Septic soil in Ouray County, CO, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 88% of Ouray County, CO rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. That reading means a conventional system is a poor bet here - 88% of Ouray County lands in the strictest "very limited" bucket USDA uses. Ouray County covers 540.671 square miles and counts 5,197 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Ouray County, CO - never a reading for one specific parcel. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Ouray County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Ouray 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Ouray County, CO is the 1,468-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 25 of 63.

Related guides

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