My wife and I are currently under contract on a home in Thomson, and we're currently in our due diligence period. We're wanting out of Newton county, and the area this house is located in checks a lot of boxes for us. She's from that general area, so we have familiarity with the region.

One thing worrying us is the septic system. The house was built in 1971, and the current owner has lived there the past ~15 years. Prior, it was the original owner. Normally, this wouldn't be concerning as I've been on septic for most of my life. However, when I was in the crawlspace, I saw that some of the gray water (i.e., the washing machine) appears to be bypassing the septic and exiting the side of the house into the woods (underground).

At first, I didn't think too much of that. However, after doing some reading, it appears that some areas of McDuffie county (Ridgeview neighborhood) have had ongoing issues with their septic tanks backing up due to soil conditions/water table/etc. Now I'm a bit concerned.

I hope I'm just overthinking things. The property we're under contract for is located 5 miles from the affected area, and according to what little information I can find, it does have different soil characteristics. I haven't seen signs of the yard being regularly torn up for pumping the septic tank. We're also going to make calls in the am to get a septic tank inspection lined up. I'd love to get a soil perc test done, but given how brief due diligence periods are, I don't think that'll happen in time.

Are there any folks on here who are familiar with the area and have any insights into whether these septic issues actually are widespread throughout McDuffie? I think my biggest fear is what if we buy this property and have the replace the septic system but then the soil fails a perc test and we can't get a permit for replacement. Then, are we just stuck with an unusable property?

Whereabouts in McDuffie County? I live in Martinez and work in Harlem (a stones throw from the county line). I know several people from the Thompson area and have never heard of any issues.

@ROCK6 is in the vicinity too.

No P in Thomson. Had to mention it since it was about septic systems.
I live in Columbia County and was required to have a separate system and line put in for the washing machine. That was 31 years ago. My dads old house was built in 62 and had the washer on a separate line even back then. Not much help for your question and don't know the current requirements for the systems. I would call the county and ask general questions about it maybe. Its all clay where I am at and had to put in 300' just for a 3 bedrooms with an additional 100' line for the washer.

This might have be of some help. I noticed the requirement for what is used for a gray water tank seems stricter now than years ago. Could not get it to link but I searched Georgia manual for on site sewage disposal system to find the manual. Manual link is here. Lost internet service for over 9 hours yesterday and couldn't finish the post. https://dph.georgia.gov/environmental-health/onsite-sewage

Thanks, y'all! That helps, a lot.

I had the septic inspected this morning (a company came out, pumped the tank, and inspected what they could). For its age, everything honestly looked really good. I know there are always unknown risks and that we could buy the house and it collapse on itself the next day, but I feel like we've definitely done our due diligence and feel good about the condition of the property.