Virginia septic tank size & cost

Virginia's rule, in plain words

Virginia's Table 5.2 (§12VAC5-610-815) starts at 750 gallons — the lowest floor of any state we've checked — and pairs it with a 48-hour retention requirement at design flow. A 3-bedroom Virginia home needs 900 gallons where Ohio demands 1,500 for the same house.

The table stops at five bedrooms; larger homes fall back on the retention rule and the design flows in §670, so we don't extrapolate a 6-bedroom number the rulebook doesn't print. And read §815 cover to cover: it contains no garbage-disposal allowance at all, despite what copied charts show in their Virginia rows.

The Virginia size table

Table 5.2 stops at five bedrooms. Larger homes are sized from the 48-hour retention rule in §815(A) together with the design flows in §670 — ask your local health district rather than extrapolating a chart.

Virginia's floor is 750 gal — the smallest minimum of any state in our first ten — with at least 48 hours of retention at design flow.

Garbage disposal: Section 815 contains no garbage-disposal allowance at all — the widely copied '+50% with disposal' column does not exist in Virginia's rule.

What a Virginia system costs

Our estimator prices a conventional 3-bedroom system in Virginia (lower-cost area, 900-gal tank) at $6,900–$11,100 installed, assembled from a soil test, the permit, the tank at published prices, drainfield material, fittings and labor. Build your own estimate →

How Virginia compares (3-bedroom minimum)

Full ten-state chart: septic tank size chart.

Other states we've checked