Rio Blanco County, CO's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

93.5% of Rio Blanco County, CO's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. Expect the ground itself to work against a plain gravity system; USDA's strictest bucket alone covers 93.5% of the county. Rio Blanco County covers 3,220.971 square miles and counts 6,607 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Rio Blanco County's rating is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Rio Blanco County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Rio Blanco 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, Rio Blanco County, CO is the 863-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 6 of 63.

Before you act on this

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