Well and Septic vs. City Water and Sewer on Commercial Property

Start with who serves the parcel

The first question is which utility, if any, has the service area. Unincorporated Pasco, Dade City, unincorporated Hernando, and Brooksville each run their own systems, with their own forms and fee schedules. The Pasco County Property Appraiser notes that the jurisdiction for a parcel is listed in the legal description. Start there, then call the utility that actually serves that jurisdiction.

For a vacant tract, this belongs in the same early desk work as zoning, flood, and access. See the Pasco land due diligence checklist and the commercial due diligence checklist. If the site is also short on driveway access or has wetlands in the low area where a line or a drainfield would go, those issues stack.

Availability letters and capacity letters

A letter from the utility is the document I want in the file. The name on the letter changes by county, and the letter is only as good as the conditions written on it.

In Pasco County, the Availability of Service form is completed by the owner, the developer, or the engineer "requesting confirmation of utility services for a given parcel(s) for financial purposes." That is a confirmation for underwriting and planning, not a building permit. A Letter of Commitment is a later step. Pasco says an issued Letter of Commitment is required before FDEP utility-construction permit applications can be accepted or processed. To actually hook up a single commercial project, the county uses a Service Connection Application, which is how it sizes the meter and calculates the fees.

In Hernando County, Utilities Engineering handles private development review, capacity analysis, will-serve letters, and utility capacity letters. The Utilities Capacity Request form asks for the parcel key, the intended land use, the number of units, and an engineer's estimate of average daily flow. Commercial new-connection applications and a fees-calculation form are on the county's service requests page. As of the pages retrieved November 12, 2026, will-serve and capacity letters are listed with the Development Services Assistant, and new commercial connections and utility quotes are listed with the Account Specialist, both at (352) 540-4368.

In Dade City, start with Public Utilities and the Utility Billing Department. For billing questions the city lists (352) 523-5053. In Brooksville, start with the city's Utilities page and confirm availability in writing with the department.

Read the letter. It can be limited to a stated flow, a stated time period, or remaining treatment capacity. If the use changes, or if you need fire flow, go back and ask again.

Connection fees are not the same as extension costs

Posted connection fees pay for capacity in the existing system. They do not, by themselves, build a water main or a sewer main from the nearest line to your site. Pasco's commercial Service Connection Application states that connection fees, installation charges, and "all system improvement costs required will be at the Owners expense," and that the owner-built improvements in public rights-of-way or utility easements become part of the county system. I have not found a published per-foot extension price that I can treat as a quote. Ask the utility for an estimate on the specific route, and have a Florida-licensed engineer size the work.

The connection-fee numbers below were on the official pages on November 12, 2026. They index or change on a published schedule. Confirm the figure that applies on the day you pay.

Pasco County. The current rates page posts Fiscal Year 2027 connection fees, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, per single-family 1.0 equivalent residential unit (ERU): $1,801 for water, $1,351 for water with reclaimed, and $3,404 for wastewater. Non-residential uses pay that 1.0 ERU fee multiplied by a meter-size factor: 1.0 for a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter, 2.5 for 1-inch, 5 for 1.5-inch, 8 for 2-inch, 15 for 3-inch, 25 for 4-inch, 50 for 6-inch, and 80 for 8-inch. On those rates, a 2-inch commercial meter would be 8 times the 1.0 ERU fee, or $14,408 for water and $27,232 for wastewater, before installation charges or any line extension. The page also states that connection fees index 4.75 percent in Fiscal Years 2027 through 2029.

Hernando County. The rates and fees page posts water and sewer connection fees under Resolution 2024-155, effective October 1, 2024, using AWWA meter factors. A 5/8-inch meter (factor 1) is $2,397 for water and $5,563 for sewer, $7,960 together. A 2-inch meter (factor 8) is $19,176 for water and $44,504 for sewer, $63,680 together. If the meter is later upsized, additional connection fees are due, with credit for the amount already paid. There is no refund for downsizing. The resolution calls for a rate study before the end of Fiscal Year 2028.

