Based in Fairborn, Groundworks designs residential septic systems for new construction, replacement systems, and complex sites — practical layouts that keep installation costs down, turned around fast. We can coordinate your soil testing, handle the county paperwork and permitting, and connect you with a trusted installer — so you're handed a complete design without doing the legwork.
SERVING 41 OHIO COUNTIES WITHIN A 75-MILE RADIUS OF NEW CARLISLE (45344)
Every Ohio septic system starts with a design your county health district approves. Groundworks takes you from soil test to approved permit — one call, and you're handed a complete design without doing the legwork.
Complete, permit-ready designs for new homes, replacement systems, and complex sites — designed with installation cost in mind. We coordinate your soil testing and handle the county submittal and permitting paperwork for you.
See design services →System types we design — tap one to learn more
Home builders are the core of our business — fast turnaround, practical layouts, and a designer who answers the phone, so your installer can build without surprises.
See builder support →No installer yet? We work with registered installers we trust and work with regularly, and we'll connect you with one who fits your project and county.
See all services →Ohio's process has four steps. We coordinate the soil testing, handle the design and the county paperwork, and connect you with a trusted installer — one point of contact from start to approved design.
A soil scientist evaluates your property — the report decides what kind of system your lot can support. We can arrange this for you.
We draw the design from the soil results: system type, sizing, and a layout that keeps installation practical.
The design goes to your county health district for review and approval — we handle the paperwork and work through revisions with them.
A registered installer builds the system from the approved design, and the health district inspects it. If you need one, we have recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Groundworks designs septic systems in every Ohio county with any land within a 75-mile radius of ZIP 45344 (New Carlisle) — 41 counties in all, from our home ground in Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Warren out to Hamilton, Franklin, Allen, Ross, Scioto, and Wyandot.
Every septic system in Ohio starts with a design the county health district can approve. That's the work we do — for homeowners, home builders, and contractors across southwest Ohio. One call gets the whole package moving: soil testing coordinated, design drawn, county paperwork handled.
Complete, permit-ready system designs — we can arrange your soil evaluation, draw the design from the results, and handle the county paperwork and permitting, so you're handed a finished design ready for installation.
System types we design — tap or click any system below. Each one opens its own page explaining what it is, when it's used, and how we design it:
Every design project includes:
Home builders are the core of our business. If you're building on septic lots regularly, you need a designer who answers the phone, turns drawings around fast, and designs systems your installer can put in without surprises.
Groundworks also takes on excavating and site work in the Fairborn area. Call to talk through what you've got.
For septic installation, we work with recommended installers we trust and use regularly. Installation is performed by a registered installer — we design the system, handle the approvals and paperwork, and connect you with an installer who can build it from a clean set of plans.
Already have a design that's been approved — but the installation bids came in high? This is the work Groundworks was founded on. Brooks has been designing septic systems for 7 years, and he got started by re-designing previously approved systems to save customers thousands of dollars on the installation price while still meeting all county and state requirements.
You don't have to line up each piece yourself. Groundworks can manage the whole path to an approved design:
You're handed a complete septic design — soil results, approved plans, and permitting in order — without having to do any of the legwork.
Tell us about your lot or your build — the fastest way to reach us is by phone.
Ohio's process has four steps. We handle the design, coordinate the soil evaluation, file the county paperwork and permitting, and connect you with trusted installers — you don't have to run the legwork between everyone involved.
A soil scientist evaluates your property — soil type, depth to water table or bedrock, slope, and setbacks. This report decides what kind of system your lot can support. Don't have one? We can manage hiring a soil scientist and coordinate the testing for you.
We draw the design from the soil results: system type, tank and field sizing, and a layout that fits the lot and keeps installation practical and affordable.
The design goes to your county health district for review and approval. We handle the applications, submittals, and paperwork, and work through any revisions with the district until it's approved — you're handed a complete, approved design.
A registered installer builds the system from the approved design, and the health district inspects it. If you need an installer, we have recommended installers we trust and work with regularly, and we'll connect you with one. You end up with a permitted, documented system.
Don't have a soil scientist or an installer yet? Call anyway — we can manage hiring a soil scientist for your soil tests, and we have recommended installers we trust and work with regularly across the region. We handle the county paperwork and permitting, too, so one call moves the whole project forward.
Call with your county and where you are in the process — we'll tell you what comes next.
