St. Johns County · a delegated county with the fastest-moving property market in the region
Well and septic permits in St. Johns County
Who issues the well permit, who issues the septic permit, and what each one turns on for a property in St. Johns County.
St. Johns County at a glance
- Well permits
- Florida Department of Health in St. Johns County
- Septic permits
- St. Johns County environmental health office
- County seat
- St. Augustine
Well permits
St. Johns County holds a well permitting delegation agreement with the St. Johns River Water Management District, so an ordinary residential or irrigation well is permitted locally through the county health department. The District still permits wells of six inches or more outside diameter itself, which is a size question rather than a county one.
Construction, modification and abandonment all require a permit under Chapter 62-532, Florida Administrative Code.
Septic permits
Septic permits are issued through the county environmental health office. On coastal parcels the separation between the bottom of the drain field and the wet-season water table is the number that decides whether a conventional system fits or a mound design is required.
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
St. Johns is the county where permits are most often needed in a hurry, because it is the county where property changes hands fastest. Both the well and the septic permit come from the same building, the county health department, which makes the paperwork simpler than Duval even though the closings are more numerous.
The work splits between inland and coast. Around Hastings and Elkton the wells are farm and household supply on large lots and the septic systems are conventional. On the coast at Ponte Vedra, Vilano and St. Augustine Beach the wells are mostly irrigation, and the septic question is the water table, which sits close enough to the surface in the wet season that many replacements end up as mound systems.
Call Flamingo pulls the completion report and the septic permit record from the county before a closing inspection, and measures the setback between the two on site, because the file and the yard do not always agree.
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 St. Johns 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
St. Johns County permit questions
Who issues a well permit in St. Johns County?
Florida Department of Health in St. Johns County. St. Johns County holds a well permitting delegation agreement with the St. Johns River Water Management District, so an ordinary residential or irrigation well is permitted locally through the county health department. The District still permits wells of six inches or more outside diameter itself, which is a size question rather than a county one.
Who issues a septic permit in St. Johns County?
St. Johns County environmental health office. Septic permits are issued through the county environmental health office. On coastal parcels the separation between the bottom of the drain field and the wet-season water table is the number that decides whether a conventional system fits or a mound design is required.
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 St. Johns County
Free estimates and the permit filed with the right office, seven days a week.