Customer Reviews

Builder's Guide to Wells and Septic Systems

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am looking for a reference book to help me design a septic system and well for a new home project. I thought from the title that this book was appropriate (there was no table of contents available). It is not. Much of the book is geared towards helping general contractors avoid getting ripped off by well or septic subcontractors. If that is what you need, this is probably a reasonable choice. If you actually want to design and build your own well and septic systems, then pass on this title.

I'm still looking for a good design/reference text for septic and well systems...

The author is obviously very experienced and skilled in the subjects of wells and septic systems. I found it helpful in my becoming educated about things to look for and avoid when building or contracting either system. On the other side of the coin, the flow of the material is choppy, and bounces around from subject to subject. This makes it difficult for a novice to gain any knowledge about designing and installing any of the systems. As a 3 Star rating, it is a book that alerts the reader to things to look out for. R. Dodge Woodson seems to have put a great deal of himself into this book, and he touches expertly on everything...but it could be better organized. I would hire him as my contractor in a heartbeat...but not as a writer of my How-To book; however,I still keep his book handy and refer to it when the going gets tough! I'd purchase it again.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK IF YOUR LOOKING TO INSTALL A WELL OR SEPTIC, THERE ARE NO REAL INSTRUCTIONS ON DEPTH FOR THE SEPTIC LINES, INFORMATION ON THE DISTRUBUTION BOX ON AND ON. BUT IT WOULD PROBABLY BE GREAT FOR A ENGINEER THAT INSTALLS SYSTEMS. ED HARRIGAN VERMONT

Don't bother with this one. The amount of knowledge in this apparently unedited blog of a book about actually building wells and septic systems can fit onto a handful of pages. The rest of the time the author goes back and forth between descriptions of wells and septic systems repeating himself but never going into much depth. He spends much of his time giving advice about how not to get screwed by the person you're building the well for. An example is not to promise anything to the customer since you can't tell if a well will contain water or not. Mhmmm. I would think twice before getting into any business deal with this contractor.