Useful Information About Septic Systems on the Bolivar Peninsula
If your property is located on the Bolivar Peninsula, the chances are good that The WRM Group has conducted a site evaluation or installed a system in your neighborhood.
There are basically two types of septic systems on the Bolivar Peninsula. They are “conventional” systems and “aerobic” systems. A conventional system is a gravity flow system where the bacterial action to break down the septic waste begins in the septic tanks and is completed as the effluent passes through the soil in the drainfield area. In an aerobic system, air is pumped into the aerobic tank to provide the bacteria with enough additional oxygen to cause the bacteria to thrive and almost completely break down the septic waste prior to distributing the effluent to the drainfield area.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) formerly known as the TNRCC has statewide rules regarding septic systems. A septic system is also known as an On-Site Sewage Facility (OSSF). Basically, all septic waste created on a particular property must be disposed of on that property. There are a number of setback requirements (and other requirements) to ensure that this happens. Of particular concern in the existing rules is the fact that the bottom of the trenches in a drainfield must be high enough above the seasonal water table so as not to contaminate the water table with septic waste.
If you are installing a new septic system or replacing your existing system, you may wonder why you can’t have a system like your neighbor’s. In a nutshell, chances are that the rules for installing OSSFs have changed since your neighbor’s septic system was installed. (Your neighbor’s system is “grand fathered” until it fails at which time it will have to be brought into compliance with the existing TCEQ Rules.) The existing TCEQ Rules for installing OSSFs are quite specific on the type and kind of system that can be installed on a property depending on the physical characteristics of the property.
Drain field sizes are based on the water usage rate of the structure on the property and the absorptive capacity of the soil in the proposed drainfield area. (There are tables in the TCEQ Rules which stipulate these water usage rates and provide the absorptive capacity of different types of soils.) A number of setback requirements determine where tanks and the drainfield can be placed on a property. With a few exceptions, tanks and drainfield can be no closer than five feet to foundations, property lines and easements. In the case of waterlines, this distance is ten feet. In the case of open bodies of water, the distance for tanks is fifty feet and seventy five feet for a conventional drainfield and fifty feet for an aerobic drainfield. The bottoms of the trenches in a conventional drainfield can be no closer to the seasonal water table than two feet. This distance is reduced to one foot for aerobic systems incorporating disinfection (chlorination).
The WRM Group is licensed by the TCEQ conduct Site Evaluations and to install both conventional and aerobic systems. In addition, we can design septic systems and prepare permit applications for our customers. We also install septic systems designed and permitted by other individuals.
In almost all cases,a permit is required to install or repair an OSSF. The permitting authority for the Bolivar Peninsula is the Galveston County Health Department (GCHD). The County Engineers must also be informed that an application is being made for a septic permit.
The permitting process begins with a site evaluation of the property. In a site evaluation, the Site Evaluator makes a borehole or backhoe pit at each end of the proposed drainfield area. Typically the boreholes are four feet deep. From these borings, the Site Evaluator determines the type of soil in the drainfield area and if a “restrictive horizon” or the seasonal water table is within four feet of the existing surface soil. The TCEQ Rules require that site evaluations can only be performed by a licensed Site Evaluator. The site evaluation is then used as a basis for the type of OSSF to be designed and is included as a part of the permit application. Construction of an OSSF cannot begin until GCHD has reviewed and approved the permit application and the permit fee has been paid. A permit is valid for one year from the date of issue.
After installation, a continuous maintenance contract is required for an aerobic system. Three inspections annually (in four month intervals) must made on the aerobic system by a qualified maintenance company and the maintenance company must be “on call” if something should go wrong with the system between maintenance inspections. The WRM Group is qualified to install and maintain Clearstream Aerobic Systems. However, as a matter of choice, The WRM Group only enters into maintenance contracts for systems that they have personally installed.
Quite reasonably, most property owners would prefer to have a conventional septic system because it is less expensive to install and maintain. However, depending on the parameters surrounding a particular property, this is not always possible. In the designing process, The WRM Group looks at every conceivable possibility for the installation of a conventional system before recommending an aerobic design. This might be as simple as adding additional fill sand in the drainfield area to maintain the proper separation distance from the seasonal water table. Sometimes in this case, gravity flow to the drainfield is not possible and the use of a pump tank to lift the effluent to the drainfield area is required.
For more information, please feel free to call us at (936) 594-4818
Copyright 2003. The WRM Group, Inc.