Septic system-- to what degree do I try to avoid a pump in the system?

[crazyjncsu]

I'm building a house. The house is up on a hill, but it has a basement. There are several areas for a septic field all around.

The outright best area for the leech field, not considering elevation, may be about 50' from the house in a nice grassy area. But this area is more on the level with the 1st story of the house, maybe 2' below it, and the area is maybe 7' higher than the basement where there will be a bathroom.

There are other areas for the leech field below the level of the basement, but are farther away from the house, have trees on them (not specimen trees though), have a slope to them, etc.

I have a meeting with the septic contractor and the builder at the property in a few days. I'd like to be prepared. I don't have a reason to distrust them, it's just that our interests may not be aligned-- they may rather install a pumped system in order to work in a nice easy grassy area and get a side benefit of selling me replacement pumps every 10 years ... I may rather them work a little harder up front to locate a gravity-fed system to avoid paying for new pumps and electricity to run them.

I know there are a ton of considerations here, way too many for y'all to make a judgement on where the field should go. However, I'd like to get a sense of _how_ important _you_ feel it is to avoid pumping within the system? Would you want a system where the whole system was pumped? Or would you mind if just the basement had a lift pump? Are there any advantages to a pumped system (dosing?) over gravity? Would you go out of your way to insist that the system be entirely gravity driven? Or would you just trust the contractors?

Thanks!

 

[CountryBumkin]

"Trust but Verify".
I would not want a whole-house pump if i could avoid it. Basement pump is okay - usually there isn't a choice.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Craigpump]

Dookie runs downhill.....

 

[Smooky]

Has a septic permit been issued by the environmental health department yet? They are usually pretty specific about where the system has to be installed. If I didn’t have to install a pump I would avoid it if possible. As CountryBumkin said if it was only the basement that wouldn’t be too bad. If you must have a pump, they work fine as long as you got electricity but eventually they do tear up like everything else.

 

[Atomic1]

I would recommend avoiding a pumped leach field if possible just from the maintenance and electricity cost over time. If your perc ends up requiring a sand mound, that grassy area may end up being too high....and not a nice looking grassy area anymore.

A lift pump for a single basement bathroom is not as big of a deal as long as you can then gravity feed it to the field.

Sloped areas are not without their problems either; not only does code start to restrict it, but you need to make sure your velocity into the d-box isn't too great and you overload a lateral.

and if you do end up finding that perfect location, consider doubling the size of your field and or build in a valved alternating lateral system so you never have to relocate it to another area again if you're planning for the long haul

oh, and if your state allows, consider a greywater pit for the laundry and softener! ah the things I would have done if I could custom build my house

 

[crazyjncsu]

Apparently I'm at the mercy of the county. The contractor and septic guy agreed we'd prefer a gravity driven system way down the hill. But the septic guy thought they may ask for unequal length trenches because of the slope (I guess) and would require the whole system to be pumped/pressurized.