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 Perk Tests or

Perkolation Tests

     Perk tests are done to see if the soil that surrounds the future drainfield will be able to absorb
the amount of water that will be placed on it by the home. There have been different methods of
performong a perk teat over the years but for the most part these days a backhoe is used to dig
three deep large holes then an inspector from the health department looks at the soil to see if it has
any sandy mix or if it is solid clay. The opinion of the health department inspector comes from
experience with what will and what won't work. You may not like what they have to say  but it's
cheaper than installing an entire system and finding out that it's worthless.

     In the old days they dug a hole with a shovel and filled it with water once the water soaked into
the ground they filled it again and timed how long it took for the water to absorb into the soil. The
longer it took for the second batch of water to absorb into the soil the larger the drainfield you had
to have.

     You should never buy a piece of land to build a new home on until you know if the soil perk test
is current and approved. if it is not approved you could spend fifteen to twenty five tousant dollars to
have an engineered drainfield designed and installed. Almost any piece of land can have a septic system
but some require a little more thought and know how than just a standard system

Searching google from this site should bring you a response more targeted to the septic system.