Septic Engineer in Tully, NY
The Village of Tully has sewer. Vesper and the lots around Green, Tully and Crooked lakes do not. Testing, PE stamped designs and the county submittal.
Fees. Process. Answers.
Septic design for Tully, NY, from soil test to county approval.
The Village of Tully provides municipal water and sewer. The 2023 Joint Comprehensive Plan says the hamlet of Vesper and the land around Green, Tully and Crooked lakes do not have public water and sewer.
Appendix 75-A requires 100 feet between an absorption field, raised bed or mound and a lake, stream or wetland, and 50 feet for the septic tank.
Yes. The county design guidelines list part of the Town of Tully in the Otisco Lake watershed, where 10 NYCRR 131.50 applies and plans go to the Water Authority before county approval.
The Onondaga County Health Department, Bureau of Public Health Engineering. Town of Tully Zoning and Building issues the building permit.
Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Use the form. Estimate in 1 hour.
Septic engineer in Tully, NY: what it is and who needs one
Tully sits at the south end of the county around the chain of Tully Lakes, where Tully Lake feeds the West Branch of the Tioughnioga River. The Village of Tully has municipal sewer. The Town and Village Joint Comprehensive Plan says the lake neighborhoods and the hamlet of Vesper do not. A septic engineer tests the soil, designs to Appendix 75-A, and gets approval from the Onondaga County Health Department.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the submittal and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Village sewer, lake lots on septic
The Village of Tully provides municipal water and sewer from the Municipal Building on Meetinghouse Road. Neither the town nor the village is in the county Consolidated Sanitary District.
The 2023 Joint Comprehensive Plan describes the Low Density Residential area, the hamlet of Vesper and the land around Green Lake, Tully Lake and Crooked Lake, as homes mostly on lots under 5 acres without public water and sewer. It says wetlands and floodplains are common around those lakes and that minimum lot size standards would help meet state septic rules and cut runoff. The Rural Living area has very large lots and no public water or sewer. The plan recommends evaluating extensions along Route 281, Route 11A and Quailridge Drive.
Soils in Tully and the system they point to
Tully mixes valley gravel and upland till. Palmyra outwash covers 15 percent of the town, mostly in the valleys around the lakes. Honeoye and Lansing till, Aurora soils over shale, and Mardin with its fragipan take the hills.
| Soil series | Share of land | What it is (USDA) | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honeoye | 18% | 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. |
| Palmyra | 15% | very deep, well drained gravelly outwash over stratified sand and gravel | Drains well, sometimes too well. Soil faster than 1 minute per inch is not suitable as is under 75-A. |
| Aurora | 12% | 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. |
| Lansing | 10% | very deep, well drained till | Usually deep enough for conventional trenches where slope allows. |
| Mardin | 9% | 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. |
| Schoharie | 5% | very deep, moderately well drained clayey lake sediments | Clay subsoil with slow perc. Expect longer fields or fill. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, the Town of Tully boundary: very limited 86 percent, somewhat limited 14 percent of rated land. Leading limits: shallow seasonal water, fast seepage in the bottom layer, slope.
About 86 percent of rated land is very limited for a conventional field. Seasonal water leads, then seepage in fast bottom layers, slope and bedrock. That is two different lot types. Around the lakes, Palmyra gravel can perc fast and wetlands are common, so the design has to treat effluent before it reaches the water and hold the 100 foot lake setback. On the hills, Mardin's fragipan 14 to 26 inches down and Aurora's shale push toward raised beds and shallow trenches.
The Tully Lakes and the Otisco watershed
The Tully Lakes chain is Tully (Big), Green, Crooked, Jerry's and Mirror lakes, with Tully Lake at the south town line feeding the West Branch of the Tioughnioga River. Fields stay 100 feet from each lake, the streams between them and the wetlands around them, and septic tanks 50 feet. The county guidelines also list part of the Town of Tully inside the Otisco Lake watershed. Lots there follow 10 NYCRR 131.50, with no seepage unit within 50 feet of a watercourse, the county watershed application and a copy to the Water Authority.
How a septic design in Tully 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.
- 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. Once approved, a copy goes to the town.
- Building permit. Town of Tully Zoning and Building, Municipal Building, 5833 Meetinghouse Road. The codes officer is in Thursdays 2:30 to 5:00 pm.
- 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 Tully the checks that decide most designs are the lake and wetland setbacks around the Tully Lakes, fast gravel perc, and the 100 foot well distance on small lake 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 Tully problems and how the design handles them
Small lot on Tully or Green Lake
The problem: The town plan says lake homes sit mostly on lots under 5 acres with no public sewer, and wetlands are common around the lakes.
How the design handles it: The PE maps the lake line, wetlands and wells, then fits the best system the lot allows, looking at pressure dosed trenches or enhanced treatment where space is short.
Gravel that percs too fast
The problem: Palmyra outwash around the lakes can drain faster than 1 minute per inch.
How the design handles it: The design slows effluent down with the modifications 75-A allows or a dosed system.
Upland lot with a fragipan
The problem: Mardin soils leave less than 2 feet of usable soil.
How the design handles it: A raised bed on certified fill, where water is at least 1 foot down.
Timeline
Lake lots are best tested in spring. Otisco watershed lots add the Water Authority review. Raised beds add 6 months of fill settling through a freeze and thaw, or compaction in 6 inch lifts with imported sand, before the field goes in.
Sources
Soil shares and ratings come from the USDA NRCS soil survey (SSURGO) for Onondaga County, summarized for the Town of Tully boundary. 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 131.50, Onondaga County Water Authority (Otisco Lake) watershed rules
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
- USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
- Town and Village of Tully Joint Comprehensive Plan (2023)
- Village of Tully water and sewer
- Town of Tully Zoning and Building
- Tully, New York
- USDA Official Series Description: Honeoye
- USDA Official Series Description: Palmyra
- USDA Official Series Description: Aurora
- USDA Official Series Description: Lansing
- USDA Official Series Description: Mardin
- USDA Official Series Description: Schoharie
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