Septic Engineer in Jamesville, NY
Jamesville spreads across five towns. The hamlet has a sewer district. The reservoir shore and the hills around it mostly run on septic.
Fees. Process. Answers.
Septic design for Jamesville, NY, from soil test to county approval.
Partly. The DeWitt side has a Jamesville sewer district serving the hamlet. LaFayette's plan says that town has no public sewer, including the Jamesville Reservoir area. Most lots around the reservoir are on septic.
Yes, Jamesville Reservoir is on the Onondaga County septic replacement program list. Properties within 250 linear feet with a substandard or failing system may qualify for a state grant. The county decides eligibility.
At least 100 feet for the absorption field, raised bed or mound, and 50 feet for the tank, under Appendix 75-A.
The Onondaga County Health Department, Bureau of Public Health Engineering, for all five towns. The building permit comes from whichever town the lot is in.
Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Backwell coordinates testing, design, approvals and the install.
Use the form. Estimate in 1 hour.
Septic engineer in Jamesville, NY: what it is and who needs one
Jamesville is a hamlet made of the edges of five towns: DeWitt, LaFayette, Manlius, Pompey and Onondaga. That matters for septic, because sewer service, zoning and the code office change depending on which side of a town line your lot is on. A septic engineer tests the soil, designs to Appendix 75-A, and gets approval from the Onondaga County Health Department, which reviews all five.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the submittal and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Jamesville sewer, town by town
On the DeWitt side, the town's 2017 plan says the Jamesville sewer district was created and public sewers were built in the hamlet, which partly fixed the lack of sewer in southern DeWitt. Outside that district, the same plan says the area south of Woodchuck Hill and Nottingham Roads largely did not have public sewer.
On the LaFayette side, the 2021 LaFayette comprehensive plan says there is no public sewer anywhere in the town, including the Jamesville Reservoir area, and no part of LaFayette is in the county sanitary district. Pompey's master plan names only three developments on its north end as sewered. So a Jamesville lot near the reservoir is almost always a septic lot.
Soils in Jamesville and the system they point to
Jamesville sits right on the Onondaga Escarpment. Honeoye till covers more than a third of the land around the hamlet. Benson soils, with limestone or calcareous shale at 10 to 20 inches, show up along the escarpment, and the Jamesville quarries take up a good share of the map.
| Soil series | Share of land | What it is (USDA) | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honeoye | 36% | very deep, well drained loamy glacial till | Often deep enough for a conventional trench field. The perc rate and the 6 foot test pit still decide it. |
| Benson | 9% | shallow soil with limestone or calcareous shale at 10 to 20 inches | Rock this close to the surface rules out conventional trenches and a mound (mounds need 2 feet to rock). A raised bed needs at least 1 foot of usable native soil. |
| Cazenovia | 7% | very deep, moderately well drained loamy till | Usually enough soil. Watch for spring water perched on denser till. |
| Palmyra | 6% | very deep, well drained gravelly outwash over stratified sand and gravel | Drains well, sometimes too well. Soil faster than 1 minute per inch is not suitable as is under 75-A. |
| Camillus | 3% | moderately deep, well drained soil over weathered calcareous shale | Shale shows up inside the 4 feet a conventional field needs, which points to shallow trench or raised designs. |
| Wassaic | 3% | moderately deep soil with bedrock at 20 to 40 inches | Rock inside 4 feet. Shallow trench or raised bed, depending on what the pit shows. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, a box about 2.5 miles across centered on the Jamesville hamlet: very limited 78 percent, somewhat limited 22 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, depth to bedrock, slope.
About 78 percent of rated land around the hamlet is very limited for a conventional field. Seasonal water leads, then depth to bedrock, slope and seepage. On Honeoye till with good depth, conventional or shallow trenches are common. On Benson ground, rock decides it: at least 1 foot of usable native soil for a raised bed, 2 feet to rock for a mound. Slopes off the escarpment add the 15 percent field limit and the 12 percent mound limit.
Jamesville Reservoir and the septic grant program
Jamesville Reservoir, formed where Butternut Creek is dammed at LaFayette's north boundary, is on the county's Septic System Replacement Funding Program list. If your property is within 250 linear feet of the reservoir and has a substandard or failing system, you may qualify for a New York State grant toward replacement through the Onondaga County Health Department. The DEC lists the county contact as Public Health Engineering, (315) 435-6600 extension 4522.
Septic fields stay 100 feet from the reservoir, Butternut Creek and wetlands, and the tank stays 50 feet away. The county guidelines also want the system above the 100 year flood level.
