Aerobic Septic Maintenance Contracts in Texas: What to Know

Is an aerobic septic maintenance contract required in Texas?

Yes, for at least the first two years. Under 30 TAC 285.7, every new aerobic system starts with an initial two-year service policy, and a signed copy has to reach the permitting authority before the system is approved for use.

The clock starts on the date the system is first used. For a newly built house, that is the date of sale by the builder. For an existing house getting a new system, it is the date the permitting authority issues its notice of approval.

After two years, the owner of a single-family home has two choices: sign a new maintenance contract, or maintain the system personally where local rules allow it. Commercial, multifamily and speculative residential properties stay under contract.

What the contract must spell out

Per 30 TAC 285.7(d)(1) and the TCEQ OSSF maintenance page, every aerobic maintenance contract has to:

• List the items the contract covers
• State the time frame for a visit after you complain about the system
• Name the licensed maintenance provider responsible for the contract
• Give the frequency of routine maintenance and of the required testing and reporting
• Say who maintains the disinfection unit (the chlorinator)
• Show the provider’s business address and phone number

TCEQ says the provider is an individual person, since it no longer registers maintenance companies, so look up the named provider in the TCEQ license search.

What happens at each four-month visit

A contract visit is a component check plus a report to the county. TCEQ requires the provider to inspect the system’s components, note whether each one works, run the tests the rules require, and submit a report to the permitting authority and to you at least once every four months. Each report is due within 14 days of the test.

The reporting interval can drop to once every six months when the system has electronic monitoring that alerts the provider to a failure and tracks the disinfectant level.

Visits also follow the manufacturer’s procedures. AgriLife notes that aerobic units marketed in Texas as Class I must be tested and certified under NSF Standard 40, the approval route set out in 30 TAC 285.32, and Gregg County requires reports to cover the manufacturer’s testing requirements too. The testing and reporting record Gregg County publishes shows what a typical report covers:

1. Aerator
2. Filters
3. Application pumps
4. Disinfecting device
5. Chlorine supply
6. Electrical circuits
7. Distribution system (spray heads or drip lines)
8. Any components replaced, plus lab or field test results where required

Gregg County’s septic order also requires every report to include the sludge level in the pump tank and the condition of the spray area. At the start of each contract, the provider fixes a weather-resistant tag to the motor cover, control panel or breaker box and punches or marks it at every visit, including complaint calls. If a component is not working, TCEQ says the property owner must have it repaired.

After the first two years: renew or take over

Most owners renew, and 30 TAC 285.7 runs the paperwork on 30-day deadlines.

Situation	What the rules require
Initial two-year policy ending	Owner gives the permitting authority a signed contract 30 days before the policy expires, unless the owner will maintain the system
Each later contract	New contract signed and submitted at least 30 days before the current one expires
Provider drops you	Provider notifies the permitting authority, the manufacturer and you in writing at least 30 days before service stops
You cancel	Provider notifies the permitting authority and the manufacturer at least 30 days before service stops
Contract ends for any reason	Owner files a new signed contract within 30 days, unless maintaining the system personally
Home sold inside the first two years	The initial service policy’s terms carry over to the new owner

Can you maintain your own aerobic system in Texas?

Sometimes, and only after the initial two years. TCEQ says homeowners may maintain systems that use secondary treatment, non-standard treatment, drip irrigation or surface application two years after the unit was installed. All of these conditions have to hold:

• The two-year initial service policy has ended
• The system serves a single-family home you own, not a commercial, multifamily or speculative residential property
• Your local permitting authority allows it

That last point matters in East Texas. TCEQ notes that some permitting authorities require homeowner training or prohibit homeowner maintenance outright. Gregg County, whose health department is in Longview, adopted a septic order in March 2026 that requires all OSSF maintenance to be done by a TCEQ registered maintenance company (the order’s wording; TCEQ now licenses individual maintenance providers) unless the owner is a TCEQ registered maintenance provider for their own unit, was trained by an installer or manufacturer under an earlier state law (HB 2510), or holds a Class D or higher wastewater treatment license and is certified by the manufacturer for that brand. The same order sets inspections at no less than once every three months.

Around Tyler, Smith County’s OSSF program is run by its contractor, RTS Environmental LLC. In Upshur County around Gilmer, the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District runs the program, and Rusk County around Henderson has its own office. None of the three says on its public page whether homeowners may maintain their own aerobic unit, so ask before you let a contract lapse. Our septic permits by county guide lists every office.

If you qualify, owners who self-maintain under the exemption are not subject to the testing and reporting requirement, and the manufacturer must sell replacement parts to homeowners. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension offers an online homeowner maintenance of aerobic treatment units course, and its guide to living with an aerobic unit and spray field lists the kit you would need, including a chlorine DPD test kit, a sludge profile probe and a dissolved oxygen test kit. It also warns that the work carries real risks, from sewage exposure to electrical shock.