Groundworks is based in Fairborn and serves every Ohio county with any land within a 75-mile radius of ZIP 45344 (New Carlisle, Ohio). If any part of your county falls inside that circle, we list it — all 41 counties:
Our home ground is still Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Warren counties around Fairborn. Not sure if your property falls inside the 75-mile radius? Call 937-684-7781 with your address and county — we'll tell you straight whether you're in range.
Every county health district reviews septic designs a little differently. Our home ground is the Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Warren county health districts — we work with them every week and know what each expects in a submittal — and we handle the submittal and permitting paperwork for health districts across the full 41-county service area.
Call with your lot address and county — we'll tell you what your design process looks like.
Groundworks Excavating & Septic is a septic design practice based in Fairborn, Ohio. Brooks Biteman has been designing septic systems for 7 years and does the design work himself — when you call, you get the person who walked the lot and drew the plans.
Your lot closing, building permit, and construction schedule all depend on the septic design. Ours don't sit in a pile — quick turnaround is the standard, not a favor.
A design that's legal on paper can still be expensive in the ground. We lay systems out practically — sensible placement, no unnecessary complexity — so your installer's bid stays reasonable. It's how Brooks got started: re-designing previously approved systems to save customers thousands of dollars on installation.
Based in Fairborn, our home ground is the Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Warren county health districts — we work with them every week and know what each one expects in a submittal — and we serve 41 Ohio counties within 75 miles of ZIP 45344.
Brooks Biteman does the design work himself. When you call, you get the person who walked the lot and drew the plans — not a call center or a sales rep. He also coordinates the rest: managing your soil scientist, handling county paperwork and permitting, and connecting you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly, so you're handed a complete design without doing the legwork.
Brooks Biteman has been designing septic systems for 7 years. He got started by re-designing previously approved systems — taking designs that were already approved and finding simpler, more practical ways to lay them out, saving customers thousands of dollars on the installation price while still meeting all county and state requirements.
That founding specialty still shapes every design that goes out today: start with what the soils and the rules actually require, cut the unnecessary cost, and hand the customer a complete, approved design. It's also a service in its own right — if you already have an approved design, Brooks can review it for the same kind of savings.
Homeowners building on a lot, home builders, and contractors across the 41 Ohio counties within a 75-mile radius of ZIP 45344. Most of our design work comes through home builders — and we regularly work alongside homeowners' chosen builders and registered installers, coordinating with them and with the health district so the paperwork and the layout line up. If you need an installer, we can recommend installers we trust and work with regularly and connect you when you're ready to build.
Call Brooks Biteman directly — no sales line, no call center.
The questions homeowners and builders ask us most. Don't see yours? Call 937-684-7781.
Yes. In Ohio, your county health district reviews and approves a system design before an installation permit is issued. The design is based on a soil evaluation of your property and shows the system type, size, and layout the installer will build from.
The soil evaluation comes first. A soil scientist evaluates your site and soils, and that report determines what kind of system your lot can support. The design is drawn from those results. If you don't have a soil scientist yet, Groundworks can manage hiring one for you and coordinate the soil tests — you don't have to find, schedule, or chase anyone.
Our part of the job moves fast — quick turnaround on drawings is how we work. Total time to an approved permit also depends on your county health district's review schedule, which varies by county and season. Call with your county and we can tell you what to expect.
Yes. Most of our design work comes through home builders, and we regularly work alongside homeowners' chosen builders and registered installers. If you don't have an installer yet, we have recommended installers we trust and work with regularly — we'll connect you with one who fits your project and county. Whoever installs your system, we coordinate with them and with the health district so the paperwork and the layout line up.
Yes. Groundworks handles the county paperwork and permitting for your design — applications, submittals to your health district, and revisions through approval. Combined with coordinating your soil evaluation, that means you're handed a complete, approved septic design without doing the legwork yourself.
Often, yes. Re-designing previously approved systems is how Groundworks got started: Brooks reviews your approved design and soil results and looks for a simpler, more practical layout that still meets all county and state requirements. That kind of redesign has saved customers thousands of dollars on the installation price. Call with your approved design and your county, and we'll tell you honestly whether there's room to bring the cost down.
Call 937-684-7781 for a quote. Pricing depends on the system type your soils require and your county's requirements, so we quote each job individually rather than posting a flat rate.
We design conventional, ATL, Sand Mound, Spray Irrigation, Drip, Anua Pod, and NPDES systems. Your soil evaluation determines which system type your lot can support, and we design the system your soils and county requirements call for.
