(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
In last week’s column, I answered your first question. This week I will answer your second question.
We think septic tank and we tend to think of bathrooms. Logical. I mean come on; one has to do with the other? Yes? So, if a house has a septic system, the system’s size should be based on how many bathrooms the house has. Correct? Incorrect.
Septic systems are designed to meet the capacity of the house. In other words, how many people will be living in the house and using the system. Because of this, the number of bedrooms, and not the number of bathrooms, are used to calculate the capacity required for a house’s septic system. A bedroom can support two people. Bedrooms will either have two full size beds, a queen, or a king. A full size will accommodate one person. A queen or king will handle two people. Based on this, one bedroom can handle two occupants, regardless of the type of bed. Therefore, three bedrooms can conceivably have six occupants (2 occupants x 3 bedrooms = 6). If you have four bedrooms, then that would be eight occupants. Eight folks living in the home would put more strain on the system, which would require a larger septic system. A bigger tank and more field lines would be necessary.
Getting back to last week’s column where we answered the first part of your question. If you have a three-bedroom septic system your home must be advertised as a three-bedroom home when you list it for sale. Even if you have what one would consider a four-bedroom home. You would be misrepresenting what your house’s septic system can technically handle, which could be legally viewed as fraud, if you list it as a four-bedroom. Again, this is also a good reminder to Realtors. There have been a few cases where Realtors have put homes on the MLS where the number of bedrooms didn’t match the septic system capacity. i.e: The real estate listing advertised 4 bedrooms but later the buyer discovers that the septic system is only rated for 3 bedrooms. The results? The seller and the Realtor could be sued by the buyer. One last thing. What if the seller does not have a copy of the septic tank permit, which will show the size and capacity? You could have it dug up and inspected. That’s one way. Inconvenient and possibly expensive. Before going to that extreme, as I mentioned last week, your first step should be to contact the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation for help. They may have a copy of your permit on file.
