Septic Installation in Parksville

What a septic installation includes

First we dig test pits and read the soil, then we draw up the system as the Authorized Person on the job. We put in the tank, the pipe and boxes that move the water, and the drain field. The filing is ours to handle, we're there for the final inspection, and we put the yard back the way we found it once the job is signed off. Within 30 days of our last day on site we send Island Health the Letter of Certification, and that's what lets you use the system.

Choosing the system type

A Type 1 is the basic setup — a tank and a drain field, and nothing else. Some Type 1s run on gravity and some use a pump; either way the treatment is the same. Add treatment gear on top of that and you have a Type 2, which suits tighter soil or a high winter water table. Of the three, a Type 3 carries the most treatment gear and goes on the tightest sites; a professional designs it and we build it. Each step up cleans the water further before it soaks away, and we pick the type once we've read your soil, checked the water table and measured the room on the lot.

Do you replace failed septic systems?

Yes — on a lot that already has a system we dig out or abandon the old tank and field, then put the new one in. We size a septic replacement to your soil and file it with Island Health, the same as any new install. Replacing the whole system costs you the same as a new one: roughly $15,000 for a straightforward Type 1 on soil that drains, up to $45,000 or more for a Type 2 on a tight lot. If it's only the drain field that has to go, you're looking at $10,000 to $25,000 or more.

New builds and rural acreage

On acreages around Coombs, Errington and Whiskey Creek that draw from a well, the setbacks off that well and off the property lines usually decide where the drain field goes — and sometimes which type of system you end up with. If you're building new, talk to us early. It's a lot easier to place the house, the driveway and the field on paper than it is to move one of them later.

The installation process

1. 1

   On-site assessment — we come out and walk the property with you, and the quote visit is free. Digging test pits, reading the soil and drawing up the design is a separate charge, billed as one item, and you get that price in writing before we start. Test pits tell us how fast the ground takes water, how high the winter water table climbs, and how far we have to stay from your well and the property lines.

2. 2

   System design and quote — for Type 1 and Type 2 we design the sizing as a ROWP. For a Type 3, a professional engineer prepares the design. Either way, you get a written quote.

3. 3

   Island Health filing — we file the drawings under the Sewerage System Regulation. Nothing gets dug until that's in.

4. 4

   Construction and certification — we put the tank and the drain field in exactly as filed, then send in the Letter of Certification so you can start using it.

Local conditions

Soil changes block to block around here. Sandy, gravelly ground takes water quickly through much of Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Down low near French Creek and the Englishman River the winter water table sits high, and on those lots we're usually heading for a Type 2. Out on the acreages it's the well setbacks that shape the whole layout.

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