Hanson, MA septic help: town permits for inspectors, sieve tests on wet lots and the Board at 542 Liberty Street

A cranberry town with high water in the low spots

Hanson counted 10,639 people at the 2020 census. It is a town of ponds, brooks and old bogs: Ocean Spray traces its start to bogs here, the town site notes the first Ocean Spray packing house was built in Hanson in 1912, and the 1,738 acre Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in South Hanson was cranberry land until the state bought it in 2002. Indian Head Pond feeds Indian Head Brook and the Indian Head River, which runs on to the North River, and the town shares West Monponsett Pond with Halifax, where summer algae counts have gone past the state guideline of 70,000 cells per millilitre.

Low ground near all that water is where septic design gets hard. Board of Health minutes record variances on depth to groundwater, deed restrictions written on lots because of it, and Conservation Commission reviews for fields inside the 200 foot riverfront area of Indian Head Brook.

The Board of Health at 542 Liberty Street

The Board of Health works from 542 Liberty Street, Hanson MA 02341, phone (781) 293-3138, as printed on its notice to Title 5 inspectors. The Board reviews septic plans at its meetings; agendas in early 2026 listed plans for addresses such as 55 Leon Court, 269 Lakeside Road and 273 Gray Lane. The Board also changed its perc application in 2015 so that a test is not scheduled until the other approvals on the form are in, and in 2014 it approved an outside consultant to witness perc tests. Ask the office who witnesses tests this season before you book an excavator.

Sieve analysis instead of a perc test

A perc test measures how fast water drains from a hole. When the water table sits too close to the surface for a fair test, Title 5 lets the soil be graded in a lab instead, a sieve analysis, to set the loading rate for the field. Hanson’s Board has granted that route again and again: on high water sites on Indian Head Street and Birchbark in 2015, for a five bedroom plan on Gorwin Drive in 2016, and as a condition on a plan in 2026, where it allowed sieve testing in place of a perc test at the depth of suitable material. If your lot is wet, ask your soil evaluator early whether the Board will want a perc test or a sieve analysis.

Title 5 inspections in Hanson

Hanson does more than most towns to control who inspects. Under a Board notice revised 11 March 2025, every System Inspector must hold a Hanson permit before working in town, at $100 a year, running from the day of application to 31 December. The Board will not accept a report from an inspector without one. Each report must carry its inspection components and a $25 fee to the Town of Hanson, and an inspector who wants to run a camera or scope down the line needs Board approval first. When you hire for a Title 5 inspection before a sale, ask to see the current Hanson permit.

The state rules then apply as usual: an inspection within two years before a sale, an upgrade before an added bedroom, and a repair once a system fails, often a new leach field or a full replacement.

Money that applies, and the towns next door

Hanson is in Plymouth County, so the Barnstable County AquiFund loan does not apply. The state septic credit does: 60% of up to $30,000 spent on a failed system at a principal residence, $18,000 lifetime (mass.gov residential tax credits, read for our Carver page, September 2026; see the tax credit guide).

Next door, Pembroke runs its own Title V rulebook and Halifax asks for soil checks on older systems. The service areas page lists every town we cover.

West of Hanson, East Bridgewater has its own page, covering its 2005 cesspool rule, the town wells and its two small sewer districts.

Sources: 2020 census via Wikipedia; Board address, phone, inspector permit and report fee from the Hanson Board of Health notice to Title 5 inspectors (revised 11 March 2025, hanson-ma.gov); sieve analysis, perc application and consultant items from Board minutes 2014 to 2016 (cmsarchive.civicplus.com) and February and March 2026 (hanson-ma.gov); riverfront review from Conservation Commission minutes; Ocean Spray and Burrage Pond via the town site, Wikipedia and Bird Observer; Monponsett algae from Halifax town postings; all read 10 Nov 2026.