All About Septic Systems – Part 1 of 6

What is a Septic System?

Some home buyers hear the word “septic” and think it is synonymous with “poisonous”. But when it comes to septic systems as private, on-site waste disposal, nothing could be further from the truth!

If you have one, a septic system is an essential part of the infrastructure that supports the functionality of your residence. A septic system is fairly simple to understand and easy to take care of, but if you are unfamiliar with how they work, these systems can seem confusing and mysterious. Hopefully this six part blog series will provide you with a basic familiarity with septic systems, how they work, why we inspect them and how they are maintained.

On-site, private septic systems are very common in central Virginia, even fairly close to the City of Charlottesville. Whenever property is too far from a municipal sewer system to easily connect, gray water (water down the drain from showers, laundry, sinks, dishwashers, etc) and black water (think: toilet) can be easily managed on-site by installing a septic system on the property surrounding your home. The Virginia Department of Health oversees the permitting process for these installations, which ensures that groundwater and well water are protected, among other protections. There are a number of restrictions about where a system can be placed on a property.

Here is a link to the state regulations.

Private, on-site systems use the composition of the soil to filter out contaminants, over a large area, and over a long time. Not all soils are optimum for filtration, but many in central VA are, and that’s a plus. Septic systems come in variety of configurations and use a lot of different approaches: holding tanks and leach fields, just holding tanks, cesspools, and a variety of hybrid methods, depending on what the local municipality, geology, geography and soil conditions allow.

Here is a great overview of septic systems, and here is an animation of a tank in use in a typical septic system installation.

When waste and waste water go down a drain or toilet, they exit the house through a pipe and then travel, either by gravity or a pump, to the area where the septic is stored and treated. Most of the time this is hidden underground, so the entire process is hidden from sight and smell!

With expert, licensed and legal installation, careful use and maintenance, an on-site private septic system should last for many, many years.

Read all the posts in this series –
1. What is a Septic System?
2. Getting a Septic System Inspected
3. Common Septic Issues and Problems
4. What Happens if a Problem is Found at the Septic Inspection?
5. The Difference between a Buyer’s Septic Inspection and a Seller’s Septic Inspection
6. Maintaining a Septic System

You can also download the EPA Homeowner’s Guide to Septic Systems for more general information, including helpful illustrations of septic systems.