"Very proud to be the installer of the septic system for Extreme Makeover Home Edition home for the Koepke family in Osceola (Dundee) Wisconsin. Episode to air on ABC late November 2006"

The Herr family is in their fourth generation in the plumbing industry, specializing in the design, installation, and management of every type of Privately Owned On-site Wastewater Treatment System. These systems include conventional septic systems, trench systems, mound systems, in ground pressure systems, at-grade systems, mound systems, aerobic systems, sand-filter systems, experimental systems, etc. for new construction or replacement.

MOTTLING

When a soil tester is observing the soil profile, trying to determine if the limiting factor of groundwater is present, the tester does not have to actually see water. If the tester observes "mottling" in the soil, it is at the depth the mottling is observed that is considered the limiting factor of high groundwater (with few exceptions). Mottling is a discoloration or staining of a color which is not part of the dominant soil color. This is an indication that the groundwater had, at some point in time, fluctuated up to this particular elevation, and remained long enough to cause a chemical reaction (oxidation), which in turn, creates mottling. The soil tester must assume that because water had fluctuated that high at some point in the past, the potential exists for a recurrrence. The groundwater elevation is now assumed to be the elevation at which the mottling was observed irrespective of whether water is present at the time of the test.

The above information on mottling answers the frequently asked question ---"Why do I need a mound when I didn't see any water?" Actual water does not have to be present, and the system must be designed according to the soil tester's observations.