[unclebilly]

Ideally your septic system is gravity fed, these days most are not.

Pressurized systems can be 1/4 - 1/2 the size of a gravity fed system so most people go with a pump based system to save money and space on the install. In university, we lived at a place with a pump fed system where the pump was always acting up and could be counted on to cause problems whenever we had a party.

Unable to remember the last time that gravity acted up, I put in a gravity fed system when I built my house and it is 600’ long and 3’ wide which is excessive for a 3 BR house. The size is based on the percolation rate of your soil, the width of your channels, and number of bedrooms. Had I went pressurized, it would have cut the size in half. Had I used chambers, it would have further cut it in half.

In 10 years, I have pumped my tank out once and am probably due for another pump out. The frequency depends on what you put into your system. You can’t put stuff down the toilet that you might in the city. Things such as womanly products, condoms, and even Kleenex are a no-no. They down break down like the normal ‘organics’ and toilet paper do and can plug your system or just collect in your tank.

Older systems may not have a tank and a field. They may consist of an old car that has been filled with sand and buried.

Other possibilities are a septic mound which is a purpose built mound of sand and filter cloth with appropriate side angles (angle of repose) and the right surface area or surface discharge...

Remember that systems are designed so that the sewage flows into a tank where bacteria breaks down the solids, the it flows through a ~1/2” diameter syphen into the 4” septic pipe and into your field where it is spread out evenly. The liquid is supposed to flow up to surface where it waters the grass on top or evaporates. It is NOT supposed to flow down into the ground where it could contaminate your ground water.

As a rule of thumb, the septic field should be at least 150’ from your well which can be difficult to do on a 1-2 acre parcel (see why a pump based system starts to make sense?).

Don’t get too hung up on water well quality if everything else checks out. Our well water is not optimal but we knock out the iron with depressurization at our cistern and subsequently running it through a water softener. Our drinking water goes through a RO system.

There are other more expensive options that can clean up whatever water issues you may have.

Best of luck.