Septic Engineer in Sherrill, NY

Sherrill has its own sewer, and its own sump pump problem

Sherrill is a small city at the west end of the Town of Vernon, on Route 5 at the Madison County line. It is not part of the Oneida County Sewer District. The city runs its own Wastewater Treatment Plant at 201 Fairway Lane, discharging treated effluent to Oneida Creek, and it dewaters and lime stabilizes its sludge for use as fertilizer.

One detail tells you a lot about the ground here. The plant operates under a New York State consent order to reduce storm water entering the sanitary sewer, and the city ties that problem to residential and commercial sump pumps connected to the sewer. Basements here take on water, and that same groundwater is what a septic design outside the sewer has to work around.

Inside the city, a house is normally on sewer. This page is for unsewered lots nearby in the Town of Vernon and along the county line. Kenwood, often lumped in with Sherrill, is actually a hamlet in Madison County, across Oneida Creek, so its septic path runs through Madison County rather than Oneida.

Backwell coordinates the soil tests, the design, the permit and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).

Appleton, Lima and Cazenovia: the soils around Sherrill

USDA soil data for the area around Sherrill, crossing into Madison County, shows Cazenovia silt loam and Lima gravelly silt loam as the most extensive soils, then Appleton, Wakeville, Howard, Minoa and Arkport.

• Appleton is very deep, somewhat poorly drained, calcareous loamy till. The survey gives a minimum annual water table of about 8 inches. With water that close, Appendix 75-A rules out a conventional trench, since highest groundwater must sit at least 2 feet below the trench bottom. A raised system or a mound is the usual answer.
• Lima is moderately well drained with bedrock more than 60 inches down, but the survey rates Lima gravelly silt loam Very limited for absorption fields because of a water table within 120 to 180 cm and slow percolation.
• Cazenovia is till with bedrock deeper than 40 inches and conductivity from moderately low to moderately high in the substratum. It can carry shallow trenches when the deep hole shows 2 to 4 feet of usable soil.
• Howard and Arkport are the faster draining soils in the mix.

How a design comes together

1. Send the address. We confirm whether sewer is available. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Deep hole and perc. At least one test hole at least 6 feet deep and at least two perc tests, per Appendix 75-A.
3. System choice. Four feet or more of usable soil for conventional. Two to four for shallow trenches. One to two feet over the restrictive layer for a raised system with at least 2 feet of fill percing at 5 to 30 minutes per inch.
4. Stamped plan. Sized at 110 gallons per day per bedroom, with a 1,000 gallon minimum tank for 1 to 3 bedrooms.
5. Permits. The local code office for the parcel. Sherrill code enforcement works through City Hall at 377 Sherrill Road. Alternative systems in Oneida County also go to the Oneida County Health Department, 800 Park Ave., Utica.
6. Install. Backwell builds to the plan, inspected before cover.

Across the creek: the Madison County side

Because Sherrill sits on the county line, some lots that look like Sherrill addresses are in Madison County, Kenwood among them. The review path there is different. Madison County Public Health, Environmental Health Division, at 138 N Court Street, Building 5, Wampsville, reviews and approves alternative onsite wastewater designs and observes percolation and deep hole tests. Its application for alternative household systems (rev. 09/24) asks for a $125 review and inspection fee and at least 2 copies of a design and site plan drawn by an engineer, submitted at least 30 days before construction. The ordinary septic permit still comes from the town or village. Before testing, we confirm which county the parcel is in, because the forms, fees and inspectors change at Oneida Creek.

Fees

For Oneida County reviews, the plan review fee schedule (revised March 2022) lists $500 for an individual sewage system, $150 for an individual sewage site survey, and $50 per lot plus $25 per lot filing for a realty subdivision. The construction price depends on how much fill the soil calls for. Send the address and you get a written price in 1 hour.

Oneida County's septic replacement grant reimburses 50 percent of eligible costs up to $10,000 on properties within 250 feet of a listed priority waterbody, through March 31, 2027.

Problems we see around Sherrill

Water in the basement and the yard

The same groundwater behind the city's sump pump consent order sits under unsewered yards. Sump and roof water should never discharge onto a septic field. See high water table design.

Appleton ground at 8 inches

A mound under Appendix 75-A needs high groundwater at least 1 foot below grade and at least 24 inches of approved sand over the stone. The deep hole decides whether that threshold is met. See mound septic design.

Subdividing a parcel

Lots for sale need room for a field that works. See lot septic feasibility.

Timeline

Testing is one day. Plans follow. Fill for a raised system settles six months, including one freeze and thaw, unless it is granular sand or sandy loam compacted in lifts. Installation is days of equipment time.

Sources

• City of Sherrill, wastewater and sewer
• City of Sherrill, codes
• Oneida County Sewer District, members
• Sherrill, New York (Wikipedia)
• Kenwood, New York (Wikipedia)
• Madison County Public Health, Environmental Health Division
• Madison County, alternative household wastewater system application
• Madison County, water and septic individual systems
• NYS DOH, 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A
• Oneida County Health Department, plan review fee schedule
• Oneida County, septic system replacement funding
• USDA NRCS, Appleton series
• USDA NRCS, Lima series
• USDA NRCS, Cazenovia series