"buffalobill" wrote in message
oups.com...
i don't know, but you're lucker than i am.
some government employees were told to clean out an old room and threw
away filed and approved building plans in an old storage room in
buffalo ny city hall back in the 1960s including some of mine from the
1910 era.
in your case hidden underground rocks and the number of years that have
gone by are other factors besides lost memories of former owners as to
where all the pipes are.
your thirsty tree probably has also enjoyed free fertilizer from your
system for many years.


Aren't trees bad for the drain field though? It is conceivable that the
tree grew after/at the time the house was planted, maybe even the
construction helped bury the seed that spawned the tree?? I don't know, but
it's definitely around 40 years old, its a BIG tree but then again Douglas
Firs grow pretty fast. I ought to scan in the "As built" to show you how
primitive it is, although if the responses here are any indication its
extremely well crafted by comparison - heck it's on graph paper! Still, I
have to wonder about the crazy angles and poor overall layout of the drain
field.

If/When the city does finally incorporate my development and routes sewer
through the neighborhood, do I have to do something to deactivate the septic
system? Can I just dispose of the tank, re-route the sewer line, then let
the trees and bushes take care of the drain field?

Eigenvector wrote:
I recently requested an "As built" drawing from my county health
department
for the septic system. What they faxed back to me was not exactly what I
was expecting to see. It was dated 1960 and listed the owners, builders,
and inspector.

I happen to have a degree in engineering and I was expecting to see an
engineering drawing or something official (maybe even on vellum) - what I
got was best described as "back of the napkin with a coffee ring as a
bonus
decoration". First, is that realistic, I don't want to harp on it if in
fact that's what they're all like, and second how truthfully can I take
the
measurements and layout of the "drawing"?

I'm looking at the drawing and it looks like they deliberately routed the
drain field so that it goes off in weird angles, makes several beelines
for
the massive Douglas Fir in my backyard and otherwise doesn't efficiently
utilize the space provided for it. I was expecting a nice layed out
route
involving 90 deg bends and long branches. What I see is the first line
making a large oblique angle into the middle of the yard then sending
branches back toward the tree, finally connecting back to itself after
circling the tree.

Was it common to design the field to incorporate trees as a means of
absorbing water?