Septic Engineer in Conquest, NY

Conquest septic in two sentences

Conquest is farmland in northern Cayuga County, north of Port Byron and west of Cato, with no incorporated village. Every new house, every barn apartment and every replacement needs an onsite system, and a new system needs a plan prepared and signed by a design professional before the Cayuga County Health Department will accept it.

Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Backwell coordinates the design, the county submittal, and the install.

Soils in northern Cayuga County farm country

Conquest's ground follows the drumlin pattern of the Lake Ontario plain. Drumlin crests and sides are mostly Honeoye silt loam, very deep and well drained, and Lima silt loam, moderately well drained. The long low ground between drumlins carries Kendaia silt loam, somewhat poorly drained, and Lyons silt loam, poorly to very poorly drained, in depressions and seeps.

Farm parcels usually have room, which helps. The field can go on the best drumlin side, the 50 percent reserve area fits, and the 100 foot setback to wells and ditches is easier to hold. The constraint is water. A farmhouse in a swale usually needs a raised system or a mound, and a mound needs the high water at least one foot below the original surface and natural slopes of 12 percent or less.

How it works

1. Address and the building plan. House, accessory apartment, or a replacement. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Pick the spot. The best drained ground on the parcel, away from wells, ditches and wetlands.
3. Perc and deep hole. At least two perc tests and a six foot hole by the design professional.
4. PE stamped plan. System type, tank, field, reserve, separation distances.
5. Cayuga County review. Three copies, the application and $150 to 8 Dill Street, Auburn. County staff check the property.
6. Permit, build, certify. Town permit after the county memo, install, PE verification before backfill.

What the county checks

• Absorption area 100 feet from wells and from streams, ditches classed as watercourses and wetlands.
• 200 feet to a well where the system is uphill and in the direct path of drainage to it.
• Manure handling and barn drainage kept out of the system: only sanitary wastewater goes in.
• Water softener backwash kept out unless no separate discharge 250 feet from wells and watercourses is possible.

Conquest problems and fixes

Timeline

Testing and design, then up to 4 to 6 weeks for county approval after submittal, per the county application. The install follows. Farm access and soft ground in early spring can push the start date.

Sources

• NYS DOH, 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, Wastewater Treatment Standards, Residential Onsite Systems
• Cayuga County Health Department, Septic System Installation and Inspection
• Cayuga County Health Department, Instructions to Obtain Septic System Plan Approval for New Construction
• Cayuga County Health Department, Application to Install a New Septic System (rev. 1/7/2025)
• Cayuga County Health Department, Application to Modify/Replace an Existing Septic System (rev. 1/7/2025)
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Honeoye
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Lima
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Kendaia
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Lyons

Rules and fees as published by each office on the date this page was written. They can change; the design is checked against the current versions at submittal.