City of Brooksville. Resolution 2026-17 lists a water connection fee of $765.00 and a wastewater connection fee of $6,467.00 per 1.0 ERU. Those figures were established under Resolution 2025-02. The resolution says calculations for new connections are made by the Utilities Project Manager based on total fixture units, and that the fees are exclusive of service setup. Confirm the current calculation with the city.

City of Dade City. The city's development fees page lists city utility development and connection fees, including connection charges and system development charges. I am not posting a dollar figure from that page because I could not confirm a current official schedule in the text I retrieved. Get the number from the city.

Connection fees are also different from Pasco mobility fees and Hernando impact fees. Those are growth charges for roads and other public facilities. Budget both.

When a well and a septic system are the path

Florida law says the onsite sewage program issues permits where a publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system is not available, under conditions in s. 381.0065, Florida Statutes. "Available" means the system can be connected to the plumbing, is not under an FDEP moratorium, has adequate permitted capacity, and meets one of the statute's location tests. For an establishment with an estimated sewage flow over 1,000 gallons per day, that test is a sewer line, force main, or lift station in a public easement or right-of-way that abuts the property, or that is within 50 feet of the property line as accessed by existing rights-of-way or easements. For proposed commercial subdivisions with more than five lots, and for areas zoned or used for industrial or manufacturing purposes, the test is a sewerage system within one-fourth mile. There is a separate 500-foot test for certain repairs in industrial or manufacturing areas.

Do not guess at availability from a map. Pasco's health department uses an Availability of Sewer System Connection form for the utility to mark whether a line exists under those rules. Ask the utility and the health department the same question, in writing.

As of January 2, 2025, FDEP began managing septic permitting in 16 Panhandle and Big Bend counties. FDEP's program-transfer page now also lists Marion County. Pasco and Hernando are not on that list. The Florida Department of Health says that outside those counties, the local county health department still handles septic permitting and inspections.

DOH-Pasco and DOH-Hernando both note that operating permits are required for aerobic treatment units, performance-based treatment systems, commercial septic systems, and systems in industrial or manufacturing zoning or its equivalent. Section 381.0065 says an operating permit must be obtained before the use of any aerobic treatment unit or if the establishment generates commercial waste, that those systems are inspected at least annually, and that a commercial wastewater operating permit is valid for one year and must be renewed annually.

The same statute limits this onsite program to a residence or establishment with an estimated domestic sewage flow of 10,000 gallons or less per day, or an estimated commercial sewage flow of 5,000 gallons or less per day, that is not already regulated under Chapter 403. Larger or industrial flows are an FDEP wastewater-facility question, not a standard septic permit.

Chapter 62-6, F.A.C., sets location rules that shrink usable area on a commercial lot. Under Rule 62-6.005, a new system generally must be at least 75 feet from a private potable well or a multi-family water well, 100 feet from a public drinking-water well serving a facility with estimated sewage flow of 2,000 gallons or less per day, 200 feet from a public drinking-water well serving a facility with estimated sewage flow over 2,000 gallons per day, 50 feet from a non-potable well, and 75 feet laterally from the boundaries of surface water bodies, with tighter setbacks to buildings, property lines, storm pipes, and certain stormwater features. The rule also requires contiguous, unobstructed land at least 1.5 times the required drainfield absorption area, in addition to those setbacks. Rule 62-6.005 was later amended, effective June 8, 2026, so confirm the current distances and the unobstructed-area rule before you rely on them. That is why a survey and a soil evaluation matter early. A two-acre tract can lose a lot of usable area to a well, a drainfield, and the setbacks between them, especially if floodplain or wetlands already occupy the low ground.

Wells and water use permits

If the site will have its own well, two different Southwest Florida Water Management District permits can come into play.

The District's 2024 permitting brochure says a well construction permit is still required when you construct a well, even if the withdrawal is small enough that a water use permit is not. Well construction in the District is regulated under Chapter 40D-3, F.A.C. The licensed water well contractor typically pulls that permit.