Call and ask — you'll talk to Brooks Biteman, the person who does the design work.
Tell us about your lot or your build. The fastest way to reach us is by phone.
2356 National Road
Fairborn, OH 45324
Homeowners building on a lot, home builders, and contractors across the 41 Ohio counties within a 75-mile radius of ZIP 45344 — see the Service Area page for the full county list.
The baseline septic system — and, when your soils allow it, the simplest and lowest-cost system to install. Groundworks designs conventional systems for new homes, replacements, and build-on-your-lot projects across southwest Ohio.
A conventional system treats wastewater in a septic tank, then distributes the effluent through trenches or beds dug into the native soil on your lot. The soil itself does the final treatment as the effluent filters down through it. Depending on the lot and the design, distribution from the tank to the field is gravity-fed or pump-fed.
Conventional systems are used where the soil evaluation shows suitable soil with enough usable depth above the seasonal water table or bedrock for the effluent to be treated in the ground. When those conditions are present, a conventional layout is usually the first system considered — it is the simplest design and generally the lowest installation cost of the systems we design.
If the soil evaluation shows a high water table, shallow bedrock, or soil that won't treat or absorb effluent properly, the county requirements will point to a different system type — that's what the soil report decides, not preference.
We size the field to the loading rate your soils can actually handle, based on your soil evaluation — not a one-size layout. Placement matters just as much: we lay the trenches or beds out to protect the absorption area, work around the house site, well, and driveway, and keep room for future expansion or a reserve area where the lot allows it.
As with every design, the package is handled for you: Groundworks can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — or let us coordinate the soil evaluation for you.
ATL is Infiltrator's Advanced Treatment Leachfield — treatment and dispersal happen in the same field, with no moving parts. Groundworks designs ATL systems for Ohio lots where a conventional field isn't the right answer.
ATL is Infiltrator's Advanced Treatment Leachfield: septic-tank effluent passes through a conduit of synthetic aggregate and geotextile layers into specified system sand, so treatment and dispersal happen in the same field, with no moving parts.
Inside that conduit, the effluent moves through a 4-inch pipe, large-diameter synthetic aggregate, a coarse geotextile layer, small-diameter synthetic aggregate, a fine geotextile layer, and 6 inches of specified system sand. No venting or additional sand cover is required, and the system has passed the NSF 40 Class 1 protocol.
ATL systems are used where the site or soil conditions call for a higher level of treatment within the field itself, or where a smaller footprint is needed than a conventional layout would require. That can come up on tighter lots, or where the soil evaluation and county requirements call for more treatment before effluent reaches the native soil.
As with every system, your soil evaluation and your county health district's requirements determine whether an ATL design is an option for your lot.
Design work starts with the soil report: sizing the ATL field to what your soils can support, laying out the aggregate-and-geotextile conduit and the specified system sand it discharges into, and fitting the treatment area, setbacks, and the rest of the lot — house, well, driveway — together. Because treatment happens in the field, protecting that field area in the layout is a central part of the design.
Groundworks handles the process around the drawing, too: we can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — we'll tell you what your lot can support.
When the native soil can't do the treatment work on its own, a sand mound builds the treatment layer above ground. Groundworks designs sand mound systems across southwest Ohio.
A sand mound is a raised bed of sand built above the natural ground surface. Effluent from the septic tank is pumped up into the mound and dosed across it in controlled amounts. As the effluent passes through the sand, it's treated; it then moves into the soil below the mound for final absorption.
The mound exists because the treatment layer the system needs isn't available in the ground — so the design builds it on top of the ground instead.
Sand mounds are used for sites with a high seasonal water table, shallow bedrock, or soils that perc too slowly — or too fast — for a conventional field to treat effluent properly. These are common Ohio conditions: plenty of lots that can't support trenches in the native soil can support a mound.
The design sizes the sand bed and the dosing to your soil evaluation, sets the mound's footprint and height, and places it so setbacks, drainage, and the rest of the lot work. Pump sizing and even distribution across the mound are part of the drawing — a mound only treats well if the effluent is spread evenly across the sand.
Groundworks handles the surrounding process as part of the package: we can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — a mound may be the practical route to a buildable lot.
Instead of absorbing effluent in trenches, a spray system puts treated, disinfected water to work on the surface. Groundworks designs spray irrigation systems for Ohio lots where soil absorption is limited.
