Know your septic system and do not allow your transaction to go down the drain due to lack of FHA financing.

There are several methods for treating waste water on site of residential and commercial properties.  Make sure your appraiser and agent knows the difference and your listing is correct to avoid costly headaches and risk losing a buyer due to FHA Septic Inspection problems. 

Two common forms of wastewater treatment are Aeration Systems and Septic Tanks.

An aeration wastewater treatment system and a septic tank system are actually competing systems for treating wastewater. Sometimes “septic system” is mistakenly used when there is an individual private sewer treatment system on a residential site.

An aeration system is a wastewater treatment system and is classified as an alternative wastewater treatment system, and does not include a septic tank at all.  An aeration system may include an aerator.   Some septic systems also utilize aerators to stir the sewage.

There are pro’s and con’s to each, but an aeration system takes up much less space and can be on smaller lots without the need for a large drain field (leach field).

Many times, as the Geauga county Health Department States, an aeration system can look like a regular septic tank on the surface.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Exchange, our local MLS, has separate selections in the listing input function for Private Sewer, Septic, Cistern, and Other for seward treatment.

FHA and HUD require that drainfields and septic tanks are a specified distance from wells. However, a aeration system does not utilize a drainfield.  Knowning the actual type of system and having a diagram with distances or receipt with the type of system installed ready for the appraiser will help you avoid potential problems by avoiding FHA mandated septic inspections.

Below are some references on the differences:

National Sanitation Foundation website on each type:

Septic:

http://www.nsf.org/consumer/wastewater_treatment_systems/wastewater_septic.asp?program=WastewaterTreSys

Alternative Systems:

http://www.nsf.org/consumer/wastewater_treatment_systems/wastewater_alternative.asp?program=WastewaterTreSys

Geauga County Health Department:

http://www.geaugacountyhealth.org/pdfs/SewageBooklet.PDF