City of Jacksonville and JEA Septic Tank Phase Out Program

Program Overview

The City of Jacksonville in partnership with JEA are working together to improve the quality of life in our communities with the Septic Tank Phase Out program initiative!  We are well on our way with this exciting and transformative project to eliminate existing septic systems, thus reducing the amount of harmful nutrients that often find their way into the St. Johns River and other local waterways.

The program was approved by the Jacksonville City Council on August 23, 2016 and involves installation of new water and sewer services in designated areas of our community. The neighborhoods listed below are the first five (5) areas based on community needs and abandoning of septic tanks having a positive environmental impact to our waterways. Click on the neighborhood name to learn more about our work in these areas. 

• Biltmore C
• Beverly Hills East
• Beverly Hills West
• Christobel
• Riverview

Innovative Wastewater Treatment Program (IWTP)

The JEA Innovative Wastewater Treatment Program (IWTP) is intended to assess and recommend the most appropriate technologies and approaches (including centralized sewer, decentralized sewer and treatment, and/ or improved onsite treatment) that can be applied to the prioritized STPO areas. The planning documents developed as part of this project will identify approaches that may also be used in the future for the approximately 43,000 additional septic systems that remain in Duval County.

JEA Innovative Wastewater Treatment Program (IWTP) 

The Next Steps

The COJ and JEA will continue to work together to communicate information about the program in general and provide more information about the future neighborhood projects. While this is a great start to abandoning septic tanks, it will not be a quick process and a phased approach will be required to accomplish the task.

The Process

The individual neighborhoods will need to reach a 70% ownership participation threshold for the project to move forward. Once that threshold is met, the project will then be designed/engineered, bid and constructed prior to any service connections being made. The physical connections to the JEA system will be several years away.

Before any work begins, customers residing within identified future Septic Tank Phase Out areas will be contacted directly by the COJ and JEA. We will (by mail and email) send invitations to an informational neighborhood meeting and will send multiple letters outlining the program. In other words, we will contact you.  

Current Septic Tank Issues

Anyone currently having issues with their septic system is highly encouraged to make the necessary repairs. As mentioned above, any physical connections to the JEA system as part of this program will be several years away. 

Future Updates

More public information will be provided through the media and through COJ and JEA websites in the coming months. 

Check out some of the media coverage about the program:

• "Signs of progress in septic tank phaseout in Jacksonville neighborhoods" (November 2021)
• "New approach to Jacksonville septic tank phaseouts could get more neighborhoods done sooner" (June 2021).
• "List shows ranking for 35 septic tank neighborhoods in Jacksonville" (February 2021)
• "City announces additional funding for septic tank phase-out" (February 2021)
• "City will find money to do all septic tank phase-out promised in 2016" (February 2021)
• "Hazouri to seek $100 million for replacing septic tanks in Jacksonville" (February 2021)
• "Hazouri wants $100 million for septic tank phase-out" (February 2021)
• "Jacksonville taking action on underground septic tanks causing pollution" (March 2019)
• "JEA to phase out 358 septic tanks in Biltmore neighborhood" (February 2019)
• "City Council moves ahead with septic tank program" (August 2016)
• "City, JEA soon to begin $30 million septic tank removal  project" (December 2016)
• "JEA, City of Jacksonville to spend $30 million to reduce septic tanks" (April 2016)