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Sewage system mahole cover Find Out if a Building is Connected to a Septic Tank or a Municipal Sewer

How to determine if a building is connected to sewer or septic system:

This article discusses what a property buyer can do to determine whether a home or other building she is buying is connected to a public sewer line or to a private septic system.

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.

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How to Determine If a Building Is Connected to a Private Septic Tank or a Public Community Sewer System

Steel septic tank by a home

Failure to connect an older building to a sewer line can lead to some ugly surprises, including unanticipated expense to repair an old septic system, expense to connect the building to the new sewer line, and even serious life safety hazards if an old septic tank is at risk of collapse.

Our friend Steve Vermilye, an inspector and contractor in New Paltz, New York, discovered that an office building that everyone thought had been connected to the New Paltz sewer system for decades was in fact connected to an old cesspool in the back yard of the property.

That condition was discovered during new construction, happily before someone fell into the cesspool.

Article Series Contents

Septic tanks or other private onsite waste disposal systems are used to handle sewage and wastewater in neighborhoods that are not served by a municipal or community sewer system.

Sewer systems include large sewer main drains that are routed through neighborhoods they serve, often in the street but sometimes through an easement across multiple properties. These drains carry sewage and wastewater to a community or municipal sewage treatment plant, sometimes by way of one or more pumping stations if the terrain is hilly.

What Questions to Ask About Public Sewers or Private Septic Systems When Buying a Home, Building, or Property

The realtor or seller of a home or other property should be able to tell a buyer answers to the following questions, but if s/he cannot, we have lots of advice on how to find these important answers anyway:

  1. Is there a municipal sewer system in the neighborhood and on your particular street? 

    We discuss how to find the answer to this question

    at CLUES INDICATING A SEWER LINE is PRESENT

  2. Is the building connected to the public sewer or does it use a private septic system? Don't assume that every home on a street is connected to the public sewer main that runs nearby.

    We discuss how to find the answer to this question

    at CLUES INDICATING CONNECTED to SEWER.

Five possible outcomes to these questions about sinks, toilets, sewers, and septic tanks:

  1. If no one seems to know if the building is connected to a public sewer or a private septic tank and drainfield system, don't give up, we can still find out what you need to know.

    We discuss this case

    at WHAT TO DO IF NO ONE KNOWS if its Sewer or Septic?

  2. If the building is connected to a private septic system, lots of other important detailed questions need to be asked.

    See our detailed advice

    at SEPTIC SYSTEM, HOME BUYERS GUIDE which discusses the inspections and tests that should be performed, introduces the need for septic system maintenance, and describes how to find septic tanks, distribution boxes, and drainfields.

  3. If you are told that the building is for sure connected to a public sewer system, there are still a few questions to ask, and if the home is an older one that could have been built before the sewer system was put in place, there are some important questions to resolve about safety, older septic systems that may still be in place, and more.

    We discuss these

    at GUIDE for BUILDINGS CONNECTED to PUBLIC SEWER where we handle the cases of both newer homes and older homes which have different concerns about connecting to a public sewer.

  4. A building may be connected to both public sewer and private onsite septic systems. It sounds odd but some older buildings that have been connected to a public sewer may still have old laundry sinks running to a drywell or even a bathroom still connected to a septic tank or cesspool.

    We tell you how to figure this out

    at GUIDE for BUILDINGS PRE-DATING SEWER INSTALLATION

  5. A building may have no waste piping, or almost no waste piping system whatsoever. If we exclude buildings that are immediately obvious as having no plumbing whatsoever, there remain a smaller number of cases in which a building has self-contained or waterless systems for washing or toilets.

    You'll probably notice this as soon as someone needs to use a toilet or even wash a dish. But it's not as odd as you may imagine.

    Some buildings may use self-contained very limited-capacity waterless or low-water toilets, for example, and some may use graywater systems that recycle and re-use much of their wastewater. We discuss these systems

    at SEPTIC DESIGN ALTERNATIVES.

What Does It Mean If No Public Sewer Line is Available at a Property?

Pumping out of a septic tank in winter

If there is no sewer system present the home cannot be attached to one and a local septic system is or should be present.

But don't worry, it's possible to treat building sewage and wastewater onsite safely and with good sanitation.

Millions of private homes in the U.S. and in many other countries are served by private onsite septic and wastewater treatment systems.

See some basic comments about buying a home with a septic tank at

GUIDE for BUILDINGS CONNECTED to PRIVATE SEPTIC
then see the critical advice on how to proceed which we describe at

SEPTIC SYSTEM, HOME BUYERS GUIDE
which discusses the inspections and tests that should be performed, introduces the need for septic system maintenance, and describes how to find septic tanks, distribution boxes, and drainfields.

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."

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2020-08-16 by (mod) - What does it mean if a house has a Public Septic?

Sandy:

Either someone is speaking without taking great care of word choice, and they're referring to a building connected to a public sewer system,

or

In some developments such as small clusters of housing a local private onsite septic system may be installed - also referred to as a shared septic system.

In either case, sewage and other wastewater leaves your house for treatment and disposal at a public or community septic system or sewage treatment system.

Homeowners connected to a community sewage or septic system may expect to be periodically assessed for the cost of operation and maintenance of the community septic.

On 2020-08-16 by Sandy

What does it mean if a house has a Public Septic?

On 2018-12-12 by (mod) - how to find out if there is a septic tank or public sewer system

On 2017-12-27 by Anonymous

Michael, Nikki and Clive:

The steps are given in the SEPTIC or SEWER CONNECTION? article above - please take a look and then let me know if any of that information leaves you with questions.

Also see CLUES INDICATING A SEWER LINE is PRESENT

On 2018-08-28 by Michael O'Keefe

3725 Longview Carlsbad, Ca. Is it connected to city sewer system?

On 2018-12-11 by Clive Nada

How do I found out if I have a septic tank or soakaway

On 2017-12-26 by Nikki Ingle

Does 3 cline drive Granite Falls NC 28630 have a septic tank?

On 2017-02-07 by Greg

Who is responsible to move sewer line from old sewer main to the new main

On 2016-11-03 by Steph

My toilet won't stop backing up I need to find out why

On 2015-06-30 by Anonymous

Thanks, I mowed today to where I could see into the lagoon, and the water looks clear, but there is a lot of duckweed on top. There is a 4 inch white pvc pipe sticking upright out of the water, and the top of a t post. I have someone set up to come out to look at the well, I will have to see if he canlook at the lagoon, or knows someone. Thank you for your response.

On 2015-06-29 - by (mod) -

Linda

From the test you describe I would by no means assume that the onsite septic system is working nor that it is safe. For example a floor drain may simply drain to daylight or to a drywell.

Septic lagoons require maintenance and cleaning - search InspectApedia.com for SEPTIC LAGOON to see details.

I suggest an onsite inspection by a local expert.

On 2015-06-29 by Linda

Hi, we bought a property that was a gas station and motor court along historic rt 66 back in the day. It has been empty for years, but we are wanting to put a mobile home on it. The neighbors have told us the location of a mobile home that was there about 7 years ago. There is a lagoon, and there is a well. We ran the well into a drain in the floor of the old garage for overnight, and it did not back up. I am wondering of that means the lagoon is functional, and we could install a new pipe from the proposed mobile home to the lagoon. I also wonder, but no one knows, if there may have been a septic close to the previously placed trailer. Would it likely still be functional? Should we bother looking for it? How deep would the old lines be buried, if we wanted to dig some parallel trenches to look for them ( parallel to the back of where the trailer was). There are some areas where the grass won't grow well., should I dig gently there? And if I find something, call a stic person?


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