{"id":5123,"date":"2024-03-12T08:56:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T12:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/?page_id=5123"},"modified":"2025-07-16T14:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T18:34:09","slug":"operation-and-maintenance-for-existing-onsite-sewage-systems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/operation-and-maintenance-for-existing-onsite-sewage-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation &amp; Maintenance for Existing Onsite Sewage Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Have you pumped your septic tank lately?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If it has been more than 5 years, or you don&#8217;t remember when the last time was, it is time to have your septic tank pumped. See the Sewage Handling Contractor List below for a list of companies who offer this service. For information on maintaining and operating your home septic system <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/onsite-sewage-system-owner-responsibilities\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">click here<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Is your house served by an Alternative Onsite Sewage System?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Alternative Onsite Sewage Systems are required to be inspected and sampled by a qualified\u00a0Alternative Onsite Sewage System Operator within 180 days from the date of system approval. The system must then be inspected annually and sampled once every five years.\u00a0A list of operators is available below.<\/li>\n<li>Alternative Onsite Sewage System Operators should submit inspection\u00a0reports to the Health Department by the 15<sup>th<\/sup>of the month following the inspection.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/VDH-My-Health-Department-Instructions-Version-3.0_20230629.pdf\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">To access the portal click here.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2024\/07\/septic-smart.png\" alt=\"Be smart poster showing the do's and don'ts of your septic system: protect and inspect it, think at the sink, don't overload the commode, shield your field, don't strain your drain.\" width=\"502\" height=\"565\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you pumped your septic tank lately? If it has been more than 5 years, or you don&#8217;t remember when the last time was, it is time to have your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5123","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Operation &amp; Maintenance for Existing Onsite Sewage Systems - Blue Ridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/operation-and-maintenance-for-existing-onsite-sewage-systems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Operation &amp; Maintenance for Existing Onsite Sewage Systems - Blue Ridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you pumped your septic tank lately? 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