I wouldn't worry about roots affecting your leach field if you are planting annuals. If it is perennials, then you might have the roots get into the lines, just as tree roots will, and plug it up. To play it super safe, you could avoid root crops, but the purpose of the leach field is to remove/kill the bacteria and viruses in the sewage before it gets anywhere. If your lines are buried 5-6 feet deep, the microbes should never work upwards that far for a standard septic design--the water should move outwards and downwards, not upwards. It should never get to the surface. If it did, runoff from heavy rains would be putting the bacteria into the waterways and causing the problems a leach field is designed to prevent. Now if you had an evaporative type system, then you would be bringing the water to the surface and may not want an edible garden on top. Plant roots themselves will not transport the nasty microbes to the surface, only the nutrients and water they absorb. The different results of green/dry people have had really do make sense. In drier climates, grass roots will move downwards to seek water and find it in the leach field. When dry, the grass will stay green over the leach field due to the underground water it is getting. In wetter areas, the grass doesn't have to root as deep to usually have good moisture, but the soil over the leach field usually has very good drainage, so during dry periods, the ground will dry out quickly and the grass turn brown.

g'day sue, for me i can't see why not so long as the fruit maybe hasn't been sitting in or on the actual water in the field. there is a whole process that goes on before plants get nutrients and water from such sources (that's why grass & weed growing in these places are so lush and green good nutrient supply) so can't even imagine how any say pathogens would transfer to the flesh of the fruit, even if you thought it was on the skin it could be peeled or washed or both. we also have at least one link to a site that promotes planting over or near leech fields. and if the septic is working as it should there is a whole process that goes on in the tank before that water is expelled to the leech field. my father used to have a hole dug below the leach field and he would bucket that water to the vege' patch, also had neighbours who micro irrigated their cottage garden with the stuff right from the tank used to stink a bit but no one has suffered. reckon i would need to see hard case evidence of anyone anywhere actually getting sick from eating produce grown using this water. always an emotive issue with lots of fear hype attached. i hear the same thing about grey water use in gardens we have always used it and to date we rarely even get the common cold. len Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

Most jurisdictions in Tx have similar rules about disallowing plumbers to repair conventnal septic systems. The solution is "Arobic Septic Systems". Manufactures advertise that treated water is safe to drink ( I'm not convinced ). At any rate the treated water is normally sprinkled on yard. Yes,all those agencys would likly have a hissy fitt on finding out about your system.

Native soil is rocky, acidic, goes pretty deep but there is bedrock in the neighborhood so that depth is inconsistent...it drains incredibly well. My theory is that there are fissures in the crystaline bedrock (I grew up a few miles away and when our oil tank leaked, 500 gallons of oil leaked hundreds of feet down into our well within 4 days...we had oil water coming out of the shower...EPA took care of that thank god!). Septics do very well here, even in the middle of forests. I'm 32 and I just bought the house...so I suppose it's possible that I'll still be here in 30 years. Not interested in dwarf for this particular species or location. I put a rhod. maximum in the area and I'd like the red spruce to add to it's shade over time. On this one I took your advice Ken! I have 10 red spruce bare roots coming to me from the NH nursery.