Expedited Review - 610 standards, engineered septics, alternative septics

There are a few permitting paths in South Carolina that you may have heard of: Expedited review, 610 standard engineered system, and a DHEC septic permit.

In both instances, the local DHEC or Environmental Health Department is bypassed for the initial soils review and permitting process. It is not uncommon for these local health agencies to be up to 12 weeks behind on soil evaluations for new septic system permits. In many instances, a property owner may wait all this time and still be turned down for a septic permit due to soil or site limitations that will require a soil classifier and/or an engineer to be hired.

In South Carolina, when a septic system is designed and permitted privately, this process is referred to as expedited review or the 610 standard. A developer can hire a soil classifier directly who can come out and provide a quick answer on how many lots a piece of raw land may support and the size and location of the drain field. After this soils report is completed, a “conventional” DHEC permit may be applied for using the private soil classifier’s report.

Alternatively, a 610 standard permit may be pursued wherein a SC licensed Professional Engineer would take the soils report that the soil classifier produced and design a system that creates the highest and best use for the lot. This could be single family homes, a hotel, restaurants, retail, or a 100 home subdivision.

Oftentimes, the DHEC created site plan and permit may not make the best use of the property due to the equipment and design constraints they are under. For example, an engineered system permit may produce a permit that has a smaller drain field footprint than the DHEC proposal which allows for more bedrooms, a pool, a garage etc.

The basic process if you are going through this process is as follows:

• Determine your project’s goals, number of bedrooms, home location, number of lots desired or other parameters that are important to you

• A SC licensed soil classifier performs a soil assessment with the goal of supporting your project’s goals

• A SC licensed professional engineer designs a system in accordance with DHEC rules based on the soil classifiers report

Oftentimes, you may hire an engineer who specializes in onsite wastewater permitting and they will take care of ordering the soils report as part of their scope of work.

We work with a great set of engineers and soil classifiers in the great state of South Carolina. Reach out to us today, and we can connect you with someone in your area who can help you through the process. Send an email to info@aqwa.net for more information.