[cmccuist]

I literally lost a house because of a septic system failure. We had the old style septic system with two tanks and laterals. We had an unusual amount of rain shortly after we moved in. Well, the ground became saturated and the effluent came up out of the ground. The county inspector was out and noticed it and cited us.

Then, the nightmare began. Here in TX, if your system fails, you're no longer grandfathered in. You have to upgrade to the latest specs - ie aerobic system. Due to my proximity to the San Bernard river, the location of my well and my neighbor's wells, and the amount of land that I had, I lterally couldn't fit the new system on my land.

The county said find some more land or move. Well, the only land available was across the street which my neighbor owned. He was willing to sell me enough, but it was going to take a year to a couple of years to divide up his parcel, get the permits and install the new system. Plus I needed an easement from my other neighbor who was an a-hole and wanted money.

Anyway, make sure you have a certified septic system engineer look at the entire set up - your design, your land, your well, your neighbor's well, and ask what would happen if your system failed. I relied on the real estate agent, who lied to me about what would happen if it failed.