Septic Engineer in Jordan, NY
Jordan has village sewer. The Elbridge town land around it, along Skaneateles Creek and toward the river, is on septic. Testing, PE stamped designs and the county submittal.
Fees. Process. Answers.
Septic design for Jordan, NY, from soil test to county approval.
The Village of Jordan runs its own sewer system, with a base rate of $100.00 plus $0.55 per 100 gallons over 5,000 gallons. Properties outside the village in the Town of Elbridge are generally on septic.
The Onondaga County Health Department, Bureau of Public Health Engineering. The Town of Elbridge says all new designs and modifications, including bedroom additions, need that approval.
Ontario and Honeoye till on the drumlins, Palmyra and Wampsville gravel along Skaneateles Creek, and Camillus soils over shale. About 80 percent of rated land is very limited for conventional fields.
The county program covers properties within 250 feet of the Seneca River between the Cross Lake outlet and Klein Island, among other waters, with substandard or failing systems.
Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Use the form. Estimate in 1 hour.
Septic engineer in Jordan, NY: what it is and who needs one
The Village of Jordan sits in the northwest corner of the Town of Elbridge where Routes 31 and 317 meet and Skaneateles Creek runs through town. Inside the village there is sewer. Outside it, the town is septic country, and a septic engineer tests the soil, designs to Appendix 75-A, and gets approval from the Onondaga County Health Department.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the submittal and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Jordan village sewer
The Village of Jordan runs its own sewer system. Its public works page lists a base sewer rate of $100.00 plus $0.55 per 100 gallons over 5,000 gallons, and a water and sewer operator and a backup sewer treatment operator on staff. Jordan is not part of the county Consolidated Sanitary District.
Past the village line you are in the Town of Elbridge, which says all new septic designs and changes to existing systems, including bedroom additions, need county Health Department approval.
Soils in Jordan and the system they point to
Around Jordan the drumlins are Ontario and Honeoye till. Palmyra and Wampsville gravel line the creek valley, Camillus soils sit on shale, and Madrid till and Lairdsville soils fill in. Low ground toward the Seneca River has Carlisle muck.
| Soil series | Share of land | What it is (USDA) | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 21% | deep or very deep, well drained loamy till on drumlins and till plains | Usually workable for conventional or shallow trenches. Drumlin slopes can push past the 15 percent limit. |
| Palmyra | 9% | 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 | 8% | 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. |
| Madrid | 7% | very deep, well drained loamy till, moderate to moderately slow in the substratum | Good depth. A slow substratum can stretch trench length. |
| Honeoye | 6% | 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. |
| Wampsville | 6% | very deep, well drained outwash with reddish shale | Usually good depth. Gravelly layers can perc fast. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, a box reaching about 2 miles out from the Village of Jordan line, in the Town of Elbridge: very limited 80 percent, somewhat limited 20 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, fast seepage in the bottom layer, slow water movement.
About 80 percent of rated land around the village is very limited for a conventional field. Seasonal water leads, then seepage in fast bottom layers, slow water movement and ponding. Ontario drumlins are the best ground for a conventional or shallow trench field. The creek gravel may perc too fast, and the low muck is not usable. Camillus and Lairdsville soils bring shale inside 4 feet, which points to shallow trenches or raised beds.
Skaneateles Creek and the low ground
Skaneateles Creek runs through the village past the old Erie Canal's Jordan Aqueduct. Fields stay 100 feet from the creek, its tributaries and wetlands, and the system has to be above the 100 year flood level under county guidelines. The Seneca River stretch from the Cross Lake outlet to Klein Island, along the town's north edge, is on the county septic replacement grant list.
How a septic design in Jordan 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. Inside the village, the Jordan Codes Enforcement Office at 7 Mechanic Street, (315) 689-7350, open Fridays 10 am to 2 pm. Outside it, Town of Elbridge Building, Codes and Zoning at 5 Route 31.
- 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 Jordan the checks that matter most are the creek setback, fast gravel perc rates, and shale depth on the Camillus soils.
- 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 Jordan problems and how the design handles them
Creek valley gravel
The problem: Fast outwash can let effluent through without treatment.
How the design handles it: The PE designs to slow it down, using the modifications 75-A allows or pressure dosing.
Shale under a drumlin edge
The problem: Camillus and Lairdsville soils put rock inside 4 feet.
How the design handles it: With 2 to 4 feet of usable soil, shallow trenches. With 1 to 2 feet, a raised bed.
Village lot, but no lateral
The problem: Being inside the village does not always mean a lot has a sewer connection at the street.
How the design handles it: We check with the village before anyone designs a septic system.
Timeline
Gravel and drumlin lots can be tested most of the year. Low ground toward the river is worth testing in spring. Raised beds add fill settling and certification.
Sources
Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for a box reaching about 2 miles out from the Village of Jordan line, in the Town of Elbridge. 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
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
- USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
- Village of Jordan Codes Office
- Village of Jordan Public Works
- Town of Elbridge Building, Codes and Zoning
- Jordan, New York
- USDA Official Series Description: Ontario
- USDA Official Series Description: Palmyra
- USDA Official Series Description: Camillus
- USDA Official Series Description: Madrid
- USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
- USDA Official Series Description: Wampsville
More septic design in Onondaga County.
Tell us about the Jordan lot.
Send the address. Estimate in 1 hour.
Free Written Estimate
Estimate in 1 hour.