One thing you will want to consider when you are buying or building a country home in either Harris County or Montgomery County is where you are going to get your water and how your septic will be handled. For the most part our country subdivisions are on community water and have their own septic systems. There are of course exceptions to this but I show in country subdivisions all the time and this seems to be the norm. Now if you are not in a subdivision then chances are good that you will have to have both septic and a well. Since we don’t deal with a lot of wells most of this post is going to be about Aerobic Septics.
In the homes built prior to around 1998 you will probably find the conventional septic systems. After 1998 most of the septic systems are going to be Aerobic septic. In both Harris and Montgomery Counties I think the only septic that is available is now the aerobic septic. As these conventional septic tanks get older many of them don’t pass inspections. When they don’t pass inspections the remedy usually ends up being with the owner having to put in a new aerobic septic. You are probably looking at a cost of $6000 to $8000 depending on how big of a system that you get. This is something that is regulated by the state and counties so you will need to get your permits.
The Aerobic septic acts like a small scale sewage treatment system. It is similar to a tank system but produces a high
quality secondary effluent which is sterilized and then used for surface irrigation. This means that at someplace on your property there will be a sprinkler system that will go off at night watering the yard so to speak with the discharge. You will want to mark the sprinkler head so you don’t run over it with the mower. Should you have any problem with the sprinkler heads you can find replacement parts at your local hardware store.
You MUST have a maintenance contract with an aerobic septic system company. This is a requirement and if you don’t chances are the county will find out and ask you to see them in court.
There’s not a lot of maintenance involved but you will have to put chlorine tablets in (believe me you will know if you forget to put them in). These are not the same tables as you use for a pool. Typically you can put in two tablets at a time and then check every 2 weeks to see if it needs more.
Basically the difference between the aerobic system and the old tank system is that the fluids are moved to the end of the line and then they are disbursed onto your lawn by a sprinkler system. I know that sounds gross but it does not smell and you will probably find that to be the greenest part of your yard.
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