Septic Engineer in Adams, NY

Septic design in Adams: the short answer

Most rural homes in the Town of Adams, including the country around Adams Center, run on private wells and septic. A new house, a bedroom addition or a failed field means a PE stamped design and a Jefferson County building permit, plus state review if the system is a raised bed or mound.

Short answer: Adams sits at the meeting of two soil worlds. Toward the lake plain, deep fast sands; toward Tug Hill, till with a fragipan and heavy precipitation. Same town, very different systems.

Sewer or septic in Adams

We did not find a published sewer service area for the Town of Adams or Adams Center, so this page does not claim one. If you are unsure, look for a sewer charge on your village or town bill.

Jefferson County's septic replacement priority list includes waters such as Skinner Creek, Hart Brook and the eastern Lake Ontario shoreline. If your property is within 250 feet of a listed water and the system is failing, the county program may reimburse half the eligible cost up to $10,000.

How a septic design works in Adams

1. Send the address and a few photos. Use the form below. Estimate in 1 hour for the design, the submittals and the install.
2. Confirm the lot needs septic. Unless a bill shows a sewer charge, plan on septic.
3. Deep hole and perc tests. Appendix 75-A calls for at least one test hole at least six feet deep at the proposed leaching area and at least two percolation tests for each system. West side pits often show deep sand; east side pits show dense till with water perched on it.
4. Design and stamp. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE), sized at a minimum of 110 gallons per day per bedroom for new construction.
5. Health department review for alternative systems. Under 10 NYCRR 75.5, a raised bed, mound or sand filter needs its plans reviewed and approved by the State or county health department with jurisdiction before construction. The state lists its Watertown District Office (Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St., Watertown) as the environmental health office for Jefferson County.
6. Building permit. The Jefferson County Fire Prevention and Building Code Department, 175 Arsenal St., Watertown, enforces the Uniform Code in the 31 municipalities that chose not to enforce it locally. It requires a county building permit for the installation of all septic systems and engineered septic plans when a new system is installed. If your city, town or village enforces the code itself, the permit comes from that office instead.
7. Install and certify. Backwell coordinates the excavation and builds the system to the approved plan. On an alternative system, a design professional supervises construction and certifies it to the health department.

Soils and seasonal water around Adams

Two USDA soil series were first established in Jefferson County: Adams in 1911 and Worth in 1913. Adams is very deep, excessively drained sand; Worth is very deep, well drained loamy till from sandstone, siltstone and shale with a fragipan 46 to 97 centimeters down, and its description lists mean annual precipitation of about 1,476 millimeters. Both turn up in the Adams area.

On Adams sand the problem is speed; on Worth till it is the pan. A design on the sand may need blending or mound media; a design on the till usually becomes a shallow trench or raised bed above the pan.

What the health department checks

Jefferson is one of the counties New York serves through a state district office for environmental health: the NYSDOH Watertown District Office covers Jefferson and Lewis Counties. The design standard is the same statewide Appendix 75-A. For a lot in Adams these are the items that decide the design:

• Soil that percolates faster than 1 minute per inch is not acceptable for a subsurface system unless it is blended with less permeable soil across the whole field area.
• Shallow trenches: at least 2 feet but under 4 feet of useable soil, 2 feet of separation under every trench, and no more than 30 inches of matching fill over original grade.
• Raised system: 1 to 2 feet of original soil faster than 60 minutes per inch, high groundwater at least 1 foot below the surface, fill that percs between 5 and 30 minutes per inch, and a taper no steeper than 1 on 3 with at least 20 feet of taper.
• 100 feet from an absorption field to a well or suction line, 200 feet if the field sits upgrade and in the drainage path to the well, and 50 feet from the septic tank to a well.

Common Adams site problems and the design fix

Fragipan 18 inches down

With 2 to 4 feet of useable soil above the pan, shallow trenches with no more than 30 inches of matching fill. Less, and a raised bed with dosing.

Deep sand that drains too fast

Faster than 1 minute per inch is unsuitable without blending. The design specifies the blend or a mound.

Farmstead with an old cesspool

Many old farm houses still discharge to cesspools or short drywells. A replacement design sizes the new tank and field to the bedroom count at 110 to 150 gallons per day per bedroom depending on fixtures.

What it costs

We did not find a published plan review fee for a single home from the state district office or the county code office, so none is quoted here. The county code office bills the building permit fee after it checks your application.

Design and install are priced together in writing for the lot, because the soil picks the system. Fragipan lots on the Tug Hill side usually need fill and dosing.

Grant money: Jefferson County Planning runs the NYS Septic Replacement Fund. The county flyer says homeowners may be reimbursed 50 percent of eligible costs up to $10,000 per system when the property is within 250 feet of a listed priority waterbody, the system is failing or likely to fail, and the lot is not in a sewer district. The county steps are: check the map, apply, hire a licensed contractor and engineer, then submit receipts.

Timeline

Testing in spring shows perched water on the till. PE design, state approval for alternative systems, county building permit, install.

Raised beds with finer fill must settle six months through a freeze and thaw cycle. The schedule is in the written price.

Sources

• NYS Department of Health: District Environmental Health Programs
• Jefferson County Fire Prevention and Building Code Department: Building Permit Process
• Jefferson County Planning: NYS Septic Replacement Fund Program flyer and map
• NYS EFC: Septic System Replacement Fund Priority Waterbody List
• 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A.4: Soil and site appraisal (Table 2 separation distances)
• 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A.8: Conventional subsurface treatment systems
• 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A.9: Alternative systems (raised, mound, sand filter)
• 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A.3: Sewage flows
• 10 NYCRR Section 75.5: Minimum standards, design professional, alternative system approval
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Adams
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Worth

Rules and fees as published by the agencies above when this page was written; they can change. The approved plan for your lot controls.