Septic System Inspection

[Firemanbuck]

When I bought my property last year, the seller had the septic system repaired (a crushed line) and inspected as a part of the sale. The inspection report went to the County and said my septic tank drained to a "seepage pit" with no drainfield and was therefore a "non-conforming" system. I called the County before closing on the property to ask what effect this has on the future sale of the property and I was told that as long as the system didn't fail, I was fine.

With all of the other problems with the property, I just chalked this up as another one and didn't think any more about it. The septic system has worked fine for the last year.

In the process of clearing and mowing and getting the place tidy, I discovered a green fiberglass septic lid that I hadn't noticed before as well as a drainfield mound (after I cleared a bunch of scotch broom) that sits about 200 feet away from the house. I also did some sleuthing on the County's website looking at old permits and found drawings that led me to believe the "seepage pit" was actually an engineered sand filter and the green septic lid is to the pump chamber that sends the filtered effluent off to the drainfield mound. Last night I popped the lid on the pump chamber and confirmed that there is indeed a pump with float switches to send the effluent off to the mound.

I just got off the phone with the County after asking them what I can do to clear the "non-conforming system" label off of the property file. I walked the guy through the archived file I had found on-line and he agreed that the system was in fact in compliance with County Code. He said that he would change the designation on the file and send me a letter saying the system is in conformance.

End of Cool Story. This just confirms to me that not all County employees are mouth-breathing morons, and that there are some who will actually look at the data and correct a mistake without asking for additional fees or inspections.

 

[MoKelly]

That is pretty good. He said he would do that for you without even coming out and looking at the system to confirm what you told him? I guess he never heard Ronald Reagan's motto --- trust but verify!

Good job.

MoKelly

 

[Ed of all trades]

Trust but verify! That is exactly what I would do with the info the co. employee gave you. Trust but check to make sure he did as he said.

 

[oosik]

Thank You for the kind words, Firemanbuck. For 22 years I was director of environmental health in Anchorage, Ak. We designed, permitted and inspected all on-site septic systems. It is EXTREMELY critical that accurate records are maintained on your septic system. In Anchorage the lending institutions required the approval of all new and existing systems by the local health authority before they would approve a home loan - this also included verification of connection to public sewer. This approval scenario was initiated by us as a method of verifying functioning systems and upgrading those that were failing. We devised testing scenarios that were conducted by local engineering firms on systems where the house was being sold.

I have a feeling that the health official, that you talked to, was actually able to find verifying records that show exactly what you have in the ground. The inherent liability of approving a septic system without these records is astronomic. That letter of conformance you receive from the health authority is as valuable as the deed to your house - guard it carefully.