About Soils
Soil is the treatment medium for renovating wastewater. Processes in the soil remove nutrients, organic matter, disease causing organisms, and odors. Soil is the foundation for successful long-term functioning of a septic system.
North Florida is covered with broad swaths of pretty brown and strong red soils. These colors indicate soils that are rich, highly aerated, and well-drained; making them ideally-suited to receive and treat wastewater. The soil properties that make North Florida an agricultural / silvicultural powerhouse are the same properties ideal for wastewater treatment and disposal.
Move your cursor over the pictures for more information.
Soils Common in This Area
Kershaw Sand
Kershaw is a tan sandy soil, very permeable, dominates southern Leon County.
Orangeburg. 50" below grade. Gadsden County, Florida.
Orangeburg soil extent map (includes city of Orangeburg, South Carolina). Soils are often named for the locale in which they are first identified.Info courtesy: Web Soil Survey
Infiltrator drainline laid subsurface in Orangeburg soil. Photo courtesy Miller Septic Service
Orangeburg
Orangeburg is a rich, well-drained soil, ideal for subsurface drainfields. It is a dominant soil in Jefferson, Gadsden, and Leon Counties.
Fuquay
Fuquay is a pretty brown, loamy soil.Loamy and clayey soils generally percolate slower then sandy soils. Septic systems installed in such soils are designed with larger drainfields to increase the total soil absorption area.
Alpin Sand
Alpin Sand is found throughout southern Leon County and northern Wakulla County. Like Kershaw sand, it is very permeable.Lamellae, bands of clayier soil particles, are an identifying feature of Alpin.
Local soils with special considerations for septic systems
Grey mottles (redoximorphic features) develop when soil is saturated and free oxygen becomes limited. Here mottles become visible at 30" below grade.
The grey becomes pronounced by 42" below grade. This indicates soil that remains wet for prolonged periods.
Leefield
Leefield is a loamy soil found in low-lying areas. Soil color is the dominant feature used to predict the seasonal high water table (SHWT).
Moriah soil in lush recharge area near Wakulla River. Wakulla County, Florida.
Moriah. Low chroma soil matrix.
Moriah
Moriah is a sandy soil underlain by limestone. Low chroma (faded) colors in the sandy matrix indicate an elevated seasonal high water table (SHWT). Interpreting soil is both an art and a science.
Plummer
Plummer is a sandy soil found in low depressional areas. Grey soil color indicates low oxygen (saturation) conditions. Soil becomes greyer the longer the saturation period. Compare to strong oxidized color of Orangeburg soil.
State Soil of Florida
Myakka Fine Sand
In 1989, Florida designated Myakka Fine Sand as the official state soil. Myakka is a wet sandy soil found throughout central and southern Florida. Myakka has a noticeable color change at about 2 feet below grade where organic matter/staining occurs (from repeat fluctuating water tables).
Soil Links:
(Database for archived State septic files. Complete for Wakulla and Gadsden.)
(Online tool for researching soil type on property.)