Verified as of September 11, 2026. We re-check these pages quarterly.
The contract is with a person, not a company
The contract must be with a licensed maintenance provider, and under TCEQ's rules a maintenance provider is an individual person. TCEQ once registered maintenance companies and no longer does.
Practically: a company can arrange your maintenance and send the invoice, but a licensed individual is accountable for the work. Ask who that person is. It should be on the paperwork.
What the provider must do, at minimum
TCEQ sets a floor. Your provider must:
- Install a tag or other identification on the system at the start of each maintenance contract. It is punched or marked at each visit — including visits made in response to your complaints. That tag is your independent record that someone actually came.
- Inspect the components each visit and note whether each one is working. If something is not operating properly, you as the owner are responsible for having it repaired.
- Test the system as required by 30 TAC §285.91(4).
- Submit a report to the permitting authority and to you at least once every four months. A sample report format sits at 30 TAC §285.90(3).
That last one is the obligation people discover late. The report does not only come to you — it goes to the county. Three reports a year is the default rhythm of owning one of these systems.
The six-month exception
The reporting frequency may be reduced to once every six months where the system uses an electronic monitor, automatic radio or telephone to notify the maintenance provider of a problem.
If your system has that capability, you may be paying for more visits than the rules require. If it does not, adding it is sometimes cheaper over a few years than the extra visits — worth doing the arithmetic before renewing.
Can you maintain it yourself?
Sometimes. Two years after the initial installation of an aerobic treatment unit, TCEQ allows a homeowner to perform the maintenance themselves on systems using secondary treatment, non-standard treatment, drip irrigation or surface application.
Three cautions before you take that on:
- Some permitting authorities are stricter. A local program may require homeowner training first, or prohibit homeowner maintenance outright. Check with the county before you cancel a contract.
- The reporting obligation does not disappear because you took over the wrench.
- A lapsed contract with no replacement is the most common compliance failure we see. The system keeps running. The reports stop. The county's records show a gap, and it usually surfaces at the worst time — during a sale, or after a complaint.
What this costs
Expect roughly $200–$450 a year for a contract in this county, varying with visit frequency and how far out you are. A long caliche driveway in Henly costs more to service than a lot in Buda, and any honest provider will tell you that up front.
If your contract has lapsed
Get it back in place before anything else. Then ask the provider to establish where the reporting record stands with the county. It is a far smaller problem to fix voluntarily than to explain later.