Septic soil in Copiah County, MS, by the numbers

Very limited

In Copiah County, MS, 98.6% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 98.6% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Copiah County covers 777.285 square miles and counts 27,536 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Copiah County, MS at once, not any single address. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Copiah County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Copiah 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.

Copiah County's rank among Mississippi counties

Nationally, Copiah County, MS is the 153-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Mississippi alone it ranks 8 of 82.

Before you act on this

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