Arkansas Septic Tank Laws: Permits, Setbacks, and Tank Sizing

Arkansas septic tank laws require a permit from the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) before anyone installs, repairs, or alters an onsite sewage system, and they regulate every stage of that system’s life under the Arkansas Sewage Disposal Systems Act (Ark. Code § 14-236-101 et seq.), originally enacted as Act 402 of 1977.¹ Working without a permit, or ignoring an ADH order to fix a failing system, is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $100 to $1,000.²

Getting a Permit to Install a Septic System

Nothing legally happens on your lot until a licensed Designated Representative evaluates the site. That evaluation drives the whole design: soil pits measure the depth to the seasonal water table, to bedrock, and to any impervious layer, and the Representative documents slope, nearby water, wells, and utilities. The results decide what kind of system the ground can support, where it goes, and how large the absorption field has to be.³

A Designated Representative must either hold an Arkansas professional license (engineer, master plumber, sanitarian, or land surveyor) or hold a bachelor’s degree with at least 30 credit hours in natural science or math plus three years of hands-on experience designing septic systems.⁴

With the design in hand, you submit the Individual Onsite Wastewater System Permit Application (Form EHP-19) to your local ADH office. New-installation fees scale with the square footage of the structure the system will serve:⁵

1,500 sq ft or less: $30
1,501 to 2,000 sq ft: $45
2,001 to 3,000 sq ft: $90
3,001 to 4,000 sq ft: $120
Over 4,000 sq ft: $150
Alteration or repair: $30 flat

Approval comes in three steps. The ADH reviews your application and issues a Permit for Construction. After installation, the ADH or its Authorized Agent inspects the finished work against the approved design. Only then does the ADH issue a Permit for Operation, and only then may you legally use the system.³ The installer has to notify the local Authorized Agent at least 24 hours before starting so the inspection can be scheduled.

Installation work must be done by an ADH-registered installer. Under Act 402, an “installer” is any person, firm, or entity that constructs, installs, alters, or repairs septic systems for compensation. Homeowners keep the right to install or repair their own systems, but the work still has to meet every ADH rule and match the approved permit design.³ Septic tank manufacturers also need an active ADH registration to sell tanks in the state.

Required Setback Distances

Arkansas rules set minimum horizontal distances between parts of a septic system and anything the system could contaminate or damage. The ADH can require greater distances where local conditions call for them, and any reduction below the minimums needs a Department-approved waiver.⁶

Public water supply intake (within one-quarter mile on the same body of water): 300 feet
Spring used as public water supply: 300 feet
Private domestic water well: 100 feet
Stream or lake, measured from high-water mark: 100 feet
Sinkhole: 100 feet
Pond on adjacent property within its watershed: 100 feet
Pond on the same property: 50 feet
Dwelling or building: 10 feet
Property line: 10 feet
Water service line: 10 feet

When a private well and a septic system go on the same lot, the well has to sit at least 100 feet from any part of the wastewater system and at least 50 feet from any lot line. The ADH weighs soil porosity, well depth, and other geology in deciding whether even those minimums are enough.⁶

Tank Size by Number of Bedrooms

Tank capacity is set by bedroom count, which the rules use as a proxy for how many people the house will serve:⁷

One to three bedrooms: 1,000 gallons minimum
Four bedrooms: 2,000 gallons minimum
Each additional bedroom above three adds 250 gallons to the minimum

A system sized for the original floor plan may not meet the rule after a renovation that adds bedrooms, and that mismatch becomes a problem at inspection or at sale.

Alternative Systems and Monitoring Contracts

Where soil conditions, a high water table, or shallow bedrock rule out a conventional gravity system, the ADH may require an alternative such as an aerobic treatment unit (ATU), a mound system, or another engineered design that treats wastewater to a higher standard before it reaches the soil.⁶

Systems that discharge treated effluent to the surface rather than through subsurface absorption carry extra requirements, including a minimum lot size of three acres. A surface-discharging system may also need a separate permit from the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality, because the discharge enters waters of the state and falls under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) jurisdiction.⁶

Owners of ATUs and other alternative systems have a continuing legal duty: a monitoring contract with a registered monitoring person must be kept in place for the life of the system. Self-monitoring is not an option. The monitoring person must be registered with the ADH and authorized by the manufacturer to service that specific unit.⁸ Assessments happen at least every six months. If the contract lapses, you are in violation of state law.

Routine pumping of any septic tank must be done by someone holding an Arkansas Septic Tank Cleaner License.⁹

Repairs, Alterations, and the Emergency Exception

Any repair, alteration, or extension of an existing system runs through the same three-step permitting process as a new install, and the fee is a flat $30 regardless of structure size.³

One exception: when a failure creates an immediate health hazard, you may begin emergency repairs without waiting for a permit. You then have ten working days after the work is finished to obtain the permit. Raw sewage surfacing in a yard or backing up into a house will not wait for paperwork, but the ADH still verifies the fix.³

If the ADH decides your system is a health hazard or nuisance, you have 30 working days after notification to correct it. The clock starts when notice is delivered, not when you open the envelope.⁶

Penalties for Violations

Installing a system without a permit, operating a failing system that you have been ordered to fix, or otherwise violating the Sewage Disposal Systems Act or the ADH rules is a misdemeanor, with fines of $100 to $1,000 per conviction.²

Licensed professionals (installers, Designated Representatives, monitoring personnel, and septic tank manufacturers) face a separate consequence for letting a credential lapse. Renewing more than 60 days after the annual expiration date triggers a late fee equal to half the annual license fee, on top of the renewal cost.

A failing system that contaminates a neighbor’s well or a nearby waterway can also produce civil liability independent of the misdemeanor fine. The ADH’s authority to order corrective action within 30 working days is the usual starting point; ignoring that order compounds the exposure.

Buying or Selling a Home With a Septic System

Arkansas does not require a septic inspection before a home sale, and the state does not require every seller to deliver a property condition disclosure, though most residential transactions include some form of disclosure in practice. The buyer carries the burden of ordering an inspection as part of due diligence.

Your local ADH office keeps records of permitted systems and can produce the original design, which gives an inspector a starting point for locating the tank and drainfield and checking whether what is in the ground matches what was approved. A good inspection locates the tank and field, examines the tank for cracks and structural damage, measures sludge and scum levels, and tests whether the field is draining. This is where unpermitted additions, undersized tanks for houses that gained bedrooms, and drainfields built off-spec tend to surface.

If you own a system and expect to sell, pulling your permit records and bringing any informal changes into compliance before listing avoids a problem that a buyer’s inspector will otherwise find.

1
Justia Law. Arkansas Code Title 14, Subtitle 14, Chapter 236
2
Code of Arkansas Rules. 14 CAR 21-1702 – Penalties
3
Arkansas Department of Health. Arkansas Code Rules Pertaining to Onsite Wastewater Systems and Relevant Acts
4
Arkansas Department of Health. Designated Representative License Application Form
5
Arkansas Department of Health. Individual Onsite System Permit Application – EHP-19
6
Arkansas Department of Health. Onsite Wastewater Rule
7
Arkansas Department of Health. Section 1 – Rules
8
Code of Arkansas Rules. 14 CAR 21-1101 – Generally
9
Cornell Law School. Arkansas Code R. 002 – Rules and Regulations Pertaining to General Sanitation