Soil Loading Rates – Septic System Sizing
How are septic systems sized?
Soil loading rates are numbers that describe the rate that effluent water is expected to penetrate a soil. Loading rates are expressed in gallons per day / square foot. Soil texture and structure are both considered when determining the soil loading rates. Click the below graphic to see Indiana’s Loading Rate Chart for Subsurface septic systems.
The soil loading rate is used to calculate the size of the septic system using the following equation.
Design Daily Flow / Soil Loading Rate = Square Footage of Trench Required
System Sizing Example:
Three Bedroom House (3 bedrooms x 150 gpd/bedroom) = 450 gpd flow
Fine Sand Soil Texture = Loading rate of .75 gpd/sq. ft. moderate structure
450 divided by .75 = 600 sq. ft. absorption field
Indiana Septic Code 410 IAC 6-8.1 defines Loading Rates as:
“the allowable rate of application of septic tank effluent to the soil. It is expressed in gallons per day per square foot.”