New builds, developments and full replacements. We handle every step, from soil evaluation and permitting through final inspection, so you end up with a system that passes and lasts.
A new septic system in the CSRA typically takes one to three days to install, but the real timeline is permitting. In South Carolina you need an SCDES construction permit, which starts with a $150 site evaluation, and the permit is good for five years once issued. In Georgia the county health department has 20 days to approve a completed application and the permit is good for 12 months. Carolina Septic handles the application on both sides of the river.
Most installation calls we get fall into one of four situations. Knowing which one you're in changes the cost and the timeline more than anything else.
Free, no obligation. We walk the lot, look at where the house sits, where the well is, how much usable room there is, and what the ground looks like. You'll get a straight answer about whether this is going to be simple or complicated.
In South Carolina this is done by a certified SCDES evaluator or a licensed Professional Soil Classifier. Above the Fall Line, which runs right through Augusta, backhoe pits are required rather than just borings. This step decides what kind of system your lot can take.
We prepare and submit it. In South Carolina that means the SCDES ePermitting portal with your plat, deed and property owner permission letter. In Georgia it goes to the county health department, and for Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie and Burke counties that's the East Central Health District.
The permit comes back with the system type, tank size and where it goes on the property. If the soils won't support a conventional system, this is where an engineered design comes in.
Usually one to three days. Excavation, tank set, distribution box, laterals or chambers, gravel and fabric, then backfill and grade. We stage equipment to do as little damage to the rest of your yard as we can.
Georgia requires a County Board of Health inspection before backfill, every time. South Carolina allows Tier 3 installers to self-inspect their own installations, which is one of the reasons our jobs don't sit waiting on an inspector's schedule.
Most lots take a conventional gravity system, and those are the cheapest and fastest to put in. Some lots don't. The soil evaluation makes that call, and in this part of the state it comes down to geology.
The Fall Line runs northeast across Georgia straight through Augusta. North and west of it you're in Piedmont clay. South and east you're in Coastal Plain sand with a shallower water table. South Carolina classes soils with massive or platy structure, or substantial expansible clays, as unsuitable, and SCDES states plainly that clay soils require more space for a system.
So on a clay lot you either need a bigger drainfield footprint, or the lot doesn't have the room and you go engineered. Same outcome on a small lot, because South Carolina also requires a usable repair area of at least 50 percent of the original system size held in reserve.
Anyone who gives you a firm number over the phone without seeing the property is guessing. But you deserve a real range before you call, so here's how it breaks down.
| What it is | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Conventional gravity system Good soil, adequate room, standard house | $X,XXX-$X,XXX |
| Engineered / Standard 610 system Clay, small lot, high water table | $XX,XXX+ |
| Drainfield replacement only Tank still sound | $X,XXX+ |
| SC site evaluation fee Set by regulation, we don't mark it up | $150 |
What moves the number: soil type and how much drainfield the evaluation requires, tank size, distance from the house, equipment access, whether rock or roots are in the way, and whether the design has to be engineered. See the full cost breakdown →
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