Septics and Mounds

Brief POWTS Overview

Sewage leaves the house through the sewer and flows by gravity into a septic tank. This septic tank is used as a settling chamber and is sometimes accompanied by a second septic/settling tank. Typically, an effluent filter is located at the outlet of the last septic/settling tank. The effluent then travels into the absorption field (drain field, leech bed, etc.) for a conventional system or into another septic tank (pump chamber) for a system that requires pumping. Some systems that require pumping are: mound system (above ground septic), at-grade system, and a system where the absorption field is located at a higher elevation than the last septic tank outlet elevation. From the absorption field the effluent begins to be treated in-ground until it reaches the water table.