Okanogan County, Washington septic permits and requirements

Permitting authority

Okanogan County Public Health District (OCPHD) — Environmental Health / Liquid Waste Program

Okanogan County Public Health District Environmental Health — 509-422-7140; 1240 South 2nd Avenue, Okanogan, WA 98840.

Washington local-health-jurisdiction framework

Washington State Department of Health states that local health jurisdictions permit and manage onsite sewage systems in their counties. Local programs review and approve system locations, designs, installations, and repairs and may adopt local rules that meet or exceed Chapter 246-272A WAC.

County permit and final inspection

Okanogan County Public Health District reviews OSS designs under its local onsite sewage disposal regulations. The county states that the process requires site visits for test holes, a permit before installation, and a final inspection to confirm proper installation.

Local jurisdiction for systems below 3,500 gallons per day

OCPHD states that it enforces liquid-waste regulations for onsite sewage systems with design flows below 3,500 gallons per day. The county directs larger-system questions to the applicable Washington Department of Health or Department of Ecology program.

Resident-homeowner gravity-system option

Okanogan County’s published construction standards state that resident homeowners may design and install their own gravity-flow septic systems. Other installations must be performed by an onsite sewage system installer licensed in Okanogan County.

No construction before design approval

The county construction standards state that construction may not begin until the OSS design has been submitted, approved, and a permit has been issued. The design/site-plan requirements include test-hole locations, system components and installation depths, a reserve area, property lines, and existing and proposed structures.

Records and current provider lists

OCPHD Environmental Health publishes current licensed OSS installer and pumper/operation-and-maintenance specialist lists and provides a parcel-information public-record request process for environmental-health records.

Official sources

SepticScope summarizes public-agency information for planning purposes. The permitting agency's current instructions control if they differ from this guide.