SINCE 2010
Aerobic septic maintenance and ATU contracts in Southwest Florida
Own an aerobic treatment unit, or ATU? Florida requires a maintenance contract for as long as it is in use, with a service visit at least twice a year. We maintain aerobic septic systems for homes and businesses across six Southwest Florida counties, including units someone else put in. Call the office to set up a contract, and a real person answers.
When you need it
You bought a home with an aerobic unit, and nobody has serviced it since. The operating permit does not pass to a new owner, so the permit and the maintenance contract both need to be in your name.
Your contract is up for renewal, or the company that held it stopped coming out.
The alarm on the control panel is sounding, or the air pump has gone quiet. Without air, the unit cannot treat the waste the way it should, and less treated water heads for the drain field, the buried bed where water from the tank soaks into the ground.
The health department has written to you about the operating permit, which for a home has to be renewed every two years, or about a missed service visit.
A new system just went in. The first maintenance contract on a new unit runs at least two years, and every renewal after that at least one.
What we do on the visit
We check the blower, the air pump that keeps the unit breathing, and make sure it is running and moving air the way it should.
We check the alarm system.
We check all of the electrical components, from the control panel to the wiring that runs the unit.
We clean both filters on site: the air filter on the blower and the filter inside the tank.
We check the sludge and scum levels in the tank, which tell us when it needs pumping.
The visit is reported to the county health department, as Florida requires of every maintenance company. For a home, we come back about every six months. If the visit turns up something more, like a tank that is due for pumping or a part that has worn out, we tell you what we found.
What affects the job here
Florida keeps aerobic units on a short leash. Along with the maintenance contract, a homeowner needs an operating permit from the health department, renewed every two years. A business whose system takes commercial sewage holds a yearly operating permit instead. Either way, the health department inspects each unit at least once a year. Our guide to Florida septic tank laws covers the rest of the rules.
Power matters here. A storm that knocks out the electricity stops the blower. Once the power is back, listen for it, and call if the alarm comes on or the blower stays quiet.
In the state’s water cleanup plan areas, a new system on a lot of an acre or less with no sewer available has to reduce nitrogen. One of the ways to meet that is a Florida-approved aerobic unit certified to the NSF 245 nitrogen standard.
We are certified on Hoot, B.E.S.T., Cajun Aire, Fuji Clean USA, Aqua Aire and Aqua Safe, Norweco and Jet units, and we appear on the approved maintenance entity lists the health departments publish in Lee and Charlotte counties.
Homes, businesses, or both
Both. For homeowners, this is the scheduled maintenance the state requires, at about one visit every six months, with the same office to call when the alarm sounds at night.
We take commercial contracts too. For businesses and property managers, the state sets a tighter schedule: a unit serving a business is inspected four times a year.
We take ATU contracts in all six counties we serve: Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades and DeSoto. Call (239) 225-2255 to talk through a contract for yours.
Common questions
Do you service an aerobic system you did not install?
Yes, if it is a brand we are certified on. Tell the office the brand on the lid and when the unit was last serviced, and we will take it from there.
How often does an aerobic septic system need maintenance in Florida?
For a home, the state requires a service visit at least twice a year, and we come about every six months to match. A unit serving a business has to be inspected four times a year.
What should I do when the ATU alarm goes off?
Cut your water use right down and call the office. On an aerobic unit the alarm often means the air pump has stopped or the water level is too high. If the panel or the ground around it is wet or flooded, leave it alone and tell us when you call. Otherwise you can quiet it with its silence switch.
Does an aerobic system still need pumping?
Yes. The air helps the bacteria break waste down, but solids still settle in the tank and have to come out from time to time. On every visit we check the sludge and scum levels in the tank, and when they say it is due, we pump it too.
Can I maintain my own ATU?
In Florida, the owner of a single-family home who lives in it can be permitted to maintain their own unit, after the manufacturer certifies they have been trained on it. You still keep the operating permit, do the twice a year inspections, and report them to the health department.