What to know before buying a home with a septic system

For millions of American homeowners, flushing a toilet is an act that’s taken for granted. You simply push down on the little silver handle and walk away without giving it a second thought. But not every owner has it so easy.

Some properties are situated in rural and underdeveloped areas that aren’t served by a public sewage treatment system. If you’re considering buying a new or existing home in such a location, you’ll most likely be reliant on a private septic system.

“One in four households in the United States uses a septic system on-site to process household waste consisting of black water — toilet waste — and gray water — kitchen and laundry waste,” says Dennis F. Hallahan, technical director, Infiltrator Systems, Old Saybrook, Conn.

“The septic system naturally treats and purifies this wastewater and returns it safely to the environment to recharge groundwater supplies.”

According to Bruce Lesikar, agricultural engineer, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, College Station, Texas, a conventional septic system consists of a septic tank and a soil-absorption field (also called a drain field or leach field). Wastewater first goes to the septic tank — an enclosed, watertight container where solids are separated from liquid wastes.

Bacteria in the septic tank begin consuming the organic matter, nutrients and solids in the wastewater, which then moves to the soil absorption field. Once there, it travels through perforated pipes to a gravel bed and into the soil, where contaminants get consumed by microorganisms.

Lastly, the water moves through the soil and either evaporates, is used by plants or moves to groundwater. Hallahan says that today’s septic systems “are safe, efficient and cost-effective. They can be basic, or they can be designed with special features and components for homes with high water use or those in environmentally sensitive areas.”

When a house is being built, the size of its on-site wastewater treatment system is determined by the number of bedrooms in the house, the square footage, and whether water-conserving fixtures will be used, Lesikar says.

The system chosen is one that will handle the greatest volume and strength of wastewater for that size of house. Hallahan says that on-site septic systems that are older, improperly maintained or overloaded by excessive water usage can result in messy, bad-smelling, health-threatening sewage backups and even total system failure.

“A septic system may be out of sight, but it definitely should not be out of mind,” says Hallahan.

“Just as you need to have your furnace serviced and keep the oil changed in your car, proper general maintenance and awareness of your daily living habits and your system’s operation will improve the life and health of your system — protecting your home investment and your family.”

A private septic system can be expensive to install and maintain. Lesikar says that installation costs range from $2,000 to $6,000 or more, depending on the house size, soil type and other factors.

The cost to have the system inspected and pumped out — which is recommended every three to five years — is estimated at approximately $250. Including purchase, installation and upkeep, Hallahan says you can expect to pay around $20,000 over a 20-year period for an on-site septic system.

Indeed, owning a home with a private septic system can be a big responsibility, especially considering that across the nation, “new and revised regulations and health codes are mandating certain levels of performance for on-site septic systems that must be met prior to the sale of a home and upgrades in areas where environmental sensibility is an issue,” Hallahan said.

“Due to the poor economy and a lack of disposable income impacting most Americans, the threat or actuality of a septic system failure or mandated upgrade can loom heavily on homeowner’s pocketbooks.”

Nevertheless, a well-maintained, on-site septic system can be beneficial to the environment, says Hallahan. They naturally treat and purify wastewater and replace 100 percent of the purified wastewater safely to the environment to recharge groundwater supplies.

In a drought, this can actually ease water shortages by recharging local streams and returning water to reservoirs.

One major problem that homeowners with a private septic system can encounter is an overloaded system if you use more water than average for the size of your house.

“And if your soil does not treat the wastewater enough, as in problem soils such as fractured rock, Karst limestone or gravelly sand, your on-site system may need to provide additional treatment before it applies the wastewater to the soil,” says Lesikar.

“If the wastewater is not treated adequately before it reaches groundwater, your water well can become contaminated.”

Hallahan has some recommendations for operating and maintaining a healthy septic system, including conserving water.

•“Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, spread out heavy water use, such as washing clothes and taking showers, repair leaky faucets and fixtures, and replace old toilets with new 1.6-gallon toilets,” says Hallahan.

•“Also, keep drains clean. If it’s not biodegradable, it doesn’t belong in the system, so no cat litter, cigarettes, sanitary products, paints or grease.”

Lesikar says it’s also a good idea to keep surface water away from your home by diverting water from downspouts, roofs, driveways, sprinklers and sump pumps. Additionally, “maintain a grass cover over the drain field. Grasses remove a significant portion of the water from a system. Trees also remove water and can be planted around the drain field.”

Lastly, “avoid driving over your septic system, and don’t dig in the leach field or cover it with a structure, concrete or blacktop,” Hallahan says.

A properly designed, installed and maintained septic system can yield decades of service life. However, like any system, “it has a finite life and will eventually need to be replaced just like your car or roof of your home,” says Hallahan.

“Septic systems are not immune to abuse or neglect, so the system can prematurely fail if abused.”

Hallahan says that Bankrate.com lists failing septic systems as one of the top seven issues when renovating an older home.

“In some states and localities, the government has recognized this hardship and is offering loans to homeowners to upgrade their systems,” he says.

“Private financing is also available to homeowners who must make these renovations.”