Lawrence County, AL's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

75.2% of Lawrence 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. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 75.2% of Lawrence County's land. Lawrence County covers 690.685 square miles and counts 33,567 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lawrence County, AL 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 Lawrence County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Lawrence 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.

Lawrence County's rank among Alabama counties

Nationally, Lawrence County, AL is the 2,271-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 40 of 67.

Related guides

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