InspectAPedia ^®

How Do We Find Out if a Building is Actually Connected to a Sewer System - or to a Septic Tank?
SepticAPedia ^©

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• What clues can confirm that a particular home or building has been connected to the public sewer main?
• Step by step procedures to find out if a building is connected to a septic tank or private onsite waste disposal system
• What to do if you are buying a home and don't know if it is connected to a septic tank or a sewer line

This article what clues can confirm that a building has actually been connected to a public sewer, or on the contrary, that it is connected to a private septic tank system. In the previous section of this article we explained how to determine whether or not a public sewer is available at a property. Here we continue by discussing how to to find out if a particular building has actually been connected to an available sewer main. A reader asked, "How do I know if the house I am purchasing has a septic tank?" 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. Here are some clues that help sort out this question.

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 2008 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.

Clues Indicating That a Building Has Been or Has Not Been Connected to the Public Sewer

1. No room for septic systems: If lots in the area are very small there may not be room for private septic systems to have been installed in the first place. Usually we'll find that a public or a community sewer main has been provided and that the closely-spaced homes or cluster homes are connected to that system.
   
   But be careful. In some communities we find that new cluster housing or town houses on a street are all connected to a municipal sewer line, but on the same street a number of older, pre-existing homes are all served by private septic systems. Look at the size available on the individual lot surrounding the property you are investigating, and consider when that home or building was constructed.
   
   
2. Depressions or cleanout access covers indicating that a septic tank is present (these may be present even if a building was later connected to a sewer, as we discuss further below). Depressions in the ground surface are caused by settlement of softer dirt following an excavation to install or service a septic system component.
   
   These ground settlement marks may be small and round, just a couple of feet in diameter where someone dug up a septic tank cover, they may be larger and round or rectangular up to 6' x 10' if they mark a septic tank outline.
   
   As our photo at left shows, multiple, long straight parallel depressions in the ground, especially in an area where there are no trees may indicate trenches of a septic drainfield. In winter in areas where snowfall occurs, snow-melt may also mark a septic tank or drainfield location.
   
   
3. 
   
   Tax deprtment records and tax bills for a property often indicate a charge for connection to both public water and public sewer lines. But don't count on this data being correct.
   
   Sometimes the tax department thinks the building is connected to a sewer and charges for it but in fact the building was never connected-up to that system.
   
   Tax bills can be confusing to a new homeowner but you may find that the folks at the tax department will be friendly and happy to explain the bill to you. The tax department will show you if your tax bill includes an assessment for sewage services.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Building department records will usually record where sewer lines have been installed and which buildings have been connected to them. Be careful: on occasion we find that those records were mistaken, especially where newer sewer lines and older buildings are involved together.
   
   
   
5. 
   Drawings and plans: papers describing the building's construction, and even sketches can tell if a septic tank or sewer connection is used for a building.
   
   Often in older properties someone has sketched the distance to a septic tank right on the wall by the exit point of the main drain from the building.
   
   Look there and look overhead among floor joists over a basement or crawl space for a paper that may have been placed there showing the drain destination.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Neighbors and Contractors: neighbors will have a vital interest in and are likely to know if buildings on the street are connected to a sewer system or to private septic tank systems.
   
   Records of plumbers who worked on the building, or even local septic pumping companies may have records of what type of waste disposal system is at the property

Technical Reviewers & References

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material.

• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia ^TM Website
• Technical reviewers are invited to comment or ask questions - contact us

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
TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE

More expert information on this topic

More Information on Septic System Diagnosis, Maintenance, & Repair

• HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
• Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.

The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.

Building Inspection, Problem Diagnosis, Forensic Investigation & Testing, Repair Consulting

Contact Daniel Friedman for website content suggestions or for fee-paid consulting

	Enter your search termsSubmit search form
	Search InspectAPedia.com