Septic Engineer in Van Buren, NY
Seneca Knolls and Village Green are suburban. The rest of Van Buren is rural, and much of it runs on septic. Soil tests, PE stamped designs and the county submittal.
Fees. Process. Answers.
Septic design for Van Buren, NY, from soil test to county approval.
Part of it. Van Buren is in the county sanitary district and the suburban area north and east of Route 690 is largely developed, but much of the town is rural. WEP says being in the district does not mean a property can connect, so confirm before planning.
Mostly glacial till: Madrid, Ontario and Hilton soils cover more than half the land. The USDA rates about 87 percent of rated land very limited for conventional fields, led by slow water movement.
At least two, staked and widely spaced inside the design area, plus a deep test pit logged to at least 6 feet. The test depth for a conventional system is 30 inches.
The Onondaga County Health Department, Bureau of Public Health Engineering. Van Buren Code Enforcement issues the building permit.
Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Backwell coordinates everything through the install.
Use the form with the address. Estimate in 1 hour.
Septic engineer in Van Buren, NY: what it is and who needs one
Van Buren wraps around the south and west side of Baldwinsville, with the Seneca River along its north and west edges. The suburban tract north and east of Route 690 looks nothing like the farm roads toward Memphis and Warners, and the septic work is out there. A septic engineer tests the soil, designs to Appendix 75-A and takes the plan through the Onondaga County Health Department.
Backwell coordinates testing, design, the health department submittal and the install. Designs are prepared and stamped by a New York licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Where Van Buren has sewer
Van Buren is in the county Consolidated Sanitary District, and the town's own website sends sewer questions to Onondaga County WEP. The county's Baldwinsville-Seneca Knolls plant serves the northwest suburbs on both sides of the Seneca River. The part of town north and east of Route 690 and south of the river is mostly suburban single family housing, which is where you expect sewer. The rest of the town is mainly rural.
WEP says being inside the district does not by itself mean a property is, or can be, served. On a rural Van Buren road, ask before you assume. If there is no line in the road, you are designing a septic system.
Soils in Van Buren and the system they point to
Van Buren's farmland sits mostly on glacial till: Madrid, Ontario and Hilton soils cover more than half of the town's land. Lairdsville soils show up where rock comes near the surface, and Arkport and Wampsville soils mark old sandy and gravelly deposits.
| Soil series | Share of land | What it is (USDA) | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid | 24% | very deep, well drained loamy till, moderate to moderately slow in the substratum | Good depth. A slow substratum can stretch trench length. |
| Ontario | 17% | deep or very deep, well drained loamy till on drumlins and till plains | Usually workable for conventional or shallow trenches. Drumlin slopes can push past the 15 percent limit. |
| Hilton | 12% | very deep, moderately well drained till | Seasonal wetness in the lower subsoil. Shallow trench layouts come up often. |
| Arkport | 4% | very deep, well drained fine sandy glacio-fluvial deposits | Drains well. Very fast spots need the design to slow effluent down. |
| Lairdsville | 4% | moderately deep till over bedrock with low conductivity in the subsoil | Rock inside 4 feet and slow subsoil. Shallow or raised design. |
| Wampsville | 4% | very deep, well drained outwash with reddish shale | Usually good depth. Gravelly layers can perc fast. |
USDA septic absorption field ratings, the Town of Van Buren boundary: very limited 87 percent, somewhat limited 13 percent of rated land. Leading limits: slow water movement, shallow seasonal water, fast seepage in the bottom layer.
About 87 percent of rated land in Van Buren is very limited for a conventional field. Slow water movement leads the reasons, ahead of seasonal saturation. That fits the soils: Madrid is well drained but moderately slow in the substratum, and Hilton carries seasonal wetness lower down. In practice a good Madrid or Ontario lot can take a conventional or shallow trench field if the perc lands between 1 and 60 minutes per inch and there are 4 feet of usable soil. Slower perc means a longer field, and less depth means a shallow trench (2 to 4 feet of usable soil) or a raised bed (1 to 2 feet).
River frontage and floodplain in Van Buren
The Seneca River and Erie Canal form Van Buren's north and west borders, and the town code office keeps a floodplain development application with its permit forms. For septic purposes the county guidelines require the whole system above the 100 year flood level with the elevations on the plan, and Appendix 75-A keeps fields 100 feet from the river, streams and wetlands.
The Seneca River from the Cross Lake outlet to Klein Island is also on the county septic replacement grant list, which covers failing or substandard systems within 250 feet of it.
How a septic design in Van Buren 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.
- Town building permit. Van Buren Code Enforcement at 7575 Van Buren Road, Baldwinsville, issues building permits and floodplain development permits.
- 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 Van Buren the slope limits matter on the drumlin sides (no field on slopes over 15 percent, mounds no steeper than 12 percent) and the flood elevation matters along the river.
- 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 Van Buren problems and how the design handles them
Slow perc on good looking ground
The problem: Madrid soil drains well at the surface but is moderately slow in the substratum, so trenches may need to be longer than an owner expects.
How the design handles it: The PE sizes trench length from the measured perc rate and bedroom count (110 gallons per day per bedroom for new construction) and lays trenches along the contour.
Steep drumlin side
The problem: Slopes over 15 percent are unacceptable for a field, and mounds are limited to 12 percent.
How the design handles it: The test locations go on the flatter shoulder of the drumlin. On a slope, the county wants the second perc hole 40 feet along the contour and 40 feet downslope of the first.
Replacing a field that never worked
The problem: If the new field goes where no field was approved before, or uses a raised bed or mound, New York requires a licensed design professional.
How the design handles it: We retest, the PE designs the replacement, and the plan goes to the county with the repair or full application fee as the case requires.
Timeline
Van Buren lots on well drained till can be tested most of the year. Lots near the river or on Hilton soils are worth testing in spring. Raised beds add the county's fill certification step: 6 months of settling through a freeze and thaw for native fill, or compaction in 6 inch lifts for 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 Van Buren 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
- Onondaga County WEP, Baldwinsville-Seneca Knolls WWTP
- Onondaga County Septic System Replacement Funding Program
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey, Onondaga County (NY067)
- USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO), septic tank absorption field ratings
- Town of Van Buren Code Enforcement
- Town of Van Buren, Sewer (WEP)
- Van Buren, New York
- USDA Official Series Description: Madrid
- USDA Official Series Description: Ontario
- USDA Official Series Description: Hilton
- USDA Official Series Description: Arkport
- USDA Official Series Description: Lairdsville
- USDA Official Series Description: Wampsville
More septic design in Onondaga County.
Tell us about the Van Buren lot.
Send the address. Estimate in 1 hour.
Free Written Estimate
Estimate in 1 hour.