Septic inspections for central Arkansas home sales

A septic system is one of the few parts of a house a buyer cannot see on a walk-through. It is also, as EPA's homebuyer guide puts it, expensive to repair or replace, which is why EPA recommends having it inspected by a septic service provider before you buy. Nothing in the ADH onsite wastewater rules makes a septic inspection a condition of selling a house in Arkansas, but EPA notes that inspections can be required by a lender or by local or state government.

Is the house even on septic?

Listings are not always clear. EPA's signs that a home is on septic: it is on well water, the water line has no meter, the neighbors are on septic, or it is in a rural area. Lids or inspection caps in the yard and an "as-built" drawing on file with the health department settle the question.

What a real inspection checks

EPA's list of what the inspector should look at:

• pumping and maintenance records, and the age of the system;
• sludge and scum thickness in the tank;
• signs of leaking, such as a liquid level that sits low in the tank;
• signs of past backups, such as staining inside the tank above the outlet pipe;
• the condition of the tank, inlet and outlet pipes;
• the drain field, for standing water and other signs of failure;
• the distribution box, to confirm each drain line gets an equal share of flow;
• available records, to see that the system's function and location meet local rules.

Several of those items need the tank open, and some need it empty, so many inspections are booked together with a pump-out. Ask up front whether the price includes uncovering lids and pumping. A glance at the yard alone cannot measure sludge or show a broken tee.

Records to ask the seller for

• The ADH permit. Systems built under a permit have a Permit for Operation (Part III) issued after inspection. The county health unit's Onsite Environmental Specialist can pull a copy; the year the house was built, the subdivision and lot number, and the original owner or builder help them find it.
• Pumping receipts. Arkansas pumpers are required to put their license number on the receipt, so a stack of them doubles as a service history.
• Monitoring reports for aerobic or alternative systems. Owners of those systems must keep a monitoring contract for the life of the system, with an assessment at least every six months. Reports go to the homeowner, the local health unit and the department's database. Missing reports deserve a question. See aerobic septic service.
• An exemption letter, on big rural tracts. A single home on 10 or more acres can skip the permit if every part of the system is more than 200 feet from any property line, roads included. The health unit issues an exemption letter, so on those properties there may be no permit to find.

Arkansas checks worth doing on paper

The quarter-mile rule matters around Lake Maumelle, which USGS describes as one of the main drinking-water reservoirs for the Little Rock and North Little Rock area. Central Arkansas Water, which owns it, has offered watershed landowners incentives to trade septic tanks for sewer lines, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

Age and what it means

EPA gives the average septic system a 15 to 40 year life, longer with good care, and says concrete tanks can last 50 years or more. EPA also notes that the biomat in fields more than 25 to 30 years old can thicken and slow drainage. A 30-year-old field that has never been pumped on schedule is a reason to price a repair into the offer, not a reason to panic.

Questions people ask

Who should do the septic inspection?

A septic contractor who will open the tank and look at the field, not just glance at the yard. Ask what is included, whether pumping is part of it, and get the findings in writing.

The seller says the tank was just pumped. Is that enough?

A fresh pump-out is good news, but it also erases the sludge and scum levels an inspector would use to judge how the system has been run. Ask for the receipt, and still have the tees, the distribution box and the field checked.

Does Arkansas require an inspection to sell a house on septic?

The ADH onsite rules have no point-of-sale inspection requirement. Lenders and buyers can still ask for one, and EPA recommends it before any purchase.