Chlorine rules for the chlorinator

Only wastewater tablets belong in a tablet chlorinator. TCEQ says to use calcium hypochlorite tablets certified by EPA for wastewater disinfection, and it warns against pool tablets.

	Wastewater chlorine tablets	Swimming pool tablets
Chemical	Calcium hypochlorite	Trichloroisocyanuric acid
EPA approved for wastewater effluent	Yes (check the label)	No
How it works in a chlorinator	Kills 99% of bacteria in the effluent within 10 minutes, per TCEQ	Dissolves too slowly to disinfect the effluent thoroughly
Safety	Follow the manufacturer’s warnings	Can release an explosive gas (nitrogen chloride, in TCEQ’s wording) because the tablets are not fully immersed

AgriLife adds that chlorine tablets release chlorine gas, so do not store them in the house, the garage or near metal tools. Your contract should say whether you or the provider keeps the chlorinator stocked. See the aerobic systems overview for the other parts.

Aerobic alarm going off: what to check

An aerobic alarm usually means high water or low air pressure. AgriLife’s aerobic treatment unit fact sheet lists the usual causes: a plugged spray head or filter, a broken pump, heavy water use or a leaking fixture for high water, and a broken air pump, broken air lines or low water in the aeration chamber for low air.

1. Silence it, do not disconnect it. Texas rules require every audible and visible alarm to have a manual silence switch.
2. Check the breakers. Texas rules put the pump tank alarm on a separate circuit from the pump, so it can sound while the pump breaker is tripped. Reset a tripped breaker once. If it trips again, leave it off and call your maintenance provider.
3. Listen to the air pump. The unit needs constant power for aeration. If the air pump near the tank is silent, running rough or blowing no air, that points to the low-air side.
4. Think about the timer and recent outages. Some spray systems dose on a timer, and Texas requires night spraying (midnight to 5 a.m.) when the spray area is within 20 feet of the property line. After a power outage, AgriLife says a time-dosed system may take 24 hours to spray out stored water before the high-water alarm clears.
5. Look at the chlorinator. Confirm it holds the right tablets and is not jammed or empty. An empty chlorinator may not set off the alarm, but it means effluent is being sprayed without disinfection.
6. Cut your water use. Hold off on laundry, the dishwasher and long showers, and check for a running toilet or dripping faucet.
7. Call your provider. AgriLife advises calling your maintenance provider when an alarm sounds, and calling if it stays on for more than 24 hours after power returns.

If sewage is surfacing in the yard or backing up into the house, or you have no provider and the alarm will not clear, request a call back and we’ll get it handled. Before any work starts, check the provider’s license in the TCEQ license search linked above. For the full list of warning signs, see our aerobic septic system service page.

What to look for in a contract

AgriLife’s homeowner’s guide to evaluating service contracts warns that the cheapest base contract may not be the best deal. Before you sign, check that the contract answers these:

• Which services and parts are in the base price, and which cost extra?
• What is the hourly rate for extra work, and how do you approve it before it starts?
• How fast will the provider respond to an alarm, and how is that call billed?
• Who stocks the chlorinator?
• Is pumping included, or billed separately when sludge builds up?
• Are you required to use this provider for parts and repairs?
• Will you get a copy of every report sent to the county?

AgriLife recommends, at minimum, a contract that covers monitoring, operation and routine maintenance.

What does a maintenance contract cost?

No national cost guide we checked lists a price for a Texas aerobic contract, so get written quotes locally. For general context, HomeGuide puts septic system maintenance at $150 to $1,000 per year nationally for an annual inspection plus services as needed, and HomeAdvisor puts a new aerobic system at $10,000 to $20,000 installed nationally. The septic system installation cost guide breaks those installation numbers down, and aerobic system basics explains why these units cost more to run than a conventional tank.

Sources

• TCEQ, Maintenance of On-Site Sewage Facilities
• 30 TAC 285.7, Maintenance Requirements (Cornell LII)
• 30 TAC 285.34, Other Requirements (alarms and silence switches)
• 30 TAC 285.33, Criteria for Effluent Disposal Systems (spray timers)
• 30 TAC 285.32, Criteria for Sewage Treatment Systems (NSF Standard 40 Class I approval)
• Gregg County, Septic Systems (On-Site Sewage Facility Order, Testing and Reporting Record)
• TCEQ, authorized agent lookup by county
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, OSSF program, fact sheets L-5302, B-6234, B-6171 and L-5475 (power outages and floods)
• HomeGuide, septic system cost; HomeAdvisor, septic tank installation cost