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Aerobic Septic Maintenance Contracts in Texas

The obligation does not end when the inspector signs off. That is where it starts.

The rule: Texas Health & Safety Code §366.0515 requires every aerobic system owner to keep an active contract with a licensed maintenance provider.

For a new aerobic install in Gregg County the maintenance agreement is part of the permit file from the start, alongside the Affidavit to the Public. The provider inspects on a set schedule and reports to the county. When the contract lapses, the county finds out, because the reports simply stop arriving.

What a service visit covers

  • Checking the aerator or compressor is actually running, and at the right output
  • Checking the disinfection stage and topping up consumables
  • Checking pumps, floats and alarms operate when they are meant to
  • Looking at sludge and scum levels to judge whether a pump-out is due
  • Checking the distribution or spray field for ponding, breaks or blocked heads
  • Filing the report, which is how the authority knows the system is being looked after

What happens when it lapses

Nothing, for a while, and that is the trap. A system with no service contract keeps running until it does not. What changes immediately is the paper trail: the reports stop, and the authority's file shows a system out of compliance. That becomes a live problem at exactly the moment you least want one, which is a sale.

What you can do yourself

  • Listen for the compressor. A silent one is a system that has stopped treating.
  • Do not ignore an alarm, and do not silence one without finding out why it went off.
  • Keep vehicles off the tank and the field. Compacted soil does not recover.
  • Keep roof and surface water away from the field. It has enough to deal with.
  • Do not plant anything with serious roots over the field.
  • Keep the reports. They are the asset when you sell, not the system.
Need a provider to take over the contract?

A licensed site evaluator has to answer that with a soil test; nobody can tell from a map. Send us your address and we will have local licensed pros quote the evaluation and the install. Request free quotes →

Last reviewed September 23, 2026 against Gregg County Health Department and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality published rules. How we research this site.