Overview

There are site limitations for private sewage-disposal systems. Not all pieces of land are suitable. Land developers and builders need to be able to spot land that is likely to give them trouble. Experience does much to help in this area. After several years of buying and developing land, a person begins to know good soil by sight.

There are little signs that can give you hints about the quality of land. For example, bulges and occasional glimpses of rock on the land s surface could mean that bedrock is close to the surface. This will certainly interfere with a private sewage-disposal system.

When I was developing land and building homes in Virginia, septic systems were a common part of my job. In all the jobs I did with septic systems, I never encountered bedrock. Most of the soil conditions were very good for leach fields. This has not been the case since I moved to Maine.

Land in Maine, where I work, is rocky. Most of the rock is underground but not by much. Bedrock, or ledge, as it s called in Maine, can be within inches of the topsoil. It took me awhile to get used to this fact. It affects the installation of septic systems and foundations. Quoting a price for a job without knowing that ledge is present can be a financial disaster. Blasting out bedrock to get a full foundation in can destroy any profits a builder hopes to make if the work is not planned...