Handling Sewage

Now that's an appetizing post title, eh?

But getting the septic system install right is a big deal.

I'll start from the beginning on this one.  One of the first things we did was try to verify the soil type on our little slice of land.  Thankfully our county has an amazing free GIS mapping tool available online: http://gisapp.ewashtenaw.org/mapwashtenaw/

Soil type "OsB".... oooh k, is that good?  Google it:  "Oshtemo sandy loam".  Sandy loam?   That sounds good.

Next let's check with the township about the well & septic process.  Wait, what's that?  "Urban services area" with public water & sewer available, and mandatory connection for new construction?  Oh, and connections fees are north of $25k?  AAAAAArrrrrg.  However, with some persistence and begging we found a way out, and got an exemption from mandatory connection due to specific hardships on our parcel of land (building 800' off the road, and being some 30' below grade of the sewer line).  Phewf!  Well and septic, here we come.

Fast forward a couple years to summer 2014.  Before we could secure our building permit and get started building, we had to show approved well and septic permits first - to prove the viability of our parcel of land to provide drinking water and accept a septic system.  Everyone loves hurdles, right?

So you start with a soil evaluation test (replacing the old standard "perc" test).

On a beautiful day in June, I met our local county sanitarian and a local septic contractor named Rob with his mean digging machine (worth over half what our house will cost to build) out at the site. 

We dug 3 test holes to check the soil.

We found 8+ feet of pure sand under a thin layer of topsoil.  Sweet!  Oh, maybe I should explain why I am so thrilled about having sandy soil.  Mainly because it allows placing sanitary septic systems directly into the ground, without an "engineered" septic system, or imported sand.  You need your filthy poo-water to percolate away, not just sit around and rot.  Clay or silty soils are not approved for septic systems.  So having sandy soil probably saved us at least several thousand dollars... no joke.  Not to mention virtually guaranteeing a lack of foundation moisture issues in the future.  Nice.

So the septic permit was then approved.  I kind of forgot about our septic needs until that fast freeze-up and snowfall in November, and realized most septic contractors would probably rather not dig through frozen ground.  Called a few companies and our man Rob again, but Rob gave me the best quote, fastest lead time, and friendliest service.  Whataguy.

The septic tank and drain field would go right in front of the house.

Our house specs called for a 1000 sq ft drain field (20x50)

All waste first flows into a 1500 gallon holding tank.  Unfortunately we need to leave the green lid exposed/accessible forever for periodic pumpings.

Rob brought over a badass bulldozer to compliment his fine backhhoe.

After a preliminary inspection, the piping grid was laid and covered with coarse stone.

By the way, here is the well.  Not much to look at, but there's water down there!  128 feet deep....

Rob's septic quote included final grading work.  He even pushed over a few big trees for me to open the yard up some more.  Awesome!  Now all we need is some grass (and a finished house).