How a septic design in Jamesville works
- Send the address. Use the form. Estimate in 1 hour.
- Confirm sewer or septic. If a public sewer can serve the lot, you do not need a septic design.
- Perc holes and a deep test pit. At least two staked perc holes in the design area (30 inches deep for a conventional system) and a test pit logged to 6 feet for mottling, water and rock.
- Stamped design. A scaled plan with the tax map number, nearby wells, elevations and system details. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
- County submittal. Plan and fee go to the Bureau of Public Health Engineering, 421 Montgomery Street, Syracuse: 3 plan copies outside the lake watersheds. Once approved, a copy goes to the town.
- Building permit. The code office of the town your lot is in: DeWitt (5400 Butternut Drive), LaFayette (2577 US Route 11), Manlius (301 Brooklea Drive), Pompey (8354 US Route 20) or Onondaga (5020 Ball Road).
- Install and inspection. County inspection on 24 hours notice. Inside plumbing is done by a plumber licensed through Onondaga County Plumbing Control, and fill systems get the engineer's fill certification first.
What it costs
The county fee schedule sets the health department side for a lot under 1,000 gallons per day: $310 full application, $186 redesigned project, $62 amended project or revised plan review, $93 site investigation, $62 repair inspection. The fee is paid with the plans and covers the county's review and construction inspection. Testing, design and install are priced in writing.
What the health department checks
The county reviews the plan against New York's Appendix 75-A and its own design guidelines. Around Jamesville the checks that decide most plans are 100 feet to the reservoir or creek, the depth to limestone, and the slope on escarpment lots.
- Flow and tank. 110 gallons per day per bedroom for new construction. Tank size follows the bedroom count.
- Usable soil. Conventional: 4 feet over rock, clay or high water, with water 2 feet below the trench bottom. Shallow trench: 2 to 4 feet. Raised bed: 1 to 2 feet, water 1 foot down. Mound: water 1 foot down, rock 2 feet down, native perc faster than 120 minutes per inch, slope under 12 percent.
- Separations. Field, raised bed or mound: 100 feet to wells (200 if upgrade in the drainage path), 100 feet to water and wetlands, 20 to the house, 10 to the lot line, measured from the toe of any fill. Tank: 50 feet to wells and water.
- Site limits. No field over 15 percent slope or below the 10 year flood level, system above the 100 year flood level, no soil faster than 1 minute per inch unless modified, and 50 percent expansion area where possible.
Common Jamesville problems and how the design handles them
Old system close to the reservoir
The problem: Camps and older homes near the water often have systems inside today's 100 foot setback.
How the design handles it: The PE designs the best fit for the lot. If it is within 250 feet of Jamesville Reservoir and failing, the county grant program may cover part of the cost.
Limestone ledge under thin soil
The problem: Benson soils put rock at 10 to 20 inches. A mound needs 2 feet to bedrock under 75-A.
How the design handles it: If the pit shows 1 to 2 feet of usable soil, a raised bed built on certified fill. If not, the field moves to deeper ground.
Not sure which town the lot is in
The problem: Five towns meet in Jamesville, and each has its own code office and zoning.
How the design handles it: We confirm the town from the tax map number, which the county plan also needs, and file with the right office.
Timeline
Grant program applications go to the county first, so start there if the lot qualifies. Testing near the reservoir is best in spring. Raised beds wait on the engineer's fill certification before the field goes in.
Sources
Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for a box about 2.5 miles across centered on the Jamesville hamlet. Regulations and fees as published by the agencies below; they can change.
- Onondaga County Health Department, Septic Systems (Bureau of Public Health Engineering)
- Onondaga County Environmental Health fee schedule
- Onondaga County Design Guidelines for Individual Sewage Systems
- Onondaga County Health Department Fill Certification Form
- NYS DOH 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, Wastewater Treatment Standards, Residential Onsite Systems
- NYS DOH fact sheet: Need for Licensed Design Professionals, Residential OWTS
- Onondaga County WEP, Consolidated Sanitary District service area
- Onondaga County WEP Plumbing Control
- Onondaga County Septic System Replacement Funding Program
- NYSDEC State Septic System Replacement Fund, participating counties
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
- USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
- Jamesville, New York
- Town of DeWitt Comprehensive Plan 2017 Update
- Town of LaFayette Comprehensive Plan 2021
- USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
- USDA Official Series Description: Benson
- USDA Official Series Description: Cazenovia
- USDA Official Series Description: Palmyra
- USDA Official Series Description: Camillus
- USDA Official Series Description: Wassaic
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