new leach field install

[Dutch445]

well,
after a sunken septic tank this spring, the leach
field also had failed, and needed replacement.
here in NY, the town has jurisdiction, and they
require an engineer to design the system.
The engineer came and did a deep hole test,
along with perk test, and the results were
depressing. little or no perk.
so the engineer talked with the town code enforcer,
and they came up with a design to install a leach field
of infiltrators, in the only flat area on the property,
and see how it works.
i just got the bill from my contractor, and would like
to know if he is in the ballpark, I didn't expect it to
be quite this high.
the design called for him to install 6 lines of infiltrators,
approx 45' long each, and a distribution box. There was no
leach field before, and they think a pipe was routing the
effluent "somewhere", possibly off the side of the property.
I was told that if somebody was to try to build a house now,
it wouldn't happen!
so anyway, the codes guy and engineer agreed to install as
much infiltrator as possible, with stone around them, to increase
the surface area as much as possible. the contractor did think
that the soil in the last 2 lines was much better, and that
the system should work fine.
anyway, the job included the D box, 6 lines of infiltrators,
rerouting 1 drain tile that was cutting thru the leach field
(only had to move it about 20'), along with installing 1 catch
basin I had along part of the back of the house to catch
roof runoff that the gutters can't handle, and run 20' of
drain underground to where the property drops off.
I did final raking/seeding myself.
any thoughts on a system like this as far as how much
i should expect to pay?

 

[jsborn]

Last year I built a new house and had a tank and field installed as follows:

1000 gal tank
3-- 75' lines
1 Dist. box and 20' of lead in line

total cost with me doing grassing was $1850

how did you do ?

 

[npaden]

No idea how much it would cost. I'm guessing a lot! It is amazing how expensive a septic system is if you are dealing with soil that doesn't drain well.

We have it so good around here on septic systems. I had a 1,250 gallon concrete tank and 2 - 75' drain fields installed on my new property and it cost $2,400 plus mileage. The mileage was pretty expensive because it was out in the country a ways, (125 miles at $3 per mile X 2 trucks) but it ended up being just $150 more than a local contractor was going to charge for a 500 gallon tank with no baffles and a 50' drain field. It is a little bit of overkill for my current useage with a travel trailer down there, but it is large enough to handle a house down the road if I upgrade.

We have almost perfect soil for drain fields though. Here is one of the 75' drain fields, they had the other covered up before I could get a picture. They had the entire system installed from start to finish in right at 4 hours.

 

[tbalz]

I just built my house in Albany County, NY. one 1250gallon tank, 300ft of line, leech field for 3 bedroom house( d box and 6-55ft long lines) was $4500 installed....this doesnt count the $10,000 worth of sand that I had to bring in.

I am on clay. only the first 12" perked...you need 30" to perk in Albany County.

 

[Paddy]

I had a 4 bd rm Presby system installed in S. Indiana, $6,000. This is a new system to our area. Mounds are no longer required in "hill regions".

The Presby system is very close to the old gravel trench/4"pipe. Diff is the Presby pipe is 12" in dia. The idea is to have plenty of air above the yuk. Mine is vented in the field and through the pluming vent on the roof to be.

Patrick T.

 

[Paddy]

npaden,

That's one big pipe!

Patrick T.

 

[Bird]

If the soil doesn't perk well, why do you not go to an aerobic system?

 

[atgreene]

I would reccomend the Presby Enviro Tech system over the plastic chambers, more of a personal preference, though.

I'm doing a 5 bedroom house septic on the Lake this week, 1250 tank, 32 Eljin in-drains and 90' of pipe to the field, total cost will run the homeowner 10-12K when I'm done Friday.

What is the flow requirement there? 90 gpd/ bedroom? That seems like a big system for a regular residential. When we do any within 200' of Sebago Lake we have to double the gpd, so the Eljin in-drains are used alot as they take up 1/3 or less space.

An Environmentally Friendly Company - PRESBY ENVIRONMENTAL

The Eljen GSF Geotechnical Sand Filter

 

[plowking]

The infiltrators take special care and handling. I have seen them crushed or the louvers become clogged. The stone sounds like a good idea and it might help the footings , base of infiltrators, they can settle and clog with dirt from underneath. Good septic sand might help, versus putting stone, infiltrators on poor soil. If they are in water table, the effuent might have to adjust to water from underneath. I have been to Presby's seminar. Dave is a nice fella. Some installers have trouble with new technology. Eljen, geo-flow, enviro are allowed size reductions in NH ,compared to conventional stone systems. Enviro can be installed closer to seasonal high water, because they can prove their effluent is cleaner. plowking

 

[Dutch445]

Wow, those infiltrators are big! the ones used here
were much smaller, i believe about 18" tall, and they
were 7' long.
As I look at my invoice, the materials alone were
$2200, including stone, pipe, fabric, Dbox, etc.
They had a small excavator, and track loader
there with an additional laborer. so the labor
was more than the materials. I guess I always
thought you could get a leach field installed for
$2,500, but not this kind.

This contractor has used elgen beds before, several
of them in use on the small lakes around here where
property size is small. The engineer was trying to
accomplish a more affordable solution than an
alternative system. (although these infiltrators aren't
that popular around here). If the county had to become
involved, then we are talking months for approval and probably
even more $$$$$. The last home I lived in was on a lake,
and the system there was $18K, consisting of a pump up tank,
next to the septic tank, and a drainfield at the top of the property
75' from the tanks. That was a lot of time for installation, including
the electrician's time to hook up the pump, switches, and overfull
alarm. Unfortunately, I don't have that property any more (EX sold it).

heres a thread showing the lot after I harley raked, from an earlier post about seeding. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/106468-ready-seed.html#post1210245