Septic systems in Portland, Maine.
Most of Portland does not need a septic system. The Portland Water District provides wastewater collection and treatment services to the city in partnership with it, and the Land Use Code requires any development within 200 feet of a public sanitary sewer to connect to it. For a mainland house near a sewer line, the answer to a failing system is a sewer connection, not a leach field.
Septic work in Portland is concentrated where the sewer does not reach, which the city's own zoning points to: the islands. The code describes the IR-1 island zone as low-intensity development in areas lacking adequate public facilities and services, and it limits growth of the denser IR-2 zone based partly on whether soils can handle subsurface wastewater disposal or public sewers are available.
What the code requires on unsewered lots
A lot in an unsewered residential district must meet the state Minimum Lot Size Law or the zone's minimum lot area, whichever is larger. In IR-1 that zone minimum is already 40,000 square feet, or 60,000 where public water is not available. Where public sewer is not available, private wastewater systems must follow Chapter 24 of the City Code and the city's Technical Manual, and the shoreland article restates that every subsurface system must conform to the State of Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules.
Shoreland lots add more limits. Clearing of woody vegetation to site a new system and its fill extensions may not come closer than 75 feet to the high-water line or the edge of a wetland, a holding tank is not allowed for a first-time residential use in the zone, and when a project there would require a subsurface system, the application must include a valid plumbing permit or a completed permit application with an approved site evaluation.
How an island install is run
Every system begins with the licensed site evaluator's design, which sets the tank, distribution and leach field layout based on the soil test pits. Our role is the installation: site work and excavation, setting the tank, building the distribution and leach field to the design, and coordinating with the evaluator through inspection.
When the system is covered, the disturbed ground is graded and seeded so the field comes back as lawn. On an island lot inside the shoreland zone, that seeding is also part of stabilizing the soil the code requires after excavation.
Septic Installs · Excavation
How we handle septic systems
We install new and replacement septic systems for homes and camps across the Cumberland area. From site work and excavation through tank, distribution and leach field install, we coordinate with your site evaluator and leave the yard graded, seeded and clean.
See the full septic systems service page or everything we do in Portland, Maine.
Septic Systems in nearby towns
- Septic Systems in South Portland
- Septic Systems in Falmouth
- Septic Systems in Westbrook
- Septic Systems in Scarborough
- Septic Systems in Cape Elizabeth
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- Hydroseeding, Sod & Turf in Portland
- Lawn Aeration & Overseeding in Portland
- Fall Cleanup & Leaf Removal in Portland
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Portland
- Excavation & Land Clearing in Portland
- Tree & Shrub Services in Portland
- Tree Removal in Portland
Sources for the local facts on this page
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