Septic Tank Locating and Records in Whatcom County

This comes up constantly. Somebody buys an acreage property, the previous owner did not know where the tank was either, there is no paperwork in the file, and the first time it matters is when something goes wrong or an inspection is due.

Two things are usually true at once. There is very often a record with the county that nobody has looked for, and the lids are very often eighteen inches under turf that has grown over them for thirty years.

So locating is two jobs. The paperwork job comes first, because a five minute records search can save an hour of probing. The physical job follows: probing the ground on the pattern the record suggests, or on the pattern the plumbing and the site dictate when there is no record at all.

Once we have found it, we mark it properly and, if it makes sense, fit risers so nobody has to do this again. That last part is what turns a frustrating visit into a permanent fix.

We search the records first. It sounds obvious and it frequently does not happen, because probing is billable and searching is not. A property with an as-built on file can turn a two hour job into a thirty minute one, and we would rather that than the reverse.

We probe systematically. Random probing on a large lot is how a locate becomes an all day job. Working outward from the outlet along the fall of the land, informed by whatever the record shows, finds most systems quickly.

We offer risers at the same visit. If we have just spent an hour finding your lids and dug them out, fitting risers while the hole is open is by far the cheapest time to do it, and it means nobody ever repeats this.

And we give you the information to keep. A marked sketch tied to fixed points, so the next pump out, the next inspection and the next owner all start from a known position.