Septic Engineer in Richland, NY

Septic design in Richland: the short answer

Richland runs from the Lake Ontario shore at Port Ontario and Selkirk inland past the Village of Pulaski. The village has a treatment plant on the Salmon River; the rest of the town is on private septic. A new home or a failed system needs a PE stamped design approved by the Oswego County Health Department.

Short answer: dune and beach sand along the lake drains fast, the flats behind it hold water, and the Lake Ontario shoreline is a state priority water for septic replacement grants in Oswego County.

Sewer or septic in Richland

The Pulaski village plant at 48 Riverview Drive sits in the Town of Richland and discharges to the Salmon River. Outside the village service area, there is no public sewer listed for the shoreline or the farm roads.

Because the central and eastern Lake Ontario shoreline is on the state's priority waterbody list for Oswego County, a failing shoreline system may qualify for Oswego County's replacement grant.

How a septic design works in Richland

1. Send the address and a few photos. Use the form below. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Confirm the lot needs septic. Outside the Village of Pulaski sewer, plan on septic.
3. Deep hole and perc tests. At least one test hole six feet deep at the leaching area and at least two perc tests per system, per Appendix 75-A. Shore and dune pits show loose sand; inland flats show early water and silt.
4. Design and stamp. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE), sized at a minimum of 110 gallons per day per bedroom for a new house.
5. Oswego County plan review. Four sets of plans and the plan review fee go to the Oswego County Health Department, Environmental Health Division, 70 Bunner St., Oswego. The department engineer sends three sets back with a letter of approval or rejection, and a copy of that letter goes to you and to the Town of Richland code enforcement officer.
6. Building permit and install. With the approval letter in hand, the building permit is pulled through the Town of Richland code enforcement office. Backwell coordinates the excavation, tank, distribution box and absorption area and builds them to the approved plan.
7. Final paperwork. For an alternative system such as a raised bed, mound or sand filter, state rule 10 NYCRR 75.5 has a design professional supervise construction and certify to the health department that it matches the approved plans.

Soils and seasonal water around Richland

The lakeshore and old beach ridges carry fast sands like Colonie, which the USDA describes on dunes, beach ridges, deltas and lake plains, well to excessively drained. Arkport fine sandy loam, well drained with high conductivity, covers many inland uplands.

Low ground behind the ridges and along the river flats carries poorly drained Canandaigua silty clay loam and wet sands. Those parcels rarely meet the 4 foot conventional profile.

What the health department checks

Oswego County reviews septic plans itself, at its Environmental Health Division in Oswego. The state sets the floor in Appendix 75-A; a local health department may adopt stricter standards, but not looser ones without a state waiver. On a lot in Richland the review comes down to a handful of measured items:

• 100 feet from an absorption field, raised bed or mound to a stream, lake, watercourse or wetland, measured to the mean high water mark, and 50 feet from the tank.
• Soil that percolates faster than 1 minute per inch is not acceptable for a subsurface system unless it is blended with less permeable soil across the whole field area.
• 100 feet from an absorption field to a well or suction line, 200 feet if the field sits upgrade and in the drainage path to the well, and 50 feet from the septic tank to a well.
• Well separation goes up 50 percent when the well draws water from less than 50 feet below grade.

Common Richland site problems and the design fix

Shoreline camp with a shallow well

Fast sand, a shallow well and the lake all within a small lot. Well setbacks increase 50 percent where the well draws from less than 50 feet down, and the field needs 100 feet from the lake. A mound or a field at the back of the lot may be the only fit.

Beach sand too fast

Sand faster than 1 minute per inch has to be blended or replaced by mound media meeting the Appendix 75-A gradation.

Flat behind the dunes

Water near the surface means a raised bed or mound, and only if high groundwater is at least a foot down.

What it costs

Published county fees, effective January 1, 2026: $125 for the Oswego County Health Department to review plans for one home and $250 for a commercial system, a category the county applies to businesses and rentals. Selling a house? The county lists a 4 day septic dye test with written results at $230.

Design and install are priced together in writing for your lot. Shoreline lots may qualify for the Oswego County replacement grant, up to 50 percent of eligible costs to a $10,000 maximum.

Grant money: Oswego County runs the state Septic System Replacement Fund. Its application says eligible projects can be reimbursed up to 50 percent with a $10,000 maximum, design costs at 50 percent up to $3,000, and every replacement must be county approved, engineer designed and covered by a local building permit. The state priority waters for Oswego County are the central and eastern Lake Ontario shoreline and the upper Little Sandy Creek and its tributaries.

Timeline

Testing, stamped design, $125 county review, Town of Richland permit, install. Snow on the eastern side of town shortens the season.

Mounds can be built without a settling wait; raised beds with finer fill wait six months through a freeze and thaw cycle. The schedule is in the written price.

Sources

• Oswego County Health Department: Septic Plan Review
• Oswego County Health Department: Water Supply Protection and Septic Plan Review
• Oswego County Health Department: Plan Review Fee Schedule, effective 1/1/2026
• Oswego County Health Department: Fee Schedule for Environmental Health Services, 1/1/2026
• Oswego County Community Development, Tourism and Planning: Septic System Replacement Grant Application
• 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: Pulaski village STP, Town of Richland
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Colonie
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Arkport
• USDA NRCS Official Series Description: Canandaigua

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