AFFORDABLE SEPTIC TANK INSTALLATION IN Montrose, CO

What Is the Process for Septic Tank Installation in Montrose?

For any septic tank installation, especially one with the unique challenges of alpine valley terrain, the first step is always research. We’ll need to get expert soil analysis to determine the exact composition of the soil on your land. We’ll need to survey the area and understand the unique terrain and slopes on your property. 

After we have all the information we need, then comes planning. We’ll need to diligently engineer every aspect of your tank install to ensure smooth execution and optimal functionality. All designs and plans will need to be submitted along with our research data with a permit application before we can start work.

Once permits are approved, then we start excavation and get your new tank in the ground. It’s not as simple as just dropping it in and burying it though. We’ll need to connect to your plumbing and check every detail of placement and angles to ensure that everything went exactly as we planned. Once we’re sure that everything went smoothly and will run well for decades, we backfill and your new septic tank is ready to go.

If it’s a new installation of an entire septic system, there’s quite a bit more to do. Septic systems don’t only consist of a tank to store waste. Waste flows from your house through sewage pipes to your septic tank. From there, solids in your waste break down and separate from the water which then slowly flows back out to a drain field on your property. There it drains through the final filter of the soil and reenters the groundwater. If you need a total septic system from scratch, all that infrastructure will need to be designed and installed as well.

How Does Permitting Work for Installing Septic Tanks in Montrose?

To obtain permits for a septic tank installation in Montrose, you’ll have to contact the Montrose County Planning & Development Department. Before you submit an application, you’ll need to have a Colorado-certified engineer like us approve your design, plan, long-term maintenance, and inspection schedule which you’ll include along with your soil analysis and geology report.

The number of requirements for a septic system permit in Montrose can be a little dizzying, but we know our way around these regulations pretty well and can guide you through it. Regulations are important with wastewater. Improperly designed or executed septic tanks can have detrimental effects on the surrounding environment, and risk contaminating drinking water. The steps required for a permit and the regulation over septic systems ensure that wastewater is disposed of responsibly and efficiently for everybody’s benefit.

How Much Does Septic Tank Installation Usually Cost in Montrose?

Septic tank installation can be a little more expensive than the national average here in Montrose, but the cost of any particular septic tank installation can vary wildly depending on a few different factors. Some installs may run as low as $1600, and some may be as expensive as $16,000. Your specific wastewater needs and the features of your land will determine what sort of septic tank you need which will largely determine the cost.

The Amount of Wastewater Generated by Your Home

How much wastewater your house generates will determine the size of the tank you need. In terms of cost, a bigger tank will mean more materials and more labor, but it’s absolutely necessary to make sure that your wastewater processing system can handle anything your home can throw at it. The size of your tank is usually determined by your total number of bathrooms and bedrooms to ensure that the home’s infrastructure holds up for whoever may live there during the life of your septic tank.

The Geology of Your Property

The specific makeup of your soil and the lay of the terrain on your land could have a significant effect on the cost of the septic tank installation. They don’t call it the Rocky Mountains for no reason, but the rocks in our soil complicate more than just excavation. The specific composition of the soil on your property will determine a lot about your septic needs. If initial soil analysis shows that your soil is particularly poorly drained, then the drain field for a septic system will have to be larger to allow wastewater to permeate efficiently into the soil and be filtered back into the groundwater.

Slopes and steep grades on your land could also complicate septic tank installation. If a gentle gravity feed from the septic tank to the drain field can’t be safely established, then we may have to encourage flow with pumps. While septic systems whose flow is propelled by pumps work perfectly fine, adding electricity to your septic system will have an upfront cost in addition to affecting your energy bill monthly.

New Install or Replacement Tank

We’ve done plenty of septic tank installations for new construction and also lots that were to replace an old and dilapidated tank in an existing system. It may seem pretty intuitive to think that building a new system from scratch may be a higher cost than replacing a tank, but that’s not necessarily always the case. It’s true that with a new system there’s a lot of infrastructures that need to be engineered along with the tank, but even when those systems are already in place, we may find some surprises and setbacks in what was left behind by the old tank.

Typically, when we’re doing septic tank replacements, it’s because the tank is old and near the end of its lifespan. This often means it’s running into problems, and it could be concealing serious hazards that don’t become apparent until we’re actually doing the replacement. Unexpected problems like this can be huge setbacks at best, dangerous ecological disasters at the worst. Often even the plumbing to the house or drain field is hiding problems as well in these old systems and will have issues that need to be addressed. These can add up to increase the cost.

What Type of Septic Tank Is Best For Residents in Montrose?

Without knowing specifics about your land and wastewater infrastructure, it’s tough to say exactly what type of septic tank will fit your particular circumstances best. There are lots of different types of septic tanks out there and different ways they can be built. As for their construction materials, we’ve seen tanks made from steel, plastics, and fiberglass, but most people in Montrose prefer septic tanks made of concrete. Concrete septic tanks offer all the strength advantages of a solidly built steel tank, but unlike steel, they won’t corrode and rust after a few decades. Like plastic tanks, concrete tanks can last a long time but are also capable of withstanding a lot more pressure from the rocky soil without rupturing than their plastic or fiberglass alternatives.

The rocky soil around Montrose can put a lot of pressure on your tank over the years and when you install a new septic tank you want it to last as long as possible. For all these reasons, for most people, concrete is the best option. There are occasionally scenarios in which another material might be more suited for your property though.

The vast majority of septic tanks we see installed in Montrose are for conventional gravity flow septic systems. There may, however, be aspects of your property that make it difficult or even impossible to design a conventional septic system. These conventional systems rely on gravity naturally encouraging the flow of waste from your home to the tank and then in turn from the tank to the drain field. If the drainage on your property makes it impossible to accomplish this without risking contaminating your drinking water source, then we may have to design an alternative septic system for you. Just because conventional systems are popular doesn’t mean that there aren’t other septic systems that work great, it’s just impossible to say which will work best for you without first knowing the details of your land-specific circumstances.

How Often Do Homeowners in Montrose Need to Have Their Septic Tank Inspected?

While neither Montrose County nor the State of Colorado mandates a specific frequency of inspections, both do require regular maintenance and inspection by professionals like us. Any homeowner with a septic tank should really be having it inspected by our team no less frequently than every three years. Depending on what the inspector finds, you should also plan on having your tank cleaned every three to five years. You don’t exactly see problems coming from your septic tank. Our inspector is your only window to any issues that may be developing in your septic system. Preventative repairs on a septic system can be relatively affordable and convenient compared to the absolute disaster that may result from having unknown problems in your septic tank for years.

As your septic tank processes waste, the water separates from solids that are heavier and sink in the tank. Over time, bacteria break down the solids at the bottom of the tank. This releases more water, but also an oily scum that is lighter than water and floats to the top of the tank. Your septic system depends on water from the central layer flowing in one direction through to the drain field gradually. If your tank is left uninspected and uncleaned for a long time, the solid layer and oily layer can build up to the point that they can start to interfere with your septic system’s functionality, which can result in solids escaping through to the drain field and contaminating the land, or out of control clogs created from the slimy, oily, scum at the top layer of your tank can cause sewage backups into your house.

Are There Any Rebates Available For Septic Tank Services in Montrose? 

Unfortunately, there aren’t any rebates for septic tank services here in Montrose. Due to our population falling under the 50,000 mark here though, the USDA considers us a rural area and does offer some programs to help fund septic system repairs and improvements through loans and grants. Because wastewater is such an environmentally important issue, the EPA also keeps a list of federal resources to help homeowners finding assistance or funding to improve septic systems for more sustainable wastewater solutions.