Septic Engineer in Sodus, NY and Great Sodus Bay

Sodus septic in two sentences

The Town of Sodus adopted Chapter 98, the Town of Sodus Septic Law, on April 14, 2026, replacing the 1997 version. It requires a building permit before any septic installation, repair, modification, replacement or expansion, and the permit application must include a scale drawing with perc test and deep hole results sealed and signed by a registered architect, a professional engineer or the New York State Department of Health.

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

What changed in 2026

• Coastal and bayfront area. The law defines property next to Great Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario or designated coastal erosion hazard areas as a coastal or bayfront area where enhanced wastewater protections apply.
• Inspection before change. The Code Enforcement Officer must inspect an existing system and report it in compliance before an increase in living area, a change in use, or a transfer of ownership. Exemptions cover a system shown compliant within the past five years with no known problems, transfers to direct family, and transfers to an entity where the original owner stays on the deed.
• Owner prep. For that inspection the owner uncovers the tank and distribution box and has a licensed pumper pump the tank with the officer present. A dye test or leach line check can be added.
• Sewer first. Where public sewer is available, new buildings must connect, and old tanks are pumped, abandoned and filled.
• One building, one system. A shared system needs an engineered design and a recorded maintenance agreement.

The law incorporates 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, the NYSDOH design handbook and Wayne County public health regulations. On the state side, the 2026 NYSDOH environmental health directory lists the Geneva District Office, (315) 789-3030, for Ontario, Wayne and Yates counties.

Sodus soils

The Sodus series is named for the town. The USDA describes it as deep, well drained, slowly permeable soil formed in firm basal till dominated by red and gray sandstone, with internal drainage listed as slow. Ontario loam on the drumlin flanks is deep or very deep and well drained, formed in till influenced by limestone and sandstone. The low ground between drumlins is Canandaigua silty clay loam and Lyons silt loam, poorly to very poorly drained.

Slow internal drainage in firm till is the catch on a Sodus drumlin: the soil drains well near the surface but water can perch on the dense layer below, and the perc rate in that layer drives trench length. Many Sodus drumlin lots support a conventional or shallow trench field. The wet flats and the bay shore lean toward a raised system or a mound, held 100 feet back from the bay's mean high water mark under Appendix 75-A.

How it works in Sodus

1. Address and plan. Bedrooms, bayfront or not, new or replacement. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Perc and deep hole. Results and locations go on the sealed drawing the town requires.
3. PE stamped design. All components detailed and located against adjacent structures, drinking water supplies and property lines, as Chapter 98 requires.
4. Building permit. Filed with the Town of Sodus Code Enforcement Office.
5. Install. Built to the State Public Health Law and Appendix 75-A.
6. Certificate of compliance. The certificate of occupancy requires the septic certificate of compliance from the Code Enforcement Officer.

What the town and state check

• Seal of a registered architect, professional engineer or NYSDOH on the design and test results.
• Appendix 75-A separation: field 100 feet from wells and surface water, 20 feet from the house, 10 feet from lot lines.
• Tank sized to bedrooms. An expansion attic counts as a bedroom.
• Holding tanks not used for long term year-round homes.

Sodus problems and fixes

Timeline

Testing and design first, then the town permit, then the install and the certificate of compliance. For SWCD grant projects, reimbursement is processed about one month after the district receives the funding, per the program page.

Sources

• NYS DOH, 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, Wastewater Treatment Standards, Residential Onsite Systems
• NYS DOH Center for Environmental Health Directory 2026 (district offices and county health departments)
• Town of Sodus Code, Chapter 98, Septic Systems (L.L. No. 3-2026)
• Wayne County Soil and Water Conservation District, Septic System Replacement program
• NYSDEC Environmental Notice Bulletin, Town of Sodus, Sodus Village WWTP
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Sodus
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Ontario
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Canandaigua
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Lyons

Rules and fees as published by each office on the date this page was written. They can change; the design is checked against the current versions at submittal.