Septic soil in Washington County, ME, by the numbers

Very limited

In Washington County, ME, 82.9% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 82.9% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Washington County covers 2,562.726 square miles and counts 31,383 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Nothing about Washington County, ME's SSURGO figure applies to a specific address - it's a county-wide average. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Washington County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Washington 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 Washington County, ME compares

Nationally, Washington County, ME is the 1,868-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Maine alone it ranks 9 of 16.

Before you act on this

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