In a spray irrigation system, wastewater is treated and disinfected first, then sprayed over a designated lawn area in timed cycles. The grass and the upper soil layer take up and further treat the water at the surface, rather than the effluent being absorbed through underground trenches or beds.
Because the effluent reaches the surface, the treatment and disinfection steps ahead of the spray field are what make the system work — they aren't optional extras.
Spray irrigation is used where soil absorption is limited — where the soil evaluation shows the ground can't reliably absorb and treat effluent through a conventional field, mound, or similar arrangement. It gives some difficult lots a workable path to an approved system.
The design work covers both ends of the system: sizing the treatment and disinfection components, and laying out the spray field itself. Spray-field layout has to respect setbacks from wells, property lines, and living areas, and place the spray area where it functions as part of the yard rather than conflicting with how the lot is used.
Groundworks handles the process around the design, too: we can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — we'll look at whether spray is the right fit.
Shallow drip tubing spreads pretreated effluent in small, even doses through the soil layer that treats best. Groundworks designs drip systems for tight, sloped, and difficult Ohio lots.
A drip system distributes pretreated, filtered effluent through shallow drip tubing buried in the upper soil layer. Instead of sending larger amounts of effluent to trenches, it releases small, even doses across the whole field — using the upper soil, where treatment is most active, across a broad area.
The pretreatment and filtration ahead of the tubing are essential: the drip emitters only keep working evenly if what reaches them is clean.
Drip is used on lots where a conventional field doesn't fit — sloped lots, tight lots, and difficult soils among them. Because the tubing is shallow and flexible in layout, a drip field can follow the shape of a lot in ways rigid trenches can't, and it can work in soil conditions that rule out deeper absorption.
The design covers filtration sizing, dosing and flush cycles, and zone layout — dividing the field into zones so doses are even and the system can flush itself as designed. Placement works with the lot's slope and shape while respecting setbacks from wells, property lines, and structures.
Groundworks handles the rest of the package: we can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — drip may fit where a conventional field won't.
AeroCell foam-block biofilter pods treat wastewater to a higher standard before it ever reaches the soil. Groundworks designs Anua Pod systems for Ohio lots that need that treatment step.
An Anua Pod system routes wastewater through treatment units — pods — fitted with AeroCell foam-block media. As wastewater passes through the foam blocks, it's treated to an advanced level by the biofilter that grows on them. The treated effluent then moves on to dispersal in the soil, which receives cleaner water than a septic tank alone produces.
Anua Pod systems are used where site or soil conditions require higher-quality effluent ahead of the soil — for example, where the soil's own treatment capacity is limited, or where county requirements call for advanced treatment before dispersal. Your soil evaluation and health district requirements determine whether this level of treatment is needed on your lot.
The design matches the pod treatment capacity to the home, places the units where they can be serviced, and designs the dispersal that follows the pods around your soil evaluation and setbacks. Treatment and dispersal are designed as one system — cleaner effluent ahead of the field changes what the field itself has to do, and the layout has to reflect that.
Groundworks handles the process around the design as well: we can manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done, and we handle all the county paperwork and permitting. You're handed a complete, approved design without doing the legwork — and if you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — we'll tell you what level of treatment your site calls for.
A discharging system is the option of last resort — used when a lot has no workable soil for absorption at all. Groundworks designs NPDES systems and handles the permit paperwork that comes with them.
An NPDES system is a discharging system. Wastewater is treated and disinfected, and the treated effluent leaves the lot to surface water — a ditch, stream, or similar outlet — under an Ohio EPA NPDES permit, instead of being absorbed into the soil on the lot.
Because the effluent leaves the property, the treatment and disinfection have to meet discharge standards, and the system operates under a state permit with conditions attached.
NPDES systems are used when the lot has no suitable soil option for absorption — when the soil evaluation shows there is no workable way to treat and disperse effluent in the ground on site. It's the path that can keep a lot buildable when every soil-based option is off the table.
The design centers on treatment and disinfection sized to meet discharge standards, and on the outlet arrangement the permit allows. The permit paperwork is a real part of this system type — and it's part of what we handle: Groundworks prepares the design and works through the county paperwork and permitting, including the NPDES permit side of the submittal.
As with every design, we can also manage hiring a soil scientist to get the necessary soil tests done — the soil evaluation is what establishes that discharge is the route — and you're handed a complete design without doing the legwork. If you need an installer, we can connect you with recommended installers we trust and work with regularly.
Call with your county and soil results — we'll walk through whether a discharging system is your path forward.