Dry Well vs Leaching Area vs Leach Field (Derry, Candia: house, inspector)

[courtaz123]

Hoping someone can lend a helping hand. I'm in the process of selling my home and during the inspection the septic company made a statement of having a dry well vs a leach field. They also stated that a family of four would probably have to pump the tank twice a year.

When 3 females were in the house the tank was pumped every 3-4 years. I'm looking at the inspection when I purchased the home in '99 and there is NO mention of a drywell - just a leaching area.

1. What is the draw back to a dry well?
2. Is it possible the inspector found an old dry well and not the leaching area?
3. What is a leaching area vs drywell/leach field?
4. Any idea on the cost of a leach field in southern NH?

Thank you

[buck naked]

replaced the leach bed at my home in Derry in 1999 at a cost of $10K. The original leach bed had become obsolete and was no longer functioning correctly. Luckily I had room on the property to put a new one in. My next door neighbor was not so fortunate and had a lot of bedrock. In her case, the new leach bed was put on top of the bedrock (above ground) and cost more.

I had a 200 year old farmhouse in Candia that had a dry well used for the washing machine and draining the bath tubs. This helped extend the life of the leach bed.

I don't know of too many places that have a dry well INSTEAD of a leach bed.


here is an older thread that discusses some aspects of dry wells:
Septic System & Wells - Updating Dry Well System?

[courtaz123]

buck naked - thank you for pointing me to the thread.