Septic tank pumping in Smiths Grove mostly concerns homes outside the city limits, because Warren County Water District sewer serves the majority of the city itself. The 42171 ZIP code reaches past town into parts of Warren, Barren and Edmonson counties, beyond the reach of the city's 1993 sewer ordinance. Tell us where the property is and we will follow up by phone.
For a Smiths Grove-area home on a septic tank, pumping costs $290 to $560 as a national average range according to This Old House, and the EPA puts most tanks on a 3 to 5 year cycle. Inside city limits, most homes have had Warren Water sewer from 1993 on. On a rural Smiths Grove property, the septic professional uncovers the lid, pumps the tank and checks the baffles. An in-town house with an old tank still tied into its sewer line breaks the water district's rules.
Each service fits a different Smiths Grove situation:
Smiths Grove sits on karst. The 2001 Smiths Grove Rural Village Focal Point Plan describes an area where pollutants can reach groundwater through sinkholes and sinking streams, so a leaking tank anywhere around town is a groundwater problem, not only a yard problem.
The housing is older than most of the county. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median Smiths Grove home at 1973, with about 30 percent built in 1939 or earlier. House lines that joined the sewer in 1993 are now decades old and belong to the owner.
Smiths Grove was incorporated on March 21, 1871, according to the planning commission's 2001 plan for the town. The 2020 Census counted 752 residents and 337 housing units, and that same plan describes newer homes on the outer edges of town following a pattern of modern half-acre lot subdivisions. On one of those edge lots, confirm whether the house is on the sewer or on a tank before planning any septic work.
The sewer itself came together quickly. At a January 1993 city commission meeting, the water district's director said construction would start around August and take about six months, and the minutes note that residents just outside the city could also get sewer access. The planning commission now describes a branch line running along US 68 and KY 80 (Glasgow Road) to KY 101 and extending north into the city from there.
Wastewater from those lines does not stay in Smiths Grove. Warren County Water District's 2021 capital plan says all of the wastewater it collects goes to Bowling Green Municipal Utilities for treatment, and the district also supplies the town's drinking water. The Kentucky Geological Survey says Warren County has areas of moderate to high sensitivity to groundwater pollution, which is why a tank still in use near town deserves a regular pump-out.
Away from Main Street, the National Register lists Cave Spring Farm on Rocky Hill Road, about half a mile northeast of town, and the 2007 expansion of the historic district counts 142 contributing buildings. Ed Spear Park, a 9.77-acre county park, is in Smiths Grove, and the city maintains more than seven miles of streets. State traffic counts cited by the planning commission put about 61,000 vehicles a day on I-65 near the Smiths Grove interchange.
Smiths Grove is built around KY 101, which runs through town as Main Street and Sixth Street and meets I-65 at the Smiths Grove interchange, with US 68 and KY 80 (Glasgow Road) close by. The Smiths Grove Historic District covers the blocks roughly between Smiths Grove Cemetery, the railroad, Hedge Street and Kentucky Street, and the Jackson Manor subdivision lies north of Sixth Street.
Pilot Knob, Warren County's highest point at about 955 feet, rises roughly 2 miles southeast of Smiths Grove.
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