House septic ?

[bmxdukie]

Ok, here i am trying to help a friend that has a septic tank problem.
He has an old house that needs a new septic tank. Gets a permit from the county to replace it. Inspector then comes over and says " the tank is 6' too close to the well head. And to stop work.
He is putting the tank in the exact same place its been for years.
If he moves it the 6' it will then be too close to the property line.
Another friend said to put it in anyway and pay whatever fines they might levy.
Anyone have any ideas or thoughts?
Any and all help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[59 wagon man]

talk to building chief inspector and ask for his opinion and help

 

[CraigStu]

I am glad I am not your friend. This could be a real problem. Different situation in a different country but...A neighbor was doing a remodel on his house. I don't know the correct term but his house had an extra wide (15ft?) dormer on it that had too small windows. He wanted the contractor to install new windows. At this point there were minimum size specs so a fire fighter could get through. That height was more than the dormer could fit. They had to rebuild the entire dormer to put the new windows in.

 

[yeldogt]

Around me you would have to find a solution.

I'm not sure of the tank .... but the field has to be a minimum of 100' from the well. And down hill ...

 

[Dagny]

tyrants

 

[ddawg16]

One would think they would grandfather it in since it's a replacement.

If you can't get their blessing, it might be easier to sink a new well in a better location.

 

[JRC3]

Another friend said to put it in anyway and pay whatever fines they might levy.

They can just make you move it. My neighborhood was developed in the late 50s but the house across from me was built in the early 2000s. Story is they didn't give enough distance for septic, probably the neighbor's. County made them drill a new well.

Distance from the wellhead is for obvious reasons. And remember that wellhead leads to everyone else drinking water.

 

[ddawg16]

They can just make you move it. My neighborhood was developed in the late 50s but the house across from me was built in the early 2000s. Story is they didn't give enough distance for septic, probably the neighbor's. County made them drill a new well.

Distance from the wellhead is for obvious reasons. And remember that wellhead leads to everyone else drinking water.

yeah....but the water table for the well is under the septic tank....doesn't really matter how far the well head is from the tank.....it's taping into the same water table.....unless you drill further and find a lower table.....

I'm surprised it was not asked....how deep is the well?

 

[pmiranda]

There are two dimensions here... can the tank be moved along the line between the house and the drain field? Also possible to take one or two lines of the drain field out of service and add new ones on the far side to make that work. Need a drawing to understand fully

 

[jhelrey]

I don't know that I would want my tanks that close to my well... I get soaking into the ground and hitting the water table but not a direct path to the casing.

 

[pmiranda]

Maybe there's some secondary barrier that can be installed under the tank to mitigate a possible future leak that the county would be OK with?
Friend is trying to do the right thing by replacing an aging tank. I'd hope the county would find a way to help make it happen.
Worst case he has to replace the drain field as well to allow the tank to be further away from the well

 

[walta]

One would think they would grandfather it in since it's a replacement.

If you can't get their blessing, it might be easier to sink a new well in a better location.

Sorry you will not be grandfathered into polluting your own drinking water or your neighbor’s property.

Walta

 

[JRC3]

yeah....but the water table for the well is under the septic tank....doesn't really matter how far the well head is from the tank.....it's taping into the same water table.....unless you drill further and find a lower table.....

There's lots of earth and rock to filter the effluent water before it gets to the aquifer. The potential problems are wellheads not being sealed properly or well casing failing, and some distance in between helps for those problems.

This was my personal well casing and I'm certainly glad it wasn't located right next to my drain field.

 

[MattRMagnum]

Ok, here i am trying to help a friend that has a septic tank problem.
He has an old house that needs a new septic tank. Gets a permit from the county to replace it. Inspector then comes over and says " the tank is 6' too close to the well head. And to stop work.
He is putting the tank in the exact same place its been for years.
If he moves it the 6' it will then be too close to the property line.
Another friend said to put it in anyway and pay whatever fines they might levy.
Anyone have any ideas or thoughts?
Any and all help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Why didn't the county notice this when reviewing the plans/permit? Unless your forms are super vague, that information should've been detailed in them. I would call the inspector back out, and insist that they stay and help identify what would qualify as an "approved" remediation method. If they object to doing so, get the contact information for their boss, and drag them both out. I wound up having to take this course of action over a mailbox (it was about a foot from where they stated it had to be, and the mail carrier refused to service it, despite having done so without issue for the previous owner), and won in the end, but it was a huge pain.

