Can a leach field be positioned supstantially lower than your septic tank?

A friend has recently purchased what use to be a vacation home built in the early 1980's. The original builder is now deceased and any details of the septic system appear to have been lost at the time of his death. No pumping for inspection of the septic tank were carried out at the time of the property sale and it's possible the tank has never been pumped in all these years. The approximate location of the tank is known but what the field consists of and its location are unknown. During a conversation with the local code official I was told that he had recently found an old system that used a car buried and filled with large rocks as the "field" for a system of that vintage. Many vacation homes of that era only had 500 steel gallon tanks.

So we're looking at the potential need to install a 1200 gallon tank and acceptable distribution field. One problem with this is the topography of the land the house is built on. It's placed on a ridge with room for the house, driveway and septic tank but the land slops off significantly in the area near the tank where one might place a filed. I'm wondering if it would be possible to design a system where lines could be run parallel to the slope but am unsure if it's OK to pass the effluent down a steep drop to each of the distribution boxes that would be needed for the system. I hesitate to call in an engineer until I have some handle one the potential to create a workable system.

Is it acceptable to send effluent down a steep slope to a distribution box which then passes it passes it to a gently sloped field pipe?

Thanks for any advice or ideas on how to proceed.

Hugh

You need to find a licensed septic installer.

Thanks for the reply She-Plumber. I was able to find my answer elsewhere . Slope to the septic tank can be as much as 3 in 12 if not more while slope from the tank to the field is even less restricted on the steep end of the spectrum. Within the the field is of course highly restricted.

Hugh

sciguy said:

Thanks for the reply She-Plumber. I was able to find my answer elsewhere . Slope to the septic tank can be as much as 3 in 12 if not more while slope from the tank to the field is even less restricted on the steep end of the spectrum. Within the the field is of course highly restricted.

Hugh

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You may already be aware of it, assuming the requirements are the same in your area, but leaching fields must be a minimum distance above the ground water level. Around my neck of the woods, many require mounded systems.

In our area you must be a licensed septic installer as requirements for Counties differ.