PercCheck

What Lamar County, AL's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

95.9% of Lamar County, AL's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 95.9% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Lamar County, AL is 604.783 square miles with a population of 13,543.

What Lamar County's reading doesn't cover

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lamar County, AL at once, not any single address. A local percolation test, typically $750-$1,850 (around $1,300 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Lamar County will actually do.

What a system would cost here

With 95.9% of Lamar County rating "Very limited", a standard gravity system is not a safe assumption here. 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.

Lamar County's rank among Alabama counties

Nationally, Lamar County, AL is the 549-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 4 of 67.

Before you act on this

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