Septic Engineer in Weedsport, NY

Weedsport septic design, answered fast

The Village of Weedsport runs its own treatment plant, upgraded from 0.30 to 0.55 million gallons per day of capacity to handle growth in the village and nearby town areas. Outside the sewered streets, the Town of Brutus is septic country: drumlin farms, the roads toward Cato and Port Byron, and new lots near the Thruway. A new system there needs a stamped plan before Cayuga County will accept it.

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

Brutus soils

The drumlins are Honeoye silt loam, very deep and well drained, with Lima silt loam, moderately well drained, on their flanks. Palmyra gravelly loam fills the outwash benches. In the canal-side flats, Canandaigua silty clay loam and Lyons silt loam are both poorly to very poorly drained; the USDA places Lyons in depressions and low areas of till plains, sometimes in seeps on gentle slopes.

The pattern is easy to read on a map and harder on the ground, because a single parcel can run from a drumlin side down into a wet swale. That is why the deep hole location matters. On the drumlin side, a conventional trench field with four feet of usable soil is common. In the low ground, water inside two feet calls for a shallow trench system or fill. Under Appendix 75-A, a raised system needs the high groundwater at least one foot below the original surface and slopes of 15 percent or less.

How it works

1. Send it in. Address, bedrooms, new or replacement. Estimate in 1 hour.
2. Testing. Perc tests and a deep hole by the design professional before plans, as Cayuga County requires.
3. Stamped plan. Field located on the best soil on the lot, with a 50 percent reserve area.
4. County submittal. Three copies, application and $150 to the Cayuga County Health Department, 8 Dill Street, Auburn.
5. Town permit. The county sends its acceptance memo to the Brutus Code Enforcement Officer.
6. Install and certify. The PE checks the work before backfill and files the certificate of construction letter.

What gets checked

• Perc rates inside the 1 to 60 minutes per inch range used in Appendix 75-A's trench length table.
• Gravity lines no longer than 60 feet; pressure or dosed lines no longer than 100 feet.
• A dosing unit when total trench length passes 500 feet, and alternating units past 1,000 feet.
• Roof, footing, garage and cellar drains kept out of the septic system.
• No field under a driveway, a building or an above-ground pool.

Weedsport problems and fixes

Timeline

Up to 4 to 6 weeks for county approval after a complete submittal, per the county application, plus testing time before it and install time after. The county does not inspect before backfill, so the PE verification step is scheduled with the install.

Sources

• NYS DOH, 10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A, Wastewater Treatment Standards, Residential Onsite Systems
• Cayuga County Health Department, Septic System Installation and Inspection
• Cayuga County Health Department, Instructions to Obtain Septic System Plan Approval for New Construction
• Cayuga County Health Department, Application to Install a New Septic System (rev. 1/7/2025)
• Cayuga County Health Department, Application to Modify/Replace an Existing Septic System (rev. 1/7/2025)
• NYCOM, Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Project, Village of Weedsport (2011 LGAA)
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Honeoye
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Lima
• USDA NRCS Official Soil Series Description, Palmyra
• 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.