Chapter 24 - Something Doesn't Smell Right

This 70's house was built before the sprawl of Las Vegas and Clark County had crept so far west. There was no organized water or sewerage systems for the house to connect to at that time. Therefore, this house has been on a septic tank system for 30+ years. Most of us that grew up in the 70's probably lived in houses with septic tanks and just didn't know it but by the time we were old enough to purchase our first homes, most homes were connected to the local sewer system.

To close the well and join the network for water was easy and inexpensive. Clark County has a very generous grant that subsidizes the cost to connect to the county water. They pay up to 85% of the cost to cap the well, trench the home's new water line and attach to the main water line.

To join the sewerage system was not so easy. As the Health Department explained to us, "There IS NOT such an elaborate grant for sewerage connections as there is for water linkage. Water is very scarce here in Las Vegas so the Water District will pay a lot to obtain your water rights and cap your well."  I guess sewerage is not so scarce here in Las Vegas because it would cost us about $60,000 for the priviledge of connecting.

If the house is within 400 yards of a sewer line, the law says you must connect, no matter the cost. If your house is outside of 400 yards, the law allows you to stay on your septic system. We are about 2 blocks or 540 yards away from the line and so we planned to stay as is. Problem number one solved.

Next Problem Number Two, are the current septic tank and leach fields in "compliance" with the law? First, someone had to explain what a leach field was and for those of you that do not know, let me pass on what we have learned.

A septic system has a holding tank and any gases or liquids are then metered out to several perforated pipes. These perforated pipes then deliver the liquid to a large soil surface area, called a leach field for absorption. The leach field is deep under the ground. There are lot's of rules and regulations on how far the leach field is from the house, from the road and what is allowed on top of the area. 

Our septic tank is located in the front of the house, outside the driveway and the leach field is located inside the circular driveway.

When we applied for a sub-division of the land and inspection, we presented the Health Dept with plans showing where the sewage system is located according to sewage companies that had come to inspect. Upon reviewing the information that they had on hand, the Health Dept. said, "We show that you have 8 lines in your leach field. That means the leach field is under your driveway. Only 10% can be located under the concrete of the driveway - you are not in compliance."

They wanted us to abandon and rip up the concrete driveway or prove otherwise. Either way, we would have to destroy all the landscaping we just put in. In order to "prove" to them where the leach field was, we would have to bull-doze down until we located and unearthed the entire system of perforate pipes.

So, Steve in a last desperate attempt to save the landscaping and save the driveway pleaded with them to check their archives. They promised to see if they have anything in their warehouse where they file the old records. We didn't hold out much hope for a small lone piece of evidence to have survived 30+ years.

But miracles do happen. Even for septic tanks and circular drives. As we were heading off to California to spend Thanksgiving with Stephanie and Patrick, we get a call from Natalie, Steve's office manager, to stop and pick up the fax she knew we were looking for. This is the actual inspection, certified, radified and blessed with the seal from the Health Inspector of 1978. As you can see the 8 lines are divided into 2 leach fields, both in compliance with current regulations.

Saved the landscaping! Saved the circular drive! Saved the renovation! We had much to be thankful for at Thanksgiving this year!