A water use permit is required, the brochure says, if you plan to withdraw more than 100,000 gallons per day, or if the outside diameter of the groundwater well is six inches or larger, or if the outside diameter of a surface-water withdrawal pipe is four inches or larger, or if the total withdrawal capacity of the system is 1 million gallons per day or larger. Personal domestic use for an individual home is generally below that threshold. A commercial irrigation well, a large process use, or a public-supply well often is not. The Brooksville service office is the District contact for Pasco and Hernando.

How this shows up in price

I do not use a rule of thumb for how much "septic land" should sell for versus "city sewer land." The right way to look at it is the cost and the time to make the site usable for the intended use, and the acres that remain after setbacks, drainfields, easements, and floodplain.

Get the connection fee from the current schedule, then add the engineer's estimate to extend or oversize the line, any lift station or off-site improvement the utility requires, and the ongoing cost of a commercial septic operating permit if that is the path. A lender will often want the written availability or capacity letter in the diligence file. If the letter is missing, or if sewer is a quarter-mile away and the extension cost is unknown, that uncertainty belongs in the offer, the inspection period, and the price.

If you are selling, the same letters and permits help a buyer finish diligence. See how to prepare a commercial property for sale.

What to put in the file

• The jurisdiction and the utility that would serve the parcel, confirmed in writing.
• An availability, will-serve, or capacity letter, plus any Letter of Commitment, with the stated flow and any expiration or conditions.
• A connection-fee calculation based on the proposed meter size or fixture units, printed from the current official schedule.
• An engineer's estimate for any off-site extension, lift station, or on-site collection and distribution work.
• For a septic path: the health department's availability-of-sewer confirmation, a soil evaluation, a scaled site plan showing wells, drainfields, and setbacks, and a clear read on whether an annual operating permit will be required.
• For a well: the well construction permit status and a water use permit analysis if the withdrawal or the well diameter may meet a District threshold.
• Fire-flow and hydrant requirements, if the use or the fire official will require them.

Common questions

Is a well and a septic system allowed on commercial property in Pasco or Hernando County?

It can be, if public sewer is not "available" under s. 381.0065 and the site can meet the Chapter 62-6 location and soil rules. The county health department permits the system in both counties. A commercial system generally needs an annual operating permit. Confirm availability with both the utility and the health department before you assume septic is the plan.

What is a capacity letter or an availability letter?

It is written confirmation from the utility about service to a stated parcel and a stated use or flow. In Pasco, Availability of Service is the early confirmation used for financial purposes, and a Letter of Commitment is required before FDEP construction applications. In Hernando, the county issues will-serve letters and utility capacity letters and has a capacity-request form that asks for estimated average daily flow. Read the conditions. It is not a substitute for a connection agreement or a building permit.

How much are water and sewer connection fees?

They change. As of the official pages retrieved November 12, 2026, Pasco's Fiscal Year 2027 fee per 1.0 ERU is $1,801 for water and $3,404 for wastewater, multiplied by a meter-size factor for non-residential uses. Hernando's Resolution 2024-155 fee for a 5/8-inch meter is $2,397 for water and $5,563 for sewer. Brooksville's Resolution 2026-17 lists $765 for water and $6,467 for wastewater per 1.0 ERU, calculated from fixture units. Get the current figure from the utility that will serve the site, and add any extension cost separately.

Who pays to extend a water or sewer line to a vacant commercial tract?

In Pasco, the Service Connection Application puts connection fees, installation charges, and required system improvement costs on the owner. I have not found a published per-foot price that replaces an estimate for the actual route. Ask the utility and a Florida-licensed engineer.

When does a commercial septic system need a state wastewater permit instead of a health-department septic permit?

The onsite program in s. 381.0065 covers estimated domestic flow of 10,000 gallons or less per day, or estimated commercial flow of 5,000 gallons or less per day, that is not already regulated under Chapter 403. Above those limits, or for industrial waste, you are in FDEP wastewater permitting. That is a specialist question, and it should be asked early.