Septic Engineer in Skaneateles, NY

Septic engineer in Skaneateles, NY: what it is and who needs one

Septic design in Skaneateles has an extra layer most towns do not. Skaneateles Lake is the unfiltered water supply for the City of Syracuse, so on a lot that drains to it, a city Watershed Inspector witnesses the soil tests and the City reviews the plan before the Onondaga County Health Department approves it. A septic engineer tests, designs to Appendix 75-A and the watershed rules, and carries the plan through both reviews.

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

Village sewer, town septic, and the north end plan

The Village of Skaneateles runs a sewer service and wastewater treatment plant. Town Code Chapter 121 says town sewer districts drain to the village plant, and that where owners build new town sewers at their own cost, existing buildings on septic can connect without a tap in fee but with a $300 inspection and permit fee. The Town of Skaneateles is not in the county Consolidated Sanitary District.

Outside the village and the town sewer districts, homes rely on private systems. The town's hamlets and neighborhoods include Mottville, Skaneateles Falls, Mandana on the west shore, Jones Beach on the east shore along Route 41, Shepard Settlement and Long Bridge. The 2020 Comprehensive Plan steers growth north and away from the watershed, and says that depends on providing sewer in Skaneateles Falls and Mottville, possibly with town sewer districts, constructed wetlands or package plants.

Soils in Skaneateles and the system they point to

The town is mostly glacial till on the slopes above the lake. Honeoye covers more than a third of the land, Lima another 16 percent, with Aurora soils over shale, Cazenovia, Kendaia in the drainageways, and Palmyra gravel in the valley.

USDA septic absorption field ratings, the Town of Skaneateles boundary, including part of Skaneateles Lake: very limited 67 percent, somewhat limited 33 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, slow water movement, fast seepage in the bottom layer.

About 67 percent of rated land is very limited and 33 percent somewhat limited for a conventional field. Shallow seasonal water is more than half of the very limited reasons. Lima and Kendaia soils hold water on dense till in spring, which is why the watershed rules push soil testing into the March 15 to June 30 window. Honeoye ground with 4 feet of usable soil can carry a conventional field. Where the pit shows mottling at 2 to 4 feet, a shallow trench. Where it shows less, a raised bed or mound, with 100 percent expansion area recommended for those alternative systems inside the watershed.

Skaneateles Lake watershed rules

Skaneateles Lake is the City of Syracuse's water supply, and the watershed rules in 10 NYCRR Section 131.1 apply to any septic work that drains to it. The rules that change a design:

• The absorption part of any system must be at least 100 feet from the lake or a watercourse, and the separation is measured to the expansion area too.
• Room for a 50 percent expansion of the field is required for conventional and alternative systems, and 100 percent is recommended for alternative systems.
• Land based holding tanks are not allowed for new construction. They can only replace a failing holding tank or serve where nothing else fits an existing home, and never within 50 feet of the lake or a watercourse.
• Every site and soil test is witnessed by a City of Syracuse Watershed Inspector, and soil tests should be done in the high water season, generally March 15 to June 30. Outside that window, mottling sets the high water and the inspector can ask for wet season confirmation.
• All applications and drawings go to the City for review and comment, and no new home, addition or seasonal to year round conversion moves ahead until the health department has approved the system or accepted the existing one.
• Approval can be denied where rapid percolation is found.

On the county side, a watershed lot needs the Onondaga County Application for Permit to Construct a Waste Disposal System, signed by the owner, and a minimum of 5 plan copies instead of 3. The City's Skaneateles Lake Watershed Inspection Program is at (315) 685-6486.

The town's zoning adds its own layer. Chapter 148 creates a Lake Watershed Overlay District covering the Skaneateles and Owasco watershed parts of the town, enforceable by the Town. Applications in the Skaneateles watershed have to be copied to the City when they go to the Town. Septage disposal is prohibited in the district, no new septic tank or leach field can go in a flood hazard area, impermeable surface limits drop by one third, and a certificate of occupancy for a new structure is subject to septic inspection and certification by the county Health Department.

How a septic design in Skaneateles works

1. Send the address. Use the form. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Confirm sewer or septic. If a public sewer can serve the lot, you do not need a septic design.
3. 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. On a Skaneateles watershed lot, a City of Syracuse Watershed Inspector witnesses every test.
4. 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).
5. County submittal. Plan and fee go to the Bureau of Public Health Engineering, 421 Montgomery Street, Syracuse: 3 plan copies outside the lake watersheds; in the Skaneateles watershed it is 5 copies plus the owner signed watershed application, with a copy to the City for review. Once approved, a copy goes to the town.
6. Town building permit. Town of Skaneateles Building and Codes, Town Hall second floor, 24 Jordan Street, (315) 685-0833. In the village, the codes office at 26 Fennell Street takes permits online. A copy of any watershed application goes to the City.
7. 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 Skaneateles the checks that decide a design are 100 feet from the lake or any watercourse to the field and its expansion area, the seasonal water in the witnessed pit, and the slope on lakeside lots.

• 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 Skaneateles problems and how the design handles them

Timeline

Plan around March 15 to June 30. That is when the watershed rules want soil tests done, and the inspector has to be there. Then the plan goes to the City for review and to the county for approval. Raised beds add the fill certification step, which in practice puts many watershed jobs across a full season.

Sources

Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for the Town of Skaneateles boundary, including part of Skaneateles Lake. Regulations and fees as published by the agencies below; they can change.

1. Onondaga County Health Department, Septic Systems (Bureau of Public Health Engineering)
2. Onondaga County Environmental Health fee schedule
3. Onondaga County Design Guidelines for Individual Sewage Systems
4. Onondaga County Health Department Fill Certification Form
5. NYS DOH 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, Wastewater Treatment Standards, Residential Onsite Systems
6. NYS DOH fact sheet: Need for Licensed Design Professionals, Residential OWTS
7. Onondaga County WEP, Consolidated Sanitary District service area
8. Onondaga County WEP Plumbing Control
9. 10 NYCRR Section 131.1, City of Syracuse (Skaneateles Lake) watershed rules
10. OCHD Application for Permit to Construct a Waste Disposal System (Skaneateles and Otisco watersheds)
11. Onondaga County Septic System Replacement Funding Program
12. USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
13. USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
14. Town of Skaneateles Building and Codes
15. Town of Skaneateles Chapter 148 Zoning
16. Town of Skaneateles Code (Chapter 121)
17. Town of Skaneateles Comprehensive Plan 2020
18. Village of Skaneateles Sewer
19. Town of Skaneateles, Skaneateles Lake
20. USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
21. USDA Official Series Description: Lima
22. USDA Official Series Description: Aurora
23. USDA Official Series Description: Cazenovia
24. USDA Official Series Description: Kendaia
25. USDA Official Series Description: Palmyra