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This article explains what to do if you are buying a home or other building and no one seems to know if it is connected to a private septic tank and drainfield (or similar onsite waste disposal system) or connected to a public sewer line. A reader asked, "How do I know if the house I am purchasing has a septic tank?" Often the answer to this question is well known, documented, and everyone is confident of the facts. But in older communities, especially if the age of a building is greater than the age of the community sewer system, even if a sewer is installed right in the street in front of a building, that building may never have been connected to the sewer line.

Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical reviewers are welcome and are listed at "References." This is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

What To Do If No One Knows Whether a Building Is Connected to the Public Sewer Line or Not

If an owner or realtor tells you that a sewer system is installed but the house is older than the sewer and no one knows for sure if the house was ever connected to the sewer, some investigation is needed.

Even if we see that there is a sewer line in the street on which the house is located, how do we know if the home is connected to it? 

We can do several things to find out whether a home or other building is connected to a public sewer system or to a private septic tank system:

1. Find out if a public sewer line is even available for the property or building in which you're interested. there are lots of ways to find out if a sewer main is present. We outline them in the next chapter of this article at Clues Indicating a Sewer System is Present. Obviously if no public sewer is available you'll need to begin a septic tank and drainfield investigation. But it's also worth asking local building authorities if there is a plan to add a public sewer in the neighborhood. Knowing that a public sewer line is coming, and when, can inform your plans for septic system maintenance, repair, and replacement options.
   
   
2. If a local sewer main is right at the property you'll still need to find out if the building is connected to it. See Clues Indicating a Building is Connected to Sewer and don't assume that just because a sewer main is nearby that your building has been connected to it.
   
   
3. Ask local plumbers or septic contractors if they’ve done work on the house or on a septic system there, or if they have worked on sewer main or septic tank connections for other nearby buildings
   
   
4. Ask the town building department if a sewer main is present, and if so, ask if they have records of the property being connected to the sewer;
   
   
5. Look for visual evidence that a septic tank was or remains at the property such as depressions in the ground, stones marking tank or cleanout locations, even wet areas and odors (unfortunately indicating a problem) can indicate that a septic tank or cesspool is present. For older properties you should do this even if the building is presently connected to a public sewer.
   
   
6. Finally, as a last resort you can trace the piping underground to find if it heads to a sewer main passing near the property or conversely, to an onsite septic tank or cesspool. Tracing house waste piping to its destination, whether that destination is a septic tank or a sewer line, is a similar process.
   
   
   1. See How to Find the Septic Tank – since these methods can also help you find and follow the course of a buried main drain that connects to a sewer. There are various methods of pipe tracing including simple plumbing snakes and probes and more sophisticated electronic pipe sensing systems
      

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SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME
SEPTIC INFO ARTICLES
  Info for Home Buyers or Owners
    Septic or Sewer Connection?
    What to Ask About Sewers or Septics
    What if Nobody Knows if its Sewer or Septic?
    Clues Indicating a Sewer System is Present
    Clues Indicating a Building is Connected to Sewer
    Guide for Buildings Connected to a Public Sewer
    Guide for Buildings Pre-Dating Sewer Installation
    Guide for Buildings Connected to a Private Septic
  Septic System Design
  Septic Inspection Testing
  Septic Maintenance Repair
  Septic Component & Product Suppliers
  Septic Videos
HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
HOME SELLERS GUIDE TO SEPTIC INSPECT
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING PROCEDURE
SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
• Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

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