Septic services · Parksville
Type 2 Septic Systems in Parksville
We design and build Type 2 systems for lots where winter water sits high or the soil is tight — around Parksville, French Creek, Qualicum Beach and Nanoose Bay — and we file every one with Island Health.
Parksville Septic Systems designs and installs Type 2 septic systems across Parksville, French Creek, Qualicum Beach and Nanoose Bay. A Type 2 sets a packaged treatment unit between the tank and the drain field, and it cleans the water on the way through — which is how a filed design works on ground too wet or too tight for a Type 1. On low-lying lots near French Creek, the Englishman River and parts of Nanoose Bay, a high winter water table usually means a Type 2. We file every one with Island Health as a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner (ROWP), and the Letter of Certification closes it out.
A new Type 2 around Parksville usually runs $25,000 to $45,000 or more. Which treatment unit we pick, how big the drain field has to be and how easily we can get equipment in all move it. Your own number comes out of the visit, in writing.
What makes a system Type 2
A Type 2 puts a treatment unit between the tank and the drain field. Inside that unit the water gets cleaned a second time, so the field sees far less than it would on a Type 1. That head start is what lets the field go into shallower or slower ground, and it's why so many Oceanside lots end up on a Type 2. BC's Sewerage System Regulation sets the level a Type 2 has to reach, and the unit we pick has to reach it.
When French Creek and low-lying sites need Type 2
Ground near French Creek, the Englishman River and the flatter parts of Nanoose Bay holds winter water. Sometimes there's a hard, packed layer a foot or two down that water won't go through; sometimes it's clay that drains but drains slowly. Either way there isn't enough dry ground beneath the field for a plain tank-and-field system to work. So we add a treatment unit, pump the water out under pressure, and lay a shallower bed of pipe. You get a system that fits your lot instead of one that has to sprawl across it.
Sizing, setbacks, and drain field options
We size a Type 2 around how much water your household puts out in a day, how fast your soil takes it, how high the winter water table climbs, and how far we have to stay from wells, creeks and property lines. On tight acreages around Coombs and Errington, the treatment gear is often the only reason a legal drain field fits on the lot at all. Where the ground allows it we lay the field in shallow trenches. Otherwise we build it up on top of the ground instead.
Maintenance a Type 2 requires
Every system we file comes with a maintenance plan — a Type 2 is no different there, and neither is a plain Type 1. What a Type 2 adds is the treatment unit, and most treatment units want a service visit once a year on top of routine tank pumping. We walk you through the whole schedule the day we hand the system over.
How we design and build a Type 2 system
- 1
Site and soil assessment — we dig test pits, see how fast the ground takes water, and find how high the winter water table climbs — that tells us which treatment unit to use and how to lay the field.
- 2
Type 2 design and quote — as a ROWP we size the treatment unit, tank, and drain field, set the setbacks, and give you a written design and quote before any filing.
- 3
Island Health filing — we file the design under the Sewerage System Regulation before construction starts; the maintenance plan goes in later, with the Letter of Certification.
- 4
Construction and start-up — we put in the tank, the treatment unit and the drain field exactly as filed, then start it up and tune it on site until it's running right.
- 5
Letter of Certification and Maintenance Plan — within 30 days of finishing we send Island Health the signed Letter of Certification, the as-built diagram and the maintenance plan. From then on the system is yours to use, and we go over the service schedule with you.
Local conditions
Across the Parksville and Oceanside area, sandy glacial soil in much of Parksville and Qualicum Beach can carry a Type 1. French Creek, the Englishman River flats and parts of Nanoose Bay routinely need a Type 2, because winter water sits high there and leaves too little dry ground under the field. On acreages around Coombs and Errington, a Type 2 is often what keeps the drain field inside the setbacks a well demands. Treatment gear needs looking after, so plan on a service visit once a year — the maintenance plan we file with the system spells out what and when.
In practice
- Situation
- On a lot like this — a three-bedroom house near French Creek, an old drain field giving up, and ground that stays soaked most of the winter — swapping in the same kind of field again isn't on the table.
- Complication
- Test pits show winter water sitting close to the surface, so there isn't enough dry ground beneath the field for a plain tank-and-field system to work. A mound would answer that, but on a lot this size it won't fit inside the setbacks around the well and the property lines.
- Resolution
- We design a Type 2 around a packaged treatment unit, pump the water out to shallow trenches, and file it with Island Health. Then we build it, start it up, and set the yearly service visit with you. The Letter of Certification goes in once the work is signed off, and from then on the system is yours to use.
People also ask
When is a Type 2 septic system required in BC?
When the soil, the seasonal high water table, or the setbacks on the site don't leave enough dry ground under a plain tank-and-field system, we design a Type 2 so the property can meet the Sewerage System Regulation.
How much does a Type 2 septic system cost near Parksville?
Most Type 2 systems around Parksville and Oceanside land between $25,000 and $45,000 or more, depending on the treatment unit, how big the field has to be, and how easily we can get equipment in. You get your own number in writing after we've been out.
Does a Type 2 system need annual maintenance?
Yes. Every system we file comes with a maintenance plan, and a Type 2 has a treatment unit on top of the tank. Most of those want a service visit once a year, plus your routine tank pumping. That's what keeps the drain field alive, and the drain field is the part you don't want to replace.
Can a Type 2 replace a failed drain field on a wet lot?
Often yes. Where a plain tank-and-field replacement no longer suits the soil or the water table, we redesign it as a Type 2 — treatment gear, water pumped out under pressure, a shallower bed of pipe — then file it with Island Health as an altered system.
For related help, see septic installation and septic repair, or compare typical prices in the septic cost guide. We work in Qualicum Beach and Nanoose Bay.
Ready for a Type 2 septic system quote in Parksville?
Tell us about the property and the job, and we’ll come out and look. We work right across the Regional District of Nanaimo, and the visit costs you nothing.