Duval County · the county where the well permit and the septic permit come from two different buildings
Well and septic permits in Duval County
Who issues the well permit, who issues the septic permit, and what each one turns on for a property in Duval County.
Duval County at a glance
- Well permits
- City of Jacksonville, Environmental Quality Division
- Septic permits
- Duval County environmental health office
- County seat
- Jacksonville
Well permits
Duval is the exception in the whole water management district. Well permits here are not issued by a health department and not issued by the District. They are issued by the City of Jacksonville, whose Environmental Quality Division holds the St. Johns River district's only delegation agreement with a local government rather than a health department.
Construction, modification and abandonment all require a permit under Chapter 62-532, Florida Administrative Code.
Septic permits
Septic permits run through the county environmental health office under the state onsite sewage program. Because so much of Jacksonville sits within reach of JEA sewer, availability is checked before a replacement drain field is permitted: a lot on an active line may be required to connect instead.
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
Jacksonville is the one place in the region where a homeowner on a well and a septic tank deals with two separate authorities in two separate offices. The well is the City's business, through Environmental Quality. The septic system is the county environmental health office's business, under the state onsite sewage rule.
That split catches people at closing. A buyer's lender asks for the well completion report and the septic permit record, and they are not in the same file. Call Flamingo knows where each one lives and pulls both before an inspection so the report can compare what is on file with what is in the ground.
Most of Jacksonville drinks utility water, so the wells are concentrated at the edges: the north side above the river, Baldwin and the far west, and the older acreage south of Mandarin. Inside the city the commonest well is an irrigation well, which is permitted the same way.
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 Duval 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
Duval County permit questions
Who issues a well permit in Duval County?
City of Jacksonville, Environmental Quality Division. Duval is the exception in the whole water management district. Well permits here are not issued by a health department and not issued by the District. They are issued by the City of Jacksonville, whose Environmental Quality Division holds the St. Johns River district's only delegation agreement with a local government rather than a health department.
Who issues a septic permit in Duval County?
Duval County environmental health office. Septic permits run through the county environmental health office under the state onsite sewage program. Because so much of Jacksonville sits within reach of JEA sewer, availability is checked before a replacement drain field is permitted: a lot on an active line may be required to connect instead.
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 Duval County
Free estimates and the permit filed with the right office, seven days a week.