Septic Tank Service in Oak Ridge, TN
We pump, test, repair and install septic systems in Oak Ridge, in Anderson County, including ZIP codes 37830 and 37831.
Call for Oak Ridge(865) 822-8707
Septic tank pumping in Oak Ridge
Pumping is the most common septic job. Most household tanks in Oak Ridge need it every three to five years, sooner with a small tank or a full house. Work out your own interval with the septic pumping calculator, or see what a septic tank pumping visit involves.
Sewer or septic in Oak Ridge?
The City of Oak Ridge runs its own sewer system, (865) 425-1875. Most of the city is on it. Septic work here is mainly on the rural edges and in Anderson County outside the city, where TDEC issues the permit.
Who issues septic permits in Anderson County
TDEC Division of Water Resources, Knoxville Environmental Field Office
3711 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37921
Phone: 865-594-6035
Anderson County is not one of the contract counties, so the permit comes from TDEC's Knoxville field office, and a TDEC environmental scientist does the site evaluation. A construction permit is good for three years from the day it is issued.
The ground around Oak Ridge
The Clinch River wraps around Oak Ridge, with Melton Hill Lake to the east and Watts Bar Lake to the south. The city is a run of long ridges and valleys: Blackoak, East Fork, Pine, Chestnut and Haw ridges, with East Fork, Gamble, Bear Creek and Bethel valleys between them.
Fullerton and Collegedale soils are the most common, with Montevallo and Armuchee on the ridges. The USDA rates them very limited for septic fields: slow water movement in the clays, and shallow, stony ground on the ridges. Those are general ratings from the USDA soil survey. Your permit depends on a soil evaluation of your own lot.
What that means for the cost
Slow soil means a bigger drain field for the same house. A three-bedroom house needs about 2,250 sq ft of field on clay (typically $16,000 to $22,000 installed) against 375 sq ft on sand ($5,000 to $6,500). See the full breakdown on septic installation cost in Knox County.
Why the perc test comes first
Under Tennessee's septic rules, a new system is not permitted until the lot's soil has been evaluated, usually with a soil map drawn by a licensed soil consultant. That evaluation sets your field size and your price. Read more about perc testing near Oak Ridge, or try the numbers below.
How far we are from Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge is about 30 minutes' drive from our yard at 801 E 5th Ave in Knoxville, depending on traffic.