Septic soil in Chaffee County, CO, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 86.1% of Chaffee County, CO rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 86.1% of Chaffee County's land. Chaffee County covers 1,013.408 square miles and counts 20,780 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Chaffee County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Chaffee County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Chaffee County's rating, plan for the engineered-system range rather than the conventional one. The engineered-system range, $10,000-$40,000 (mound or aerobic treatment), is the more realistic number to plan around, against $3,000-$8,000 for a conventional system on the rare lot that passes.

How Chaffee County, CO compares

Nationally, Chaffee County, CO is the 1,611-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 31 of 63.

Before you act on this

How this rating is built, and its real limits · Conventional vs. engineered septic systems