 

[walta]

Ok, here i am trying to help a friend that has a
Another friend said to put it in anyway and pay whatever fines they might levy.

Thanks in advance

In my county the sanitary code is enforced by not connecting the electrical service. No approved and working septic no electricity we don’t need any fines.


Ask the inspector if he has an idea that he could approve.

Your friend may end up with a new well as the expensive but approved solution.

Consider buying the required land from the neighbor with a 99 year transferable lease back. The neighbor has no loss of use and the county is happy just cost money.

Walta

 

[CJ7VFR]

In my town here in NJ, if you have both a septic system and a well, they have to be on opposite sides of your house in order to pass our local codes.

So on my street for example, on my side everyone's well is in the front yard and everyone's septic system is in the back yard.

And everyone on the other side of the street has their septic system in the front yard and the well in the back yard.

Also, there is a 30 foot setback for the septic system from the property line so that there is at least 60 feet between each septic system.

I hope your friend figures this out. There is nothing more frustrating than getting your plans approved, getting the permits, starting the work, and then have an inspector come and stop the work because they think something is wrong.

I agree with others here who have said how come the township officials who okayed the plans did not see that the tank was going to be 6 feet closer to the well head? That is their job to check the plans and to either deny the plan, or to make changes, if there is a problem.

It sounds like your friend needs to go and talk to whoever checked the plans in the township and ask them why there is an issue with this now, after the plans were approved.

Jim

 

[dcg9381]

...doesn't really matter how far the well head is from the tank.....it's taping into the same water table.....unless you drill further and find a lower table.....

Without knowing how deep the well is, you can't know this. The standard here for OSS systems is to make sure they are not in the same water table as the well. Even with that ensured, standards don't allow the well to be too close to the OSS (septic) system.

I'm surprised that it wouldn't be "grandfathered" either... And I'd press for that as leaving it alone (and probably leaking) - it'd be better to grandfather it. That assumes there was a permit for the well or septic (at one time).

It's not possible to shift it a different direction that isn't well or property line?

Around here, it's not "accepting fines" - they won't permit a septic into operation, which causes a big deal on resale.. So I can't say that paying the fine is the best choice.

 

[DaveInHouston]

You can sometimes request a variance to code from the municipality. It’s a pain but I’ve done it when the code was unworkable or unreasonable. The city here granted my variance.

 

[acer66]

talk to building chief inspector and ask for his opinion and help

This.

 

[dcg9381]

Story is they didn't give enough distance for septic, probably the neighbor's. County made them drill a new well.

Without a change that necessitates a permit.. And a permit leading to an inspection, how would the county know?

 

[johninct]

My father use to do a lot of septic repairs when I was a kid. The building inspectors use to let him do the best that he could with existing conditions. A little common sense goes a long way.

 

[bmxdukie]

Update!
The head inspector was called. He came for a site visit.
He said " its fine go ahead"and signed off on it.
Needless to say he was pissed at the original inspector and told him. "Why didn't you just let them do it? It is an obvious improvement over the failing tank"
So its getting done this week.

 

[pmiranda]

I forgot to suggest this approach: If you don't get the answer you want: ask somebody else

 

[double-d]

And the county wonders why property owners facilitates repairs un-permitted.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why didn't the county notice this when reviewing the plans/permit? Unless your forms are super vague, that information should've been detailed in them. I would call the inspector back out, and insist that they stay and help identify what would qualify as an "approved" remediation method. If they object to doing so, get the contact information for their boss, and drag them both out. I wound up having to take this course of action over a mailbox (it was about a foot from where they stated it had to be, and the mail carrier refused to service it, despite having done so without issue for the previous owner), and won in the end, but it was a huge pain.

I hope your friend figures this out. There is nothing more frustrating than getting your plans approved, getting the permits, starting the work, and then have an inspector come and stop the work because they think something is wrong.

I agree with others here who have said how come the township officials who okayed the plans did not see that the tank was going to be 6 feet closer to the well head? That is their job to check the plans and to either deny the plan, or to make changes, if there is a problem.

It sounds like your friend needs to go and talk to whoever checked the plans in the township and ask them why there is an issue with this now, after the plans were approved.

Jim

What generally happens in older homes in rural areas, their are no plans on file. The location of the well or septic may not be known due to the age of them. The county health dept, building inspectors (if there is one) or the permit office didn't have computer storage when many homes were built.

People buy homes all the time and have no idea where a septic or their well is.