounds in our area. I will be building on a lake where we have very strict rules. Mounds have max slope angles, 12-15 %. The Presby system has no slope issues that I know of. I met with my local health Dept yesterday. I'm approved for a 4 bd rm system. Where as before, I was approved for a 1 bd rm mound! The construction is quite simple; 22'x80' bed is dug. Bottom is 'roughed up'. Six inches of sand is placed. 4 70' Presby tubes are staked in place. Tubes are covered in sand (just the tubes, not the entire pit). Area is covered in site found dirt. venting is required if the field is burried deep.

Patrick