Does your HOA have an off-site septic system? You may even be wondering what exactly an off-site septic system is? Read on to find out what you need to know about off-site community septic systems and how they affect your community.
An off-site septic system is where the community’s wastewater is transported using gravity or pumps, or a combination of both, to the off-site disposal. There are 3 types of off-site septic systems:
- Centralized system with off-site disposal, where the wastewater is pumped to a municipal sewer or regional wastewater treatment facility.
- Cluster septic system with off-site disposal, where individual septic tanks are pumped to an off-site disposal field.
- Decentralized system with off-site disposal, where individual septic tanks are pumped to clustered off-site disposal site on commonly-owned land.
If a septic system services a community where each structure is individually owned, all parts of the septic system must be owned by an independent entity. That single entity will have the authority to charge maintenance and other fees in order to maintain, repair, and replace components as necessary. This authority must be designated early in the development process.
There are 3 options for managing community off-site septic systems. These include:
- Municipal department
- Quasi-municipal agency
- Homeowners’ association or unit owners association
The benefit of using an off-site septic system is that such a system ensures that each homeowner’s wastewater does not impact neighbors or the surrounding environment. The most notable drawback of off-site septics is that they can result in reduced lot sizes, so that the lots are equivalent to those with a sewer.
A prospective buyer looking in an HOA with off-site septics should make sure that the off-site disposal field is sized adequately for the number of homes in the community. If the disposal field is too small, it could result in environmental problems, and if the disposal site isn’t adequate or is faulty, the HOA could be held responsible for damages. In extreme cases where the HOA is unable to cover the damages from the reserve funds, those responsibilities (financial or otherwise) could fall upon the residents of the community.
For more information regarding the management of your HOA community, be sure to check our blog for weekly updates. Or for current HOA board members looking for a new HOA management company, contact Spectrum Association Management here for a free quote and to see what makes us refreshingly different.
