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Section · Tanks, drainfields, sewer lines
Septic, sewer and the springs: what happens after the drain
Septic or sewer, Central Florida homes split both ways. This section covers how to tell which you have, tank care, drainfield trouble and the springs-area rules.
In this section
Septic tank or city sewer? How to find out for sure
To tell if a house is on septic or sewer, check the utility bill for a wastewater charge, then ask the county health department for septic permit records.
Pumping, inspecting and living kindly with a septic tank
Septic tank pumping and inspection in Florida follow EPA's rule of thumb: pump every 3 to 5 years, inspect every 1 to 3. State law sets no routine schedule for ordinary home systems.
When the drainfield starts talking back
Septic drain field problems show up as slow drains, gurgling, soggy ground, sewage smells or a too-green strip of lawn. Cut water use, keep off the area and call a registered septic contractor.
The Wekiwa springs, nitrogen and your septic tank
Wekiva-area septic rules now require nitrogen-reducing systems on many lots, and septic-to-sewer programs are converting homes. Orange County's program is well along; Seminole County's current status we could not confirm.
A good share of houses north of Orlando still send their wastewater to a tank in the yard rather than a city pipe. Across Florida, state figures put about 30% of residents on septic, some 2.6 million systems in all. Once you know which kind you have, the rest of this section gets a lot more useful.
Start with the basic question
Plenty of buyers close on a house in Longwood or out toward Geneva without knowing where the toilet drains. Our story on whether your house is on septic or sewer walks through the paperwork, the bill and the yard clues, and names the offices that keep records. If you're on a tank, septic pumping and care covers EPA's pumping and inspection timing, what never belongs in a toilet, and why Florida has no routine inspection rule for ordinary home systems.
When the yard tells you something
A soggy patch that won't dry out, gurgling in the pipes, or a strip of grass greener than the rest of the lawn can all point to the drainfield. Our drainfield trouble page sorts the warning signs, explains why storm season makes them worse, and covers who is allowed to dig, repair and permit the fix. Any sinking spot over a tank is a keep-off zone until a registered septic contractor has looked at it.
The springs and the septic-to-sewer push
The state's 2018 cleanup plan for Wekiwa Spring and Rock Springs lists Seminole County, Orange County, Altamonte Springs, Apopka and Orlando among the local governments with a part to play. That plan pins 29% of the nitrogen reaching the springshed on septic systems, and newer state rules call for nitrogen-reducing systems on many lots. Our springs-area septic rules story covers what's required, Orange County's conversion program, and the open questions about Seminole County's.
One honest note: Seminole County's own website blocked our requests, so we could not confirm where its septic-to-sewer program stands today. Ask the county directly before you count on a hookup.