Septic Engineer in Spafford, NY
Spafford sits between Skaneateles Lake and Otisco Lake, both drinking water supplies. Two sets of watershed rules, a steep slope law, and no public sewer.
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Septic design for Spafford, NY, from soil test to county approval.
It depends on which way the lot drains. Spafford is listed in both the Skaneateles Lake watershed (10 NYCRR 131.1, City of Syracuse) and the Otisco Lake watershed (10 NYCRR 131.50, Onondaga County Water Authority). The City's maps set the Skaneateles boundary.
On the Skaneateles side, at least 100 feet from the lake or any watercourse, including the expansion area. On the Otisco side, the watershed rule bars any seepage unit within 50 feet of the lake or a watercourse, and Appendix 75-A still requires 100 feet from a lake, stream or wetland for an absorption field.
It can. Local Law 1 of 2022 protects slopes of 15 percent or more, and requires Planning Board site plan approval for 1,000 square feet or more of disturbance on moderately steep slopes, or 500 on steeper slopes, in a Lake District or within 100 feet of a watercourse.
Spafford is not in the county Consolidated Sanitary District, and we know of no public sewer serving the town.
The Onondaga County Health Department, after review by the City of Syracuse on the Skaneateles side or the Water Authority on the Otisco side. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
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Septic engineer in Spafford, NY: what it is and who needs one
Part of Spafford lies between two public water supply lakes: Skaneateles Lake on the west and Otisco Lake on the east. Depending on which way your lot drains, either the City of Syracuse rules or the Onondaga County Water Authority rules apply on top of Appendix 75-A. A septic engineer tests the soil, designs to the right rule set, and carries the plan through the Onondaga County Health Department.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the submittals and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Sewer in Spafford
Spafford is not in the county Consolidated Sanitary District, and we know of no public sewer serving the town. Its hamlets run from Borodino, the largest, to Borodino Landing, Spafford Valley, South Spafford, Spafford Landing, Edgewater Park, Woodland and Pine Grove. The town takes part in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Municipal Partners with the Town and Village of Skaneateles, Niles, Scott, Sempronius and the City of Syracuse.
The county design guidelines list Spafford in both the Skaneateles Lake watershed and the Otisco Lake watershed. The ridge between the lakes decides which one a lot falls in, and the City's GIS maps set the Skaneateles boundary, with a field check by the City where the map and the ground disagree.
Soils in Spafford and the system they point to
Spafford's soils are till on steep valley sides. Honeoye and Lansing till cover more than 40 percent of the land, with Aurora soils over shale, Conesus, Mardin with its fragipan, and Lima.
| Soil series | Share of land | What it is (USDA) | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honeoye | 23% | 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 | 19% | very deep, well drained till | Usually deep enough for conventional trenches where slope allows. |
| Aurora | 11% | 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. |
| Conesus | 9% | very deep, moderately well drained till | Seasonal wetness in the subsoil sets how deep trenches can go. |
| Mardin | 7% | very deep, moderately well drained till with a dense fragipan starting 14 to 26 inches down | Less than 2 feet over the pan often means raised bed or mound. |
| Lima | 5% | 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. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, the Town of Spafford boundary, including parts of Skaneateles and Otisco lakes: very limited 73 percent, somewhat limited 27 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, slope, depth to bedrock.
About 73 percent of the rated land is very limited for a conventional field. More than half of that is shallow seasonal water, and about a fifth is slope. Mardin soils put a dense fragipan 14 to 26 inches down, which leaves less than 2 feet of usable soil and points to a raised bed or mound. Aurora soils put shale at 20 to 40 inches. On Lansing and Honeoye ground with depth and gentle slope, a conventional field can work. The slope is what usually decides: no field over 15 percent, no mound over 12.
Two watersheds and a steep slope law
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.
Otisco Lake supplies the Onondaga County Water Authority, and its watershed rules sit in 10 NYCRR Section 131.50. For septic they say:
- No part of a seepage unit (tile field, seepage pit or equivalent) can be built or rebuilt within 50 feet of the lake or a watercourse, and a watercourse includes every spring, stream, marsh or channel flowing toward the lake.
- Plans have to be approved before any new system is built or an existing one altered, and a site with rock fissures or other rapid percolation can be rejected.
- When an existing system fails, the whole system is inspected and the site evaluated before alterations are designed.
- Systems serving year round homes are inspected at least every 3 years, and new or replacement tanks should have a fresh air inlet visible above ground.
- Properly designed holding tanks with overflow safeguards are acceptable under a local health department permit where feasible.
The county guidelines add that an Otisco watershed plan needs the county application signed by the owner and at least 5 plan copies, with a copy going to the Water Authority for its recommendation before the county approves.
Spafford also added a Steep Slope Protection article to its zoning law (Local Law 1 of 2022), partly to keep slope development from creating onsite sewage problems. Slopes of 15 percent or more are protected. In a Lake District or within 100 feet of any watercourse, Planning Board site plan approval is needed for 1,000 square feet or more of disturbance on 15 to 25 percent slopes, or 500 square feet on steeper ground. A watercourse is anything that drains to Skaneateles or Otisco Lake.
How a septic design in Spafford 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. On a Skaneateles watershed lot, a City of Syracuse Watershed Inspector witnesses every test.
- 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; in either lake watershed it is 5 copies plus the owner signed watershed application, with a copy to the City or the Water Authority. Once approved, a copy goes to the town.
- Town building permit. Spafford Building and Codes at Town Hall, 1984 State Route 174. The codes officer's posted hours are Tuesdays 9 am to 1 pm. Steep slope work near watercourses may need Planning Board site plan review.
- 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 Spafford the checks that decide most designs are the lake and watercourse setbacks (100 feet on the Skaneateles side, 50 feet minimum on the Otisco side), slope, and seasonal water perched on dense till.
- 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 Spafford problems and how the design handles them
Lot on the line between the two watersheds
The problem: Skaneateles rules and Otisco rules differ on setbacks, witnessing and review.
How the design handles it: We confirm which watershed the field area drains to before testing, then follow that rule set, including the City witness on the Skaneateles side.
Steep camp lot on the lake
The problem: Fields cannot go on slopes over 15 percent, and the town's steep slope law adds Planning Board review for disturbance near watercourses.
How the design handles it: The PE finds the flattest usable ground, often uphill, and pumps to it. The erosion control for the disturbance goes on the plan.
Fragipan at 18 inches
The problem: Mardin soils leave less than 2 feet of usable soil over the pan.
How the design handles it: With at least 1 foot of usable native soil and water 1 foot down, a raised bed on certified fill.
Timeline
Skaneateles side lots should be tested March 15 to June 30 with the City inspector present. Otisco side lots go to the Water Authority for a recommendation before the county approves. Steep slope Planning Board review, where it applies, runs alongside. Raised beds add fill settling and certification.
Sources
Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for the Town of Spafford boundary, including parts of Skaneateles and Otisco lakes. 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
- 10 NYCRR Section 131.1, City of Syracuse (Skaneateles Lake) watershed rules
- 10 NYCRR Section 131.50, Onondaga County Water Authority (Otisco Lake) watershed rules
- OCHD Application for Permit to Construct a Waste Disposal System (Skaneateles and Otisco watersheds)
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
- USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
- Town of Spafford Building and Codes
- Town of Spafford contact
- Town of Spafford Local Law 1 of 2022, Steep Slope Protection
- Spafford, New York
- USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
- USDA Official Series Description: Lansing
- USDA Official Series Description: Aurora
- USDA Official Series Description: Conesus
- USDA Official Series Description: Mardin
- USDA Official Series Description: Lima
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