Div. B › Part 8 › 8.2 › 8.2.1 — General Requirements

8.2.1.2 — Site Evaluation

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(1) A site evaluation shall be conducted on every site where a new or replacement sewage system is to be installed.

(2) The percolation time shall be determined by,

(a) conducting percolation tests, or

(b) classifying the soil according to one of the following methods,

(i) the Unified Soil Classification System as described in MMAH Supplementary Standard SB-6, “Percolation Time and Soil Descriptions”, or

(ii) the Soil Texture Classification as described in Chapter 3 of USDA, “Soil Survey Manual”.

(3) Where the percolation time is determined by a percolation test, there shall be a minimum of 3 locations selected, suitably spaced to accurately evaluate the leaching bed area, with the highest percolation time of the tests being used.

OBC Definitions

Defined terms on this page

leaching

means dispersal of liquid by downward or lateral drainage or both into permeable soil, as defined in Part 8 of Division B, or leaching bed fill.

leaching bed

means an absorption system constructed as absorption trenches or as a filter bed, located wholly in ground or raised or partly raised above ground, as required by local conditions, to which effluent from a treatment unit is applied for treatment and disposal and that is composed of, (a)the soil, as defined in Part 8 of Division B, leaching bed fill or other filter media that is contained between the surface on which the sanitary sewage is applied and the bottom of the bed, (b)the leaching chamber or the distribution pipe and the stone or gravel layer in which the distribution pipe is located, and (c)the backfill above the distribution pipe or the leaching chamber, including the topsoil and sodding or other anti-erosion measure, and the side slopes of any portion elevated above the natural ground elevation.

percolation time

means the average time in minutes that is required for water to drop one centimetre during a percolation test or as determined by a soil evaluation or analysis.

sewage

means sanitary sewage or storm sewage.

sewage system

means , (a)a chemical toilet, an incinerating toilet, a recirculating toilet, a self-contained portable toilet and all forms of privy, including a portable privy, an earth pit privy, a pail privy, a privy vault and a composting toilet system, (b)a greywater system, (c)a cesspool, (d)a leaching bed system, or (e)a system that requires or uses a holding tank for the retention of hauled sewage at the site where it is produced before its collection by a hauled sewage system, where these, (f)have a design capacity of 10,000 litres per day or less, (g)have, in total, a design capacity of 10,000 litres per day or less, where more than one of these are located on a lot or parcel of land, and (h)are located wholly within the boundaries of the lot or parcel of land on which is located the building or buildings they serve.

soil

means , except for the purposes of Part 8 of Division B, a portion of the earth’s crust that is fragmentary or such that individual particles of a dried sample may be readily separated by agitation in water, and includes boulders, cobbles, gravel, sand, silt, clay and organic matter.

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