Septic Tank Pumping in Florida, FL

• County pages: Clay County (southwest of Jacksonville), Hernando and Pasco counties (north of Tampa on the Gulf side), Lake and Osceola counties (central Florida) and Miami-Dade County.
• Pick your county below for local towns, roads and office contacts.
• Routine pumping is booked by route; backups get priority statewide.
• Gulf-side counties like Hernando and Pasco share karst and older 1980s housing, while Osceola and Lake are central Florida growth counties with many lakes and wetlands. Clay County is Jacksonville's southwest suburb, and Miami-Dade has its own urban-edge systems.

• Routine pump-outs every few years
• Repair evaluations and permits for failing drain fields
• Aerobic treatment unit (ATU) service and operating permits
• Tank abandonment when homes connect to sewer
• Inspections for home sales
• Storm-season backups

• UF/IFAS says it generally costs $250 to $400 to pump out a septic system, depending on where you live in Florida.
• UF/IFAS says failed systems can cost $3,000 to $10,000 to repair or replace, which is why routine pumping pays off.
• Repair permits are set statewide by Rule 62-6.030, F.A.C.: $50 for a repair evaluation, $55 for the permit and $75 for the initial inspection, with a $5 surcharge.
• Local differences come from tank size, buried lids, travel, and disposal at licensed sites.
• Method: UF/IFAS's published pumping figure adjusted for tank size, plus DEP's fee schedule for any county permit.

• Step 1, find your records: the county health department office keeps the permit file for your system.
• Step 2, pump: no permit is needed to pump, but haulers must hold a DEP septage disposal service permit, $75 a year under Rule 62-6.030, F.A.C.
• Step 3, repair: get a permit before work starts. The state rule lists $50 for the evaluation and $55 for the permit.
• Step 4, inspection: the work is inspected before cover-up, $75 for the first inspection and $50 for a reinspection.
• Step 5, special systems: aerobic and performance-based systems need a $100 biennial operating permit and abandoning a tank needs a $50 permit, under Rule 62-6.030, F.A.C.
• Agencies: DEP sets the rules; the Department of Health county offices (Environmental Health) handle local permitting and inspections.

• Sand: most Florida septic sites sit on sandy soil that drains quickly but filters less, so separation from the water table matters most.
• Water table: in the summer wet season the water table rises toward drain fields in low areas near lakes, rivers and the coast.
• Karst: limestone under the Gulf-side counties north of Tampa can open sinkholes.
• Rainfall and hurricanes: storm rainfall saturates fields statewide, and backups cluster from June through September.
• Housing age: Census ACS 2024 data counts 96,171 housing units in Hernando, 187,211 in Osceola and 93,080 in Clay, with large 1980s and 2000s building waves in each.
• Lakes: central Florida's lake country in Lake and Osceola counties puts many homes near shorelines, where the water table sits high and setbacks matter.
• Older homes: Gulf-side subdivisions built in the 1970s and 1980s, like Spring Hill in Hernando County, have systems now decades old.

Clay County · Hernando County · Lake County · Miami-Dade County · Osceola County · Pasco County