Clay County · the county with the most wells and tanks on the same lots
Well and septic permits in Clay County
Who issues the well permit, who issues the septic permit, and what each one turns on for a property in Clay County.
Clay County at a glance
- Well permits
- Florida Department of Health in Clay County
- Septic permits
- Clay County environmental health office
- County seat
- Green Cove Springs
Well permits
Clay County's health department holds a well permitting delegation agreement with the St. Johns River district, so the permit is issued locally rather than by the District.
Construction, modification and abandonment all require a permit under Chapter 62-532, Florida Administrative Code.
Septic permits
Septic permits are handled by the county environmental health office. On the larger rural parcels here, the well location matters as much as the field location, because the required separation between a drinking water well and a drain field shapes the whole site plan.
New systems, replacements, repairs to the drain field and tank abandonment are permitted under Chapter 64E-6, Florida Administrative Code.
What that means on the ground
Clay is the heart of this trade. Middleburg, Lake Asbury and the acreage west of Orange Park sit outside the utility envelope entirely, and a large share of those properties run a private well and a septic tank together. It is also where the oldest surviving shallow wells are.
Both permits come from the county health department, which is convenient, and both are governed by the same setback: a drinking well has to stand 75 feet from every part of the septic system. On an acre that is easy. On the older quarter-acre lots around Middleburg it is the whole design problem, and it is why a replacement well and a replacement drain field are so often planned together.
Keystone Heights, in the far southwest, sits on the deep sand of the Trail Ridge, where the water table can be far below grade and the shallow wells that worked elsewhere in the county do not.
The one number both permits share
A private drinking well has to sit at least 75 feet from any part of a septic system, and an irrigation well 50 feet, under the state onsite sewage rule. Whichever office issues which permit in Clay County, that measurement is what decides where a new well or a new drain field can go. How the setback plays out on a lot.
Straight answers
Clay County permit questions
Who issues a well permit in Clay County?
Florida Department of Health in Clay County. Clay County's health department holds a well permitting delegation agreement with the St. Johns River district, so the permit is issued locally rather than by the District.
Who issues a septic permit in Clay County?
Clay County environmental health office. Septic permits are handled by the county environmental health office. On the larger rural parcels here, the well location matters as much as the field location, because the required separation between a drinking water well and a drain field shapes the whole site plan.
Does Call Flamingo handle the permits?
Yes. Well construction, modification and abandonment permits, and septic installation, replacement and abandonment permits are filed with the county office as part of the job, and the completion or abandonment report is filed afterwards.
Well or septic work in Clay County
Free estimates and the permit filed with the right office, seven days a week.