Septic Engineer in Pompey, NY
Above the 900 foot line Pompey runs on wells and septic. The town plan maps where the good septic ground is. Testing, PE stamped designs and the county submittal.
Fees. Process. Answers.
Septic design for Pompey, NY, from soil test to county approval.
Only in a few places. The 2013 Pompey Master Plan names the Pompey Pines, The Preserve and Spruce Ridge developments on the north end, and says lines are unlikely above the 900 foot contour without developer investment.
The master plan says land most suitable for conventional systems is a relatively small area, largely in the southern and central parts of the town. Unsuitable sites mostly follow creeks, wetlands and floodplains, especially between Oran Delphi Road and Pompey Hollow Road.
Pompey rates better than most of the county: about 65 percent of rated land is very limited and 35 percent somewhat limited for conventional fields, with seasonal water and slope as the main limits.
The Onondaga County Health Department, Bureau of Public Health Engineering, (315) 435-6600. Pompey Building and Zoning issues the building permit.
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 Pompey, NY: what it is and who needs one
Pompey is hill country, topped by Pompey Hill at 1,728 feet, and almost all of it runs on septic. A septic engineer here tests the soil, designs to Appendix 75-A, and gets approval from the Onondaga County Health Department. The town's own master plan has already done some of the homework, mapping where conventional systems work and where they do not.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the submittal and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Three developments have sewer. The rest is septic.
Pompey is in the county Consolidated Sanitary District, and the Meadowbrook-Limestone plant serves a section of it. But the 2013 Pompey Master Plan names only the Pompey Pines, The Preserve and Spruce Ridge developments on the north end as served by public water and sewer, and says lines are unlikely to be extended above the 900 foot contour without developer money. That covers Delphi Falls, Oran, Pompey Center, Pompey Hill, Watervale and the roads between them.
Soils in Pompey and the system they point to
Honeoye till covers more than a third of Pompey. Lansing and Lima till, Aurora soils over shale, and Kendaia soils in the drainageways make up most of the rest. The plan notes the bedrock is mostly limestone.
| 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. |
| Lansing | 11% | very deep, well drained till | Usually deep enough for conventional trenches where slope allows. |
| Lima | 8% | very deep, moderately well drained till strongly influenced by limestone; the till can be dense | Dense till under the subsoil can perch water in spring. Trench depth follows the mottling in the pit. |
| Aurora | 7% | moderately deep, moderately well drained till with bedrock at 20 to 40 inches | Rock and seasonal water both inside 4 feet. Shallow trench or raised bed. |
| Kendaia | 4% | very deep, somewhat poorly drained calcareous till in footslopes and drainageways | Seasonal water sits high. Curtain drains, shallow trenches or a raised bed are common answers. |
| Cazenovia | 3% | very deep, moderately well drained loamy till | Usually enough soil. Watch for spring water perched on denser till. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, the Town of Pompey boundary: very limited 65 percent, somewhat limited 35 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, slope, fast seepage in the bottom layer.
Pompey rates better than most towns: about 65 percent of rated land is very limited and 35 percent somewhat limited for a conventional field. Seasonal water is the top limit, then slope. The master plan's septic map tells the same story in plainer words. Land most suitable for conventional systems is a relatively small area, largely in the southern and central parts of the town. Totally unsuitable sites mostly follow the creeks, wetlands and floodplains, especially along the east side between Oran Delphi Road and Pompey Hollow Road. The rest of the town is suitable for conventional systems only where perc is satisfactory, drainage improvements may be needed, and some sites need shallow systems.
Creeks, gulfs and slopes
Limestone Creek, starting at the De Ruyter Reservoir, is Pompey's main watercourse. Its West Branch, fed by the Pratts Falls and Brown Gulf tributaries that meet at Watervale, joins the main channel in the Village of Manlius. West of Sweet Road most of the town drains north to Butternut Creek through The Tunnel and Stebbins Gulf, and the south drains to the West Branch of Tioughnioga Creek. Jamesville Reservoir sits in the northwest corner and is on the county's septic replacement grant list for properties within 250 feet.
The town's code office enforces wetland, floodplain and stormwater rules and lists the county contacts on its page: Plumbing Control (315) 435-6614 and the Septic Division (315) 435-6600. On Pompey's slopes, remember the 15 percent limit for fields and 12 percent for mounds, and the county's ask that trenches run along the contour.
How a septic design in Pompey 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.
- Town building permit. Pompey Building and Zoning, 8354 US Route 20, Manlius. The office takes electronic plans for homes, garages and additions, and inspections are by appointment.
- 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. In Pompey the checks that decide most designs are slope, the 100 foot well separation on rural lots, and the 2 foot separation to the seasonal water that Kendaia and Lima soils carry.
- 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 Pompey problems and how the design handles them
Perc is fine but the pit shows mottling at 2 feet
The problem: Lima and Kendaia soils carry seasonal water perched on dense till.
How the design handles it: A shallow trench system, which 75-A allows with 2 to 4 feet of usable soil, often with a curtain drain upslope. The master plan mentions both drainage improvements and shallow systems for Pompey sites.
Steep hillside lot
The problem: Slopes over 15 percent are unacceptable for a field.
How the design handles it: The test locations go on the flattest workable ground. The county wants the second perc hole 40 feet along the contour and 40 feet downslope of the first, and a diversion ditch uphill of any fill.
Lot near Limestone Creek or a gulf
The problem: The master plan says unsuitable septic sites largely follow the creeks, wetlands and floodplains.
How the design handles it: Fields stay 100 feet from the water. The PE finds the field area first, then the house fits around it.
Timeline
Pompey's dense till soils hide water in summer, so the county reads mottling, and on some alternative system sites the guidelines say testing during the wet season is needed. Raised beds wait on settled, certified fill. Shallow trench systems with fill over the trenches also need the engineer to supervise the fill.
Sources
Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for the Town of Pompey boundary. 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 WEP, Meadowbrook-Limestone WWTP
- 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
- Town of Pompey Master Plan
- Town of Pompey Building and Zoning
- Pompey, New York
- USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
- USDA Official Series Description: Lansing
- USDA Official Series Description: Lima
- USDA Official Series Description: Aurora
- USDA Official Series Description: Kendaia
- USDA Official Series Description: Cazenovia
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