Septic soil in Escambia County, AL, by the numbers

Very limited

In Escambia County, AL, 42.1% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. A standard gravity system routinely fails on ground like this; the same share of the county falls in USDA's worst absorption-field bucket outright. Escambia County covers 945.408 square miles and counts 36,630 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Escambia 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 Escambia County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Escambia 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 Escambia County, AL compares

Nationally, Escambia County, AL is the 2,910-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 66 of 67.

Before you act on this

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