Soils Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems

<div style='text-align:Left;'><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>Subsurface sewage disposal systems (SSDS) consist of a house sewer, a septic </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>tank followed by a leaching system, any necessary pumps and siphons, and a </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>groundwater control system upon which the operation of the leaching system </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>depends. This interpretation focuses mainly on the septic tank leaching field </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span>and groundwater control system </span>Soil Potential Ratings Soil potential ratings </p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'>indicate the relative quality of a soil for a particular use compared to other</p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'>soils in a given area, in this case the State of Connecticut.</p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>The rating criteria were developed by a committee of State and local </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>sanitarians, engineers, and installers. The soils data was provided by </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the performance </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>and site conditions for a typical system were defined. This information </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>provided a standard against which various combinations of properties of </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span>soils within Connecticut could be compared.</span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>The engineering and installation practices used to overcome various soil </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>limitations were listed, and their costs estimated. This information was </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>used to identify limitations and costs associated with installing an SSDS </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>on each soil in Connecticut. Soils with no or minor limitations for the </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>installation of an SSDS were rated the highest. Conversely, soils requiring </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>extensive site modification and design were rated the lowest. The ease of </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span>system installation, and therefore cost, formed the basis of the rating scheme.</span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span>Rating Classes</span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>The rating class definitions refer to installation of an SSDS that meets </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>State and local health code regulations. Soils with high potential have </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>characteristics that meet the performance standard. A typical system can </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>be installed at a cost of &quot;x&quot;, which represents the going rate for installing </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>an SSDS. The actual value of x varies depending upon many factors unrelated </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span>to soil properties. </span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>The cost of installing a leaching field is expressed as a multiple of x and </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>called the cost factor. For example, a cost factor of 3x to and 3.5x means </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>that the estimated cost of installing a leaching field in the particular </span></span></p><p style='margin:0 0 0 0;'><span><span>soil ranges from 3 to 3.5 times m