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PLUMBING TOPICS SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME SEPTIC INFO ARTICLES Info for Home Buyers or Owners Septic or Sewer Connection? What to Ask About Sewers or Septics What if Nobody Knows if its Sewer or Septic? Clues Indicating a Sewer System is Present Clues Indicating a Building is Connected to Sewer Guide for Buildings Connected to a Public Sewer Guide for Buildings Pre-Dating Sewer Installation Guide for Buildings Connected to a Private Septic Septic System Design Septic Inspection Testing Septic Maintenance Repair Septic Component & Product Suppliers Septic Videos HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME SELLERS GUIDE TO SEPTIC INSPECT SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE SEPTIC TANK PUMPING PROCEDURE SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE SEPTIC FIELD INSPECTION SEPTIC TREATMENTS SEPTIC CONSULTANTS SEPTIC AUTHORITIES SEPTIC SYSTEM BOOKS REFS CODES SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN MANUAL - Online SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS SEPTIC DESIGN ALTERNATIVES WATER, WELLS, WATER TANKS: TESTING GUIDE List Your Service/Product More Information InspectAPedia Blog - News Updates Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps Bookstore Electrical Environment Exteriors Heating Home Inspection Insulate Ventilate Interiors Mold Inspect/Test Plumbing Water Septic Roofing Structure Accuracy & Privacy Policies Contact Us |
Guide to Finding Out if a Building is Connected to a Septic Tank or to a Municipal Sewer System
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This article discusses what a property buyer can do to determine whether a home or other building she is buying is connected to a public sewer line or to a private septic system. A reader asked, "How do I know if the house I am purchasing has a septic tank?" Often the answer to this question is well known, documented, and everyone is confident of the facts. But in older communities, especially if the age of a building is greater than the age of the community sewer system, even if a sewer is installed right in the street in front of a building, that building may never have been connected to the sewer line.
Failure to connect an older building to a sewer line can lead to some ugly surprises, including unanticipated expense to repair an old septic system, expense to connect the building to the new sewer line, and even serious life safety hazards if an old septic tank is at risk of collapse. Our friend Steve Vermilye, an inspector and contractor in New Paltz, New York, discovered that an office building that everyone thought had been connected to the New Paltz sewer system for decades was in fact connected to an old cesspool in the back yard of the property. That condition was discovered during new construction, happily before someone fell into the cesspool.
Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical reviewers are welcome and are listed at "References." This is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
Septic tanks or other private onsite waste disposal systems are used to handle sewage and wastewater in neighborhoods that are not served by a municipal or community sewer system.
Sewer systems include large sewer main drains that are routed through neighborhoods they serve, often in the street but sometimes through an easement across multiple properties. These drains carry sewage and wastewater to a community or municipal sewage treatment plant, sometimes by way of one or more pumping stations if the terrain is hilly.
The realtor or seller of a home or other property should be able to tell a buyer answers to the following questions, but if s/he cannot, we have lots of advice on how to find these important answers anyway:
If there is no sewer system present the home cannot be attached to one and a local septic system is or should be present.
But don't worry, it's possible to treat building sewage and wastewater onsite safely and with good sanitation.
Millions of private homes in the U.S. and in many other countries are served by private onsite septic and wastewater treatment systems.
See some basic comments about buying a home with a septic tank at
Guide for Buildings Connected to a Private Septic
then see the critical advice on how to proceed which we describe at
Home Buyers Guide to Septic Systems
which discusses the inspections and tests that should be performed, introduces the need for septic system maintenance, and describes how to find septic tanks, distribution boxes, and drainfields.
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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME
SEPTIC INFO ARTICLES
Info for Home Buyers or Owners
Septic or Sewer Connection?
What to Ask About Sewers or Septics
What if Nobody Knows if its Sewer or Septic?
Clues Indicating a Sewer System is Present
Clues Indicating a Building is Connected to Sewer
Guide for Buildings Connected to a Public Sewer
Guide for Buildings Pre-Dating Sewer Installation
Guide for Buildings Connected to a Private Septic
Septic System Design
Septic Inspection Testing
Septic Maintenance Repair
Septic Component & Product Suppliers
Septic Videos
HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
HOME SELLERS GUIDE TO SEPTIC INSPECT
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING PROCEDURE
SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE
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03/26/2009 - 06/06/2008 - InspectAPedia.com/septic/Septic_or_Sewer.htm - © 2009 - 1988 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved - InspectAPedia® is a Registered U.S. Trademark