Most Pocono properties cannot take a conventional septic system. Shallow bedrock, tight soils, and high water tables mean the county usually requires an elevated sand mound or an advanced treatment unit instead. That changes the design, the permit path, and the price.
We install both. We handle the perc testing, the permit paperwork with your township, the excavation, and the final inspection. One crew, one number to call, one price quoted up front.
What we do
Septic system installation. New construction, new lots, and properties moving off a failed cesspool. We handle the soil testing and permit application before anything gets dug.
Septic system replacement. If your system is backing up, ponding, or has been flagged on a real estate inspection, replacement is often the only path a township will permit. We tell you honestly whether repair is still on the table.
Sand mound systems. The default design across most of Monroe County. Elevated beds built above the natural soil where the ground below cannot handle effluent on its own.
Advanced treatment systems. Aerobic units and other PA DEP-approved alternate technologies. Required on small lots, near water, and anywhere the soil cannot support a standard drain field.
Septic inspections. Point-of-sale inspections for property transfers, plus diagnostic inspections when something is not draining right.
Drain field repair and replacement. The most common failure point, and the most expensive part to get wrong.
Why Pocono septic work is different
If you moved here from somewhere with deep, well-drained soil, the first quote you get is going to be a shock. Here is why.
The soil. Much of Monroe County sits on glacial till over shallow bedrock. Water does not move down through it the way a conventional drain field needs it to. A percolation test that would pass easily in Lancaster County fails here routinely.
The result. When the natural soil cannot absorb effluent, Pennsylvania code does not let you install a standard in-ground system. You go up instead of down. That is an elevated sand mound, engineered fill built above grade, which costs meaningfully more than a conventional bed because you are trucking in and placing the material that nature did not provide.
The other path. Where a mound will not fit, or the lot is too small, or you are close to a well or a stream, the answer is an advanced treatment unit. These treat the wastewater far more thoroughly before it ever reaches the ground, which lets the state approve a much smaller absorption area.
None of this is optional or up to the installer. It is driven by what your soil test shows and what your township\’s sewage enforcement officer will permit.
What it costs
We quote every job after a site visit, because the soil test result drives the number more than anything else. That said, here is the honest range so you are not walking in blind.
A conventional in-ground system, where the soil allows one, typically runs in the mid five figures. An elevated sand mound runs higher, often significantly, because of the engineered fill and the additional excavation. An advanced treatment system sits at the top of the range, and carries an ongoing service contract. Many Monroe County townships require you to keep that agreement in force for the life of the system.
Anyone who quotes you a firm price over the phone, before a soil test, is guessing. That guess usually gets revised upward once the excavator is already on your property.
The process, start to finish
- Site visit and soil evaluation. We walk the property, look at the existing system if there is one, and identify where testing needs to happen.
- Perc test and soil probe. Performed with your township\’s sewage enforcement officer present. This determines what system your lot can legally take.
- System design and permit application. We prepare the design and submit it. Permit timelines vary by township.
- Installation. Excavation, tank set, distribution, and either bed construction or unit placement.
- Final inspection and cover. The sewage enforcement officer inspects before anything is backfilled. Then we grade, seed, and restore the disturbed area.
- Handoff. You get the as-built, the permit paperwork, and a straight explanation of what your system needs from you going forward.
Areas we serve
Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Bartonsville, Delaware Water Gap, Mount Pocono, Marshalls Creek, Analomink, Tannersville, Sciota, Saylorsburg, Brodheadsville, and the surrounding Monroe County townships.
Talk to us before you dig
Free site evaluation. Straight answers on whether you are looking at a repair or a replacement.