Septic systems in Scarborough, Maine.
Scarborough divides into sewered and unsewered ground, and its zoning makes the line plain. The R3 and R4 districts allow three or four homes per acre where public sewer exists but only two where it does not, and the rural RF and RFM districts require 80,000 square feet per home. Wastewater service belongs to the Scarborough Sanitary District, created in 1969 as an organization separate from the town; in 2016 it served 5,154 accounts through about 68 miles of gravity sewer.
Beyond the ends of those lines, homes depend on septic systems. We install new and replacement systems, handling excavation, the tank, distribution and the leach field, coordinating with the site evaluator and leaving the yard graded and seeded.
State rules, site evaluators and the local inspector
Maine regulates septic systems through its Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules, administered by the Maine CDC's Subsurface Wastewater Unit, which also licenses the site evaluators who design systems and sets the rules for local plumbing inspectors. The state keeps septic permits on file back to 1974. Scarborough's shoreland ordinance requires every system to meet those state rules and the town's plumbing ordinance.
The order of work follows: a licensed site evaluator tests the soil and draws the design, the permit runs through the local plumbing inspector, and the installation is built to the approved plan.
High water tables and slow clay
Soil sets the design. The Scarboro soil series, established in Cumberland County in 1915, describes sandy soils with a water table at or near the surface six to twelve months of the year, ground that leaves little room for a leach field below grade. Glacial-marine clay in the lowlands drains slowly for a different reason. Either condition can push a design toward a raised field or a fill extension, as the site evaluator specifies.
Two shoreland rules that change the plan
Inside the shoreland zone, clearing of woody vegetation to site a new system and any fill extension may not come closer than 75 feet to the water or wetland edge, and a holding tank is not allowed for a first-time residential use. Both are checked before the site evaluator's layout is final.
After the install, the ground around the tank and field is bare soil under the town's erosion ordinance until it is stabilized, which is why loam and seed are part of the job rather than something left for later.
The Sanitary District's treatment plant also accepts septic tank pumpings; in 2016 it served 396 such customers.
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 Scarborough, Maine.
Septic Systems in nearby towns
- Septic Systems in South Portland
- Septic Systems in Cape Elizabeth
- Septic Systems in Portland
- Septic Systems in Westbrook
- Septic Systems in Saco
More services in Scarborough
- Hardscaping in Scarborough
- Retaining Walls in Scarborough
- Landscaping in Scarborough
- Landscape Design in Scarborough
- Planting & Garden Beds in Scarborough
- Hydroseeding, Sod & Turf in Scarborough
- Lawn Aeration & Overseeding in Scarborough
- Fall Cleanup & Leaf Removal in Scarborough
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Scarborough
- Excavation & Land Clearing in Scarborough
- Tree & Shrub Services in Scarborough
- Tree Removal in Scarborough
Sources for the local facts on this page
- Town of Scarborough — Zoning Ordinance Section XIII, Residential Districts
- Town of Scarborough — 2021 Comprehensive Plan
- Maine CDC — Subsurface Wastewater Unit
- USDA NRCS — Scarboro Series Official Soil Description
- Town of Scarborough — Chapter 405C Shoreland Zoning Ordinance
- Town of Scarborough — Chapter 420 Erosion & Sedimentation Control Ordinance
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Mon–Sat 7:00am – 5:00pm · Based in Cumberland, Maine