Waste Disposal

You have lived all your life in the city and want to move to the country, but there is no city sewer system! You have never had to think about where the human waste goes and really don't care to think about it now either!!

When buying land make sure that there has been a recent "perk" test. The term, perk, means soil percolation rate which is determined by the makeup of the soil and topography. A perk must be approved by the County Health Department which is regulated by the Virginia Department of Health. But, just because there is an official soil analysis report (perk) for a septic system, make sure that the county will still honor it. Standards for septic systems are constantly changing and an old "perk" report may no longer be valid.

There are many different type of septic systems. The gravity-fed is the conventional system, but there are also pump systems and alternative systems for areas where the soil doesn't "perk".

While one would think that a septic system would be designed by the number of bathrooms in a house, the system is actually based on the number of bedrooms. So, the more bedrooms you have in a home, the larger the septic system and drainage field must be.

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