Septic services · Campbell River
What the Soil Under Your Property Will Take
Campbell River Septic assesses soil and designs septic systems on lots in Campbell River, Willow Point, Campbellton, Quadra Island and Oyster River. An assessment runs $1,200 to $2,500 and a design runs $1,500 to $3,500. We include the Island Health filing in the design fee rather than billing it separately.
A site and soil assessment runs $1,200 to $2,500. A system design runs $1,500 to $3,500, and the Island Health filing is included in that design fee.
Is the assessment part of the free quote?
The quote is free. The assessment is billed work, because it produces the soil logs and the design your filing needs.
Quoting your job costs you nothing. The site and soil assessment is a different thing: it is the billable work that produces the soil logs, and those logs are what the design and the Island Health filing are built on. We tell you the assessment price before we book it.
What the assessment tells you
Where a system cannot be installed on a parcel at all, the owner may install a sewage holding tank.
We dig test pits, log what the soil does with water, and measure the setbacks your lot has to hold. Out of that comes the type of system your lot will take and how big it has to be. Occasionally the answer is that the parcel will not take a system at all, and a sewage holding tank is what the regulation leaves you.
What goes into the design
A ROWP designs Type 1 and Type 2 systems under 9,100 litres per day. Above that you need a professional.
We size the system to your daily design flow, pick the dispersal method the soil supports, and draw it. We design Type 1 and Type 2 systems only, which is what a ROWP registration covers. Anything beyond that needs a professional.
How the soil decides the shape of the system
We dig test pits and log the soil before we draw any part of the design.
What the ground does with water is what picks the dispersal method, and the dispersal method is most of the design.
Where the soil takes water readily and there is room, gravity distribution through a conventional dispersal field is the simplest and cheapest answer. Where it does not, we move to pressure distribution, which meters the flow out across the field instead of letting it run to the near end. A sand mound builds the receiving ground up rather than relying on what is already there.
A percolation test and the test pits behind it are what tell us which of those three we are looking at. That is the whole reason we dig before we draw.
What we file, and when
The filing goes in before construction: the form, the plans, the specifications and a property site plan.
Before anything is built we file the form, the plans and specifications, a property site plan, and any covenants, easements or hydrogeological reports that apply to your parcel. Island Health receives it and checks it against minimum criteria. The responsibility for the design staying suitable is ours.
What you get
Site and soil assessment
Test pits, soil logs and setback measurements.
System design
Sized to your daily design flow, drawn and specified.
Island Health filing
The form, plans, specifications and site plan, included in the design fee.
How an assessment and design runs
We file as part of the design, so the filing is not a separate line on your invoice.
- 1
Walk the lot — we look at slope, setbacks, wells and where the house is going.
- 2
Test pits — we dig and log the soil profile across the proposed area.
- 3
Design — we size the system to your daily design flow and pick the dispersal method.
- 4
File it — we submit the filing package to Island Health before construction starts.
What does this mean where you are?
Where your property sits changes the building paperwork. It never changes the Island Health filing.
Lots around here vary a great deal over short distances, from the sandy ground near the Oyster River to shallow soil over rock on parts of Quadra Island. Two neighbouring parcels often need two different systems. So we dig the test pits on your lot, not on the one next door.
What does a job like this look like?
You get the soil logs before we design or price anything.
Site and Soil Assessment and System Design: what the work looks like
The situation
An owner near the Oyster River wants a price for a new system before they commit to the lot.
What makes it harder
Nobody knows what the soil does with water, and the answer changes the system by tens of thousands of dollars.
What we do
We dig the test pits and hand you the soil logs first. Only then do we design and price the system, sized to a daily design flow under the 9,100 litre ceiling a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner covers.
People also ask
Do I pay separately for the Island Health filing?
No. It is included in the system design fee.
Is there a system you will not design?
Yes. A ROWP covers Type 1 and Type 2. Anything past that has to come from a professional.
Does Island Health approve my design?
No. It receives the filing and checks minimum criteria. Responsibility for the design sits with the Authorized Person.
What if the lot will not take a system?
Then a sewage holding tank is the option the regulation allows.
For what happens after the design, see putting the system in and inspecting one before a sale, or check our published price ranges.
This work in nearby communities
Keep exploring
- Septic cost guideOur own price ranges for every kind of septic work we do.
- Septic System InstallationNew Type 1 and Type 2 systems, designed and installed with the Island Health filing handled.
- Septic InspectionsPerformance reports for a sale and compliance reports for a building permit application.
- Campbell River Septic home
Ready for a quote on septic in Campbell River?
We quote for free, and we reply within 24 hours.