Grinder Pump to Sewer or Septic System

[Morris Liao]

Hello,

I am building a house on a hillside and I have a decision to make on sewage. I can either install a grinder pump and pump sewage up to the municipal sewer line above the house or install a gravity septic system below the house.

Any suggestions on which will be more reliable and less long term maintenance?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Diehard]

Not sure what a new septic system would cost in your area but in my area they cost between $20 and $30 K.

I'm sure you'll hear a lot of pros and cons on either arrangement.

Personally, I would opt for the "pumped to the municipal sewer line above the house", with one caveat. That is, a container/tank on site, sized to allow me to flow by gravity into it from the house and arranged with a level control to have grinder pump start and stop less frequently than it would with a smaller container. The size of the larger container could easily be based on a comfortable margin of safety in case the pump broke down and/or power went out(in the absence of a standby generator).

How high would you have to pump?

 

[Morris Liao]

Thanks for the reply. The sewer is probably 60 ft above the tank and about 50 ft away in lateral distance.

Yeah, the quote I got was about $25k for the septic, but with grinder pump will be about $15k with a $2k tap in and whatever the cost of pipe is to the public sewer, so I’m not sure how much I will really save with sewer.

 

[Diehard]

Yes I understand.
You can estimate your electrical cost to pump as well as other cost related to each system. But in the long run you really don't know what will come along.
I simply like the idea of getting away from a septic system and the potential problems in the long term. Although I haven't had any problems with my septic system in the 43 years I've lived here. KNOCK ON WOOD. Could have something to do with the fact that I live adjacent to a small wet land area and who knows where all my leachate is going?

Just out of curiosity, is that pump a package system including a small sump and level controls, completely installed for $15K? I would assume so.

 

[FishScreener]

In most jurisdictions, if you can connect to a regulated sewage system, you are required to make the connection.