What Do I Need to Do If I Have an Alternative Septic System Installed to Serve my Northern Virginia Home?

Alternative Septic Systems have been a hot topic in the Virginia Legislature since 2009.  That's not to imply that Alternative Septic Systems are bad.  Being relatively new technology the purpose of all legislation surrounding these Alternative Septic Systems is to monitor them as we learn how they work in our climate.

To begin, if you were to install an Alternative Septic System on July 1, 2009 or after, you would need to comply with Interim Legislation and file a notice in the land record of your local jurisdiction.  This puts potential purchasers of your Property on notice to the additional maintenance that may be required with the Alternative Septic System. 

You see, the other part of the interim legislation that went into effect on July 1, 2009 regarding these Alternative Septic Systems is that owner's of these systems, servicing residential properties, will be required to follow the most stringent of the manufacturer's operation and maintenance instructions or local/state government requirements.

There is also Emergency Legislation that went into effect on April 7, 2010 that effects all Alternative Septic System users in Virginia. In Northern Virginia that's an estimated 2,600 households:  1,000 in Prince William County, 600 in Fairfax County and about another 1,000 in Loudoun County.

I will discuss the Emergency Legislation in another post, so stay tuned.  For now, you can find the legislation discussed above on the Virginia Department of Health's website by clicking here.

Chris Ann Cleland, Associate Broker- Licensed in Virginia, GRI, SFR, Northern Virginia Short Sale Specialist. Affiliated with Long & Foster, 7526 Limestone Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155.  To contact Chris Ann, call 703-402-0037 or email chrisann@LNF.com.  Or you can visit her website:  www.nvarealestate.net.

Header photo is the Bristow, VA community of Bramear, taken by Chris Ann Cleland during the blizzards of 2009-2010.