If you're building a new home, replacing a failed system, or expanding a structure on a property that isn't tied into city sewer, the excavation phase is where a septic project succeeds or stalls. KDM Earthworks handles the digging, including tank excavation, leach field and soil treatment area excavation, and trenching for the lines that connect them, for homeowners, licensed OWTS installers, and builders throughout Colorado Springs and El Paso County.

We want to be upfront about scope: KDM Earthworks is an excavation contractor, not a licensed onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) installer. We don't design septic systems, pull OWTS permits, or perform the plumbing tie-ins. What we do is show up with the right equipment and soil knowledge to open the ground correctly, to depth, to grade, and to the dimensions your licensed installer or engineer specified, so the rest of the install goes smoothly. Many of our septic excavation jobs come as a direct referral from local licensed installers who trust us with the dirt work.

Why Septic Excavation Is Different Here Than Almost Anywhere Else

El Paso County soil is not forgiving. Large stretches of Colorado Springs, Falcon, Peyton, Calhan, and the areas east of I-25 sit on a layer of caliche, a cemented, calcium-carbonate hardpan that can sit just a few feet below grade and is dense enough to slow or stop standard digging equipment. Get it wrong and a leach field excavation that should take a day turns into two or three. West of town, toward Woodland Park and Divide, you're often dealing with decomposed granite and rock outcroppings instead. And almost everywhere in the region, the topsoil sits over expansive clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, which matters enormously for a soil treatment area, since a septic system's entire job depends on how well the surrounding soil drains and absorbs effluent.

Kalten Mattics, KDM's owner, walks every septic excavation site himself before equipment shows up. That matters here specifically because a five-minute walk of the site, checking for exposed caliche, low spots that pond water, slope direction, and how close the proposed tank or field is to a well, property line, or existing structure, catches problems before they turn into change orders. It's a lot cheaper to catch a boulder field or a drainage issue on day one than on day three.

What Our Septic Excavation Work Includes

• Septic tank excavation. Opening the pit to the depth, width, and access clearance your installer specifies, with proper spoil placement for backfill.
• Leach field and soil treatment area excavation. Trenching or bed excavation for the drain field, graded to the design slope.
• Line trenching. Connecting trenches between the house, tank, and field, dug below the frost line (commonly around 36 inches in El Paso County) to help protect lines from winter freeze.
• Site access and staging. Clearing equipment access on tight rural lots, especially useful in areas like Divide and Peyton where driveways weren't built for heavy machinery.
• Backfill and rough grading. Once your installer signs off on placement, we backfill and grade the area back out.
• Replacement system excavation. Digging out a failed system for repair or replacement permits, coordinated with your OWTS installer or inspector.

Areas We Serve

Septic excavation is especially common outside city sewer lines, which describes a lot of our service area. We regularly dig septic sites in:

• Colorado Springs
• Monument
• Fountain
• Peyton
• Calhan
• Woodland Park
• Divide
• Manitou Springs

Frequently Asked Questions