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Newark family business pumping septic and aeration tanks, with camera inspections, jetting and real estate septic inspections across Licking County since 1989.
London family septic company founded in 1996, pumping tanks, installing risers, cleaning grease traps and inspecting lines across seven counties.
Family-owned Medina septic company offering pumping, inspections, installation, repairs, aerobic maintenance plans and 24/7 emergency service across nine counties.
Johnstown septic pumper serving homes and businesses in Knox, Licking, Delaware and Morrow counties, with emergency calls, grease traps and sewer camera work.
Brookville family-owned septic company pumping, installing, inspecting and repairing systems, with 24/7 emergency service in four counties.
Family-owned Middlefield septic company offering tank pumping, drain field repair, system replacement and emergency service across four northeast Ohio counties.
Eaton plumber offering septic pumping, inspections, tank installation, leach field repair and 24-hour emergency septic service in Preble County.
Family-owned Port Clinton company, in business since 1980, pumping, inspecting and installing septic systems across six northwest Ohio counties.
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Ohio's rules define a service provider as anyone who services, monitors, evaluates or samples a septic system without installing or altering it (OAC 3701-29-01). In practice that means service contracts, dye tests and other monitoring, sample collection, and evaluations such as point-of-sale inspections when a home is sold (ODH).
Like pumpers and installers, service providers register with the board of health in every district where they work. The registration runs out at the end of each calendar year (OAC 3701-29-03). They file a $25,000 statewide surety bond, cut to $15,000 for a company that is also registered as an installer. The Ohio Department of Health posts the service provider bond list, and our ODH-bonded service provider badge means we matched the business to it. A badge is not local registration, so ask the company whether it is registered with your health district.
Have an aerobic unit or another pretreatment unit? Then any service agreement for it must cover every part of the system, not just the unit (OAC 3701-29-03).
Every septic system in Ohio needs an operation permit from the local board of health. The board decides how long it lasts, up to ten years (OAC 3701-29-09). Each health district must also run an operation and maintenance program. It covers every system installed or altered since January 1, 2015, and older systems on a schedule the district sets (OAC 3701-29-19).
The state rules require a service contract in two cases. One is a system that discharges under an Ohio EPA permit. The other is a system or part the Ohio Department of Health approved on the condition that it has a contract. Your board of health can require one in other cases too (OAC 3701-29-09). Pretreatment units come with written maintenance instructions that set how often they must be serviced (OAC 3701-29-13).
The details vary a lot by county:
You can usually show your system was maintained instead of waiting for a health department inspection. The rules accept a signed report from a registered service provider. Pumping receipts, tank and distribution box inspections and filter cleaning records count too (OAC 3701-29-19). Service providers must tell the board of health when a service contract isn't renewed.
Ohio has no statewide point-of-sale septic inspection. The state rules mention real estate inspections only as something done on request or under a locally established transfer program (OAC 3701-29-19). So whether you need one depends on the county.
Before you list a house or make an offer, call the county health district. Ask whether it has a transfer program and who may do the inspection. Even where none is required, a buyer can hire a registered service provider to evaluate the system.
There is no statewide homeowner checklist, but local programs show what to expect. In Carroll County's transfer inspection, the system and household plumbing are dye tested. Then a measured amount of water, based on the number of bedrooms, is run through the system (Carroll County). Summit County's code lists what counts as a failing system (Code Chapter 1680):
A routine service visit on an aerobic system is different. Lake County's list of yearly checks covers sludge levels, the aerator motor or pump, filters, alarms, chlorinator tablets and the quality of the final effluent (Lake County General Health District).
Most service companies quote by phone. These published prices are from their websites when we read them in October 2026:
So a basic inspection ran from about $145 to $250, and an aerobic service contract around $250 to $400 a year at these companies. Your health district may also charge a permit or filing fee.
Rules checked October 3, 2026.
We used AI tools to help research and draft this guide. Every rule above was checked against the source linked.
Not statewide. Some counties require one before a property transfers, including Summit and Carroll counties, so ask your county health district before you list the house.
Every septic system in Ohio needs an operation permit from the local board of health. The board sets how long it lasts, up to ten years, and what maintenance proof it needs.
The state rules require one when the system discharges under an Ohio EPA permit or when the Ohio Department of Health made it a condition of approving the system, and local boards of health can require one in other cases. Your operation permit says which applies.
Yes. Service providers register each year with the board of health in every district where they work and file a $25,000 statewide surety bond, or $15,000 if they are also registered as installers.
Ohio companies that publish prices charged about $145 to $250 for a basic septic inspection in October 2026. Your health district may add a permit or filing fee.
It depends on the county. Carroll County's inspection dye tests the system and runs a measured amount of water through it. Summit County's takes about one to two hours and needs access inside the house, and sellers are asked not to pump the tank beforehand.