Iowa septic rules
Septic pumping rules in Iowa.
Iowa requires a state license or permit to pump or haul septage. Below: who regulates, what pumpers have to keep, and where to find the official forms. Checked against official sources on October 8, 2026.
The rules
What a pumper in Iowa should know.
A guide, not legal advice. Counties and local health departments can add their own rules on top of the state's, so check with the county where the system is.
- Who regulates septic systemsState and local
Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Private Septic Systems program. DNR writes the rules, licenses septic tank cleaners and certifies time-of-transfer inspectors, while county boards of health and environmental health departments enforce the septic rules and do the inspections.
The state program- Pumper and hauler licensingState license
Septic tanks in Iowa must be pumped only by a commercial septic tank cleaner licensed by DNR under 567 IAC Chapter 68; owners may clean their own tank. Licenses run July 1 to June 30 and are renewed annually. DNR lists fees of $150 for the first registered vehicle and $50 for each additional vehicle, plus $7 per 1,000 gallons of septage to be land applied. Vehicles, tanks and septage handling facilities are to be inspected annually (567 IAC 68.5), and county sanitarians enforce the licensing requirements.
Licensing details- Where septage can go
Under 567 IAC 68.7, septage may go with owner approval to a POTW or other DNR-permitted wastewater disposal system, a permitted septage lagoon or drying bed, or a permitted sanitary landfill, or be land applied under Chapter 68 limits (maximum 30,000 gallons per acre per year). Waste from portable toilets and holding tanks may not be land applied. Land application sites listed in the septage disposal management plan are inspected annually.
Disposal rules- Records and reports
Licensees must record the location of every cleaned system or toilet unit, the disposal method and the volume disposed for each trip, and keep the records for five years, available on request (567 IAC 68.4(1)). Land application fees are based on the previous year's records.
Reporting rules- Inspections
Iowa's Time of Transfer law (Iowa Code 455B.172) requires every building served by a private sewage disposal system to have the system inspected before sale or deed transfer, by an inspector certified by DNR. Reports are entered in DNR's Time of Transfer database and sent to DNR and the county.
Inspection rules- The rule book
567 IAC Chapter 68 (Commercial Septic Tank Cleaners, effective 6/18/25); 567 IAC Chapter 69 (Private Sewage Disposal Systems); Iowa Code 455B.172
Official forms
Get the forms from the source.
We link to the state's own pages instead of keeping copies, because forms change. Your county may use its own forms as well, and those are the ones an inspector will expect.
In PortaPro
Upload your county's form once. Fill it from every job.
- Your form, filled from the job
Upload the current PDF from your county or the state, place the fields on it, and bind them to job data. Each pump-out fills it with the customer, site, tank, gallons pumped and technician, and you download a finished PDF.
How Regulatory Forms works- Service reports on the driver's phone
Every account comes with a septic inspection checklist and a pumping service report with gallons pumped and a disposal manifest. Drivers fill them on site and they are filed with the job.
PortaPro for septic companies- Prefer paper for now
Print our free septic pumping service report. It has the fields most programs ask for.
Free septic service report
Questions
Do I need a license to pump septic tanks in Iowa?
Iowa requires a state license or permit to pump or haul septage. Septic tanks in Iowa must be pumped only by a commercial septic tank cleaner licensed by DNR under 567 IAC Chapter 68; owners may clean their own tank. Licenses run July 1 to June 30 and are renewed annually. DNR lists fees of $150 for the first registered vehicle and $50 for each additional vehicle, plus $7 per 1,000 gallons of septage to be land applied. Vehicles, tanks and septage handling facilities are to be inspected annually (567 IAC 68.5), and county sanitarians enforce the licensing requirements.
Where do I get Iowa septic forms?
From the state's own pages, linked on this page. Many counties and local health departments use their own forms on top of the state's, so check with the county where the system is too.
Does PortaPro come with Iowa forms built in?
No. Forms change, and counties use their own, so PortaPro doesn't ship copies. You upload the current PDF from your county or state once, place the fields on it, and PortaPro fills it from each job: customer, site, tank, gallons pumped and technician. When the agency updates its form, you upload the new one.
How current is this page?
We read the official sources listed at the bottom on October 8, 2026. Rules and forms change, so treat this as a starting point and confirm with the agency before you rely on it. This is not legal advice.
Sources
Official pages we read on .
- https://www.iowadnr.gov/Environmental-Protection/Water-Quality/Private-Septic-Systems
- https://www.iowadnr.gov/environmental-protection/water-quality/private-sewage-disposal-and-septage/septic-tank-cleaning
- https://www.iowadnr.gov/environmental-protection/water-quality/private-sewage-disposal-and-septage/time-transfer
- https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/567.68.pdf
- https://www.iowadnr.gov/media/9589/download
- https://www.iowadnr.gov/media/9590/download
Other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Keep the county's paperwork with the job.
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