An important issue for percolation system design is avoiding so-called “disturbed” soil. Ideally, all soil involved with your percolation features is in its natural, original configuration, which would allow wastewater to pass downward in the most uniform and vertical manner. If percolation were done in an area of filled soil, for example, percolating fluid may find easier routes laterally and potentially find daylight or create a “wet-spot” as could allow a vector for patho

Percolation systems can only work in soils above the level at which it is saturated with groundwater, and San Diego’s Department of Environmental Health (DEH) safeguards this resource with a requirement for minimal vertical distance through which wastewater must pass on its way to groundwater. As of this writing, late 2021, southern California remains in years-long drought. These times depress the groundwater level and will make county approvals difficult for many areas, wh