Septic Engineer in Little Falls, NY

Septic design in Little Falls: the short answer

The City of Little Falls runs its own wastewater treatment plant on River Road East. Outside the city, in the Town of Little Falls and the hills above the gorge, homes are on private systems, and a new house or failed field needs a PE stamped design.

Short answer: slope and rock. Appendix 75-A does not allow a field on slopes steeper than 15 percent, and a mound only on slopes of 12 percent or less, so on Little Falls hillsides finding a buildable field area is the first job.

Sewer or septic in the Little Falls area

The city's wastewater treatment plant at 223 River Road East holds a state discharge permit, and state funding will add ultraviolet disinfection to cut pathogens in the discharge to the Mohawk River. The city has also had a sewer inflow and infiltration study funded. Homes on city mains need no septic design.

Outside the city line, private septic is the norm. The middle Spruce Creek and its tributaries are on Herkimer County's septic replacement priority list.

How a septic design works in Little Falls

1. Send the address and a few photos. Use the form below. Estimate in 1 hour, design and install in one written price.
2. Confirm the lot needs septic. City main means sewer. Outside the city, plan on septic.
3. Deep hole and perc tests. Appendix 75-A requires at least one test hole at least six feet deep at the proposed leaching area and at least two percolation tests per system. Pits on the hillsides often hit shale or other bedrock at moderate depth; look for seeps on the slope.
4. Design and stamp. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE), with new homes sized at 110 gallons per day per bedroom or more.
5. State review for alternative systems. The state's Herkimer District Office is at 5665 State Route 5, Herkimer. Under 10 NYCRR 75.5, raised, mound and sand filter plans need approval from the health department with jurisdiction before construction.
6. Building permit. The building permit comes from the City of Little Falls or Town of Little Falls code office, depending on which side of the line the lot is on.
7. Install and certify. Backwell coordinates the excavation and builds to the approved plan. An alternative system gets design professional supervision and a written certification to the health department.

Soils and seasonal water around Little Falls

The hill soils around Little Falls include Mohawk, well drained till on plains and dissected plateaus, and Palatine, moderately deep with shale bedrock at 20 to 40 inches, which the USDA describes on glacially modified, bedrock controlled landforms in the Mohawk Valley. Manlius soils, with bedrock at 20 to 40 inches, also occur in the Mohawk and Black River valleys.

On the valley floor, Hudson silty clay loam and Churchville soils formed in lake clays are found in the Mohawk Valley. The USDA lists Hudson's lower layers as low to moderately high in conductivity and Churchville as somewhat poorly drained. Clay soils slower than 60 minutes per inch are not useable for a conventional field.

What the health department checks

Herkimer County Public Health lists the New York State Department of Health Environmental Unit as its partner for environmental health, and the state's Herkimer District Office serves Fulton, Herkimer and Montgomery Counties. The design rules are Appendix 75-A. For Little Falls these are the items that move the design:

• No absorption system in ground lower than the 10 year flood level, and no field on slopes steeper than 15 percent.
• Conventional trench field: at least 4 feet of useable soil above rock, tight soil and the high seasonal groundwater, with the highest groundwater at least 2 feet below the trench bottom.
• Mound: high groundwater at least 1 foot down, bedrock at least 2 feet down, native soil faster than 120 minutes per inch, slope no more than 12 percent, pressure distribution, and an absorption area no wider than 20 feet.
• Cut and fill: where a soil slower than 60 minutes per inch sits on a useable layer, the tight layer can be removed and replaced if at least 3 feet of useable soil lies underneath.

Common Little Falls site problems and the design fix

Slope over 15 percent

No conventional field. The PE looks for a bench or a flatter part of the lot, and on sloping sites requires a diversion ditch or curtain drain uphill of any raised system.

Shale 20 to 40 inches down

Shallow trenches if 2 to 4 feet of useable soil remain; a mound if bedrock is at least 2 feet down and the slope is 12 percent or less.

Clay over a better layer

A cut and fill is allowed where a soil slower than 60 minutes per inch sits over useable soil with at least 3 feet of it below. The tight layer is removed and replaced with soil matching the underlying rate, with a 5 foot buffer beyond the trenches.

What it costs

We did not find a published state plan review fee for one house in Herkimer County, so none is quoted. Building permit fees come from your local code office.

Design and install are priced together in writing for the lot. Steep, rocky lots cost more to test and build because of access and fill.

Grant money: Herkimer County takes part in the State Septic System Replacement Fund, which reimburses property owners up to 50 percent of eligible costs with a $10,000 maximum in priority areas set by DEC and DOH. The state list for Herkimer County includes the lower Steele Creek and its tributaries, the upper Moyer Creek, the middle East Canada Creek, the middle Spruce Creek, the upper West Canada Creek and Hinckley Reservoir, along with many Adirondack lakes in the north of the county.

Timeline

Testing, PE design, state review for alternative systems at the Herkimer District Office, 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
• Herkimer County Public Health: Partnering Agencies (NYSDOH Environmental Unit)
• Herkimer County: Septic System Replacement Fund notice
• 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
• NYSDEC ENB: Little Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant
• NYS Regional Councils: City of Little Falls wastewater disinfection
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Mohawk
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Palatine
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Manlius
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Hudson
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Churchville

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