Septic Committee

Committee Chair

Gary Hudson

Power Outage Procedures

The Homeowners Association owns and operates the community water and septic system for the Field of Dreams neighborhood. Electricity is necessary to convey effluent from each home's septic tank to the community drain fields located below the subdivision.

All residents have a responsibility to minimize water use during outages and emergencies (e.g., wildfire), as well as to manage their on-site septic system to prevent overflow and damage to our community drain fields. The links below contain tips and procedures for managing the septic system during power outages.

Septic Alarms

Your septic alarm is designed to let you know when wastewater within the septic tank rises to a level that could be problematic. An alarm can indicate that:

Your pump is malfunctioning and needs repair.
Your effluent float (like the float in a toilet tank) is malfunctioning or misaligned, causing it to not communicate properly with the pump.
A power outage is triggering the alarm.
Your drain field is saturated.

For all but the last bullet point (drain field saturation), homeowners are responsible. Homeowners should contact a septic company to assess the problem and undertake any repairs.

Preventing Future Alarms

Regular maintenance: Have your system checked annually to identify potential future problems.
Efficient water use: Don’t overload your system with excessive water use. Try to spread out showers, laundry, and other water usage throughout the day.
Watch what you dump/flush: Only bathroom tissue should be flushed. Never dump/flush grease, sanitary wipes, tampons, or any nonbiodegradable materials. If in doubt, don’t flush it.

Contacts & Help

Each home has an on-site septic tank and system for which the homeowner is responsible. The HOA is only responsible for the community drain fields. To read more about the HOA’s On-Site Sewage System Operational Certificate, click here.

If you have general questions, contact the Septic Committee chairperson for assistance.

If you are having problems with your septic system, you can contact any septic repair company. Any work required for the on-site septic system is at the homeowner’s expense.

If you have questions regarding septic system charges or payment, contact Northwest Water Systems, Inc.
If you would like to view your septic system’s history, you can access records through OnlineRME, an online septic management and reporting tool. When accessing the septic records for your property, be sure to select “Thurston” in the “County” search field.