Septic operation permits in Central Ohio: what each county checks

An envelope from the county health district about your septic system can feel like a bill for something you never ordered. It is usually an operation permit notice, and in Central Ohio each county handles those a little differently. Here is what the program is, why it exists, and what each district in the region actually asks of owners in 2026.

Where the program comes from

Ohio's statewide sewage rules took effect on January 1, 2015, and two of them created the paperwork that now reaches mailboxes. Rule 3701-29-19 requires every board of health to run an operation and maintenance program, bringing new and altered systems in right away and phasing older ones in on a schedule each board sets. Rule 3701-29-09 says no one may operate a sewage treatment system without a valid operation permit and lets the board decide how long permits last, up to ten years. New systems also get a follow-up inspection by the health district within 12 months of approval.

The logic is simple. A septic system is a treatment plant nobody sees, and the rules replaced waiting for failure with a light, scheduled check. The permit is the county's way of asking whether your system is still being looked after.

What satisfying the permit usually looks like

Owners rarely need to do more than keep records. Under the state rule, a service report signed by a registered service provider, or a pumping receipt from a registered hauler, can stand in for a health department inspection. That matters, because the alternative is often a county inspection fee. Three habits cover most situations:

• Keep every pumping and service report, and send copies when the district asks.
• If the system has an aerator or other pretreatment unit, keep the service contract current, since many product approvals require one.
• Read the notice closely: it lists the system type on file, and that type drives the schedule.

County by county: what the districts publish

The state rule sets the requirement; each district sets the rhythm. From the districts' own pages and fee schedules:

Delaware County

Delaware Public Health District charges nothing for its O&M permit. Its permit-length chart gives gravity septic-to-leach-field systems a five-year permit and puts aeration systems, mounds, drip, discharging systems, and pumped elevated leach fields on one-year permits. When no service report arrives, the district performs a maintenance inspection for $75. Its phase-in plan, approved in 2015, aims to have every existing system in its database by 2028.

Licking County

Licking County Health Department states that all systems entered its O&M program as of January 1, 2015. Since 2017, discharging and drip systems have been inspected every year and soil absorption systems, trenches and mounds included, every five years. The department counts about 30,000 systems in the county and expects full enrollment to take many years.

Union County

Union County Health Department enrolls every system, with no exemptions, on five-year permits at $10 per permit year; the current cycle runs 2025 through 2029. Aerators and other high-risk systems get an annual inspection, and standard septic-to-leach systems get one per cycle. The district also publishes a public map of its O&M program.

Pickaway County

Pickaway County Public Health enrolls systems installed after January 1, 2015 once they pass their 12-month inspection. Non-mechanical systems carry a three-year permit with at least one inspection per term; mechanical systems carry a one-year permit and must keep a service contract with a company the manufacturer approves; discharging systems add effluent sampling. The permit costs $70 either way, and the district has monitored aerator systems since 1988.

Franklin County and Columbus

Franklin County Public Health makes annual observations of aeration systems, evapotranspiration mounds, commercial systems, and household systems installed since 2015. Inside city limits, Columbus Public Health licenses and inspects household systems instead.

Fairfield and Madison counties

Fairfield Department of Health lists a $65 O&M fee collected with new, replacement, and alteration permits, plus an O&M inspection fee of the same amount. Madison County's 2026 fee list includes a $65 operation permit for off-lot, discharging systems.

Discharging systems carry an extra layer

A smaller group of systems, mostly aerobic units that release treated effluent to a ditch or stream, also fall under an Ohio EPA general permit. The current permit, OHK000004, expires on December 31, 2026. Ohio EPA issued a draft renewal, OHK000005, on September 24, 2026, noting that more than 28,000 household systems are covered statewide, and it plans to renew existing coverage without a new application or fee and to notify homeowners by letter. A public hearing is scheduled for November 12, 2026, in Columbus, with written comments accepted through November 19. If your system discharges, expect that letter, and use the transfer form it describes if the information on file is wrong.

What to do when a notice arrives

• Check the system type and address on the notice against what is actually in your yard.
• Find the most recent pumping or service report and send it in the way the notice asks.
• If you have an aerator or pretreatment unit and no service contract, arrange one before the deadline.
• If you cannot find the tank or the paperwork, call the district and ask what is in the file; the permit table by county lists who to call.

A current report on file is almost always cheaper than a county inspection. If you need a pump-out and a signed report before a deadline, the pumping page explains what a complete visit records, or call us and we will get one on the calendar.