If we are buying a home, especially one with a septic system, asking where the sewage drains to is not an unreasonable question. Too many times on an inspection is it found out that the sewage drains to somewhere it shouldn’t.
Examples of this vary greatly. Sometimes you have sewage being drained into what is called a dry well – which is only meant for grey water (sinks, showers, things like that) and not sewage.
Other things that are sometimes seen are what people think are septic systems, but end up being cesspools. Or even the occasional buried 55-gallon drum in the backyard.
Then there is the old sewage pipe to open-air trick that some people try to pull. Sewage lines can be found going off into the backyard, woods, storm sewer, down the side of a hill, into the neighbor’s yard, and even into rivers, ponds, and streams.
Many of these situations are bad just by themselves – but some of them can lead to some heavy fines and repairs.
All of these situations have been found before – so don’t be afraid to ask the question.
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