Service areas: four counties, four permit programs
We cover Northeast Ohio’s larger towns and the rural townships around them, where private septic and aeration systems and county operation and maintenance permits are most common. Each city page carries its county health department’s specifics.
The county is the unit that matters in Ohio septic. Under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701-29, each county board of health issues the operation and maintenance (O and M) permits, sets the renewal cycles, and runs enforcement, so the rules that reach your mailbox depend on which side of a county line your parcel sits. Find your county below, or start with the Ohio septic operation permit guide for the full four-county comparison.
Medina County
Medina
The Medina County Health Department permits and inspects household systems countywide and reports O and M compliance to the Ohio Department of Health. The county requires no septic inspection at a home sale, though buyers' lenders often do.
Septic in MedinaSummit County
Akron and Stow
Summit County Public Health issues each system an operation permit that sets its own term, inspection frequency, and required maintenance, with about 33,000 county households on individual systems by SCPH's count.
Septic in Akron · Septic in StowPortage County
Kent and Ravenna
The Portage County Health District, based in Ravenna, issues O and M permits in three, five, and 10 year classes with published fees of $50 to $150 by class.
Septic around Kent · Septic in RavennaGeauga County
Chardon
Geauga Public Health states most county homes run on private systems. Its O and M permit transfers with the property at sale, and service must come from county-registered sewage contractors.
Septic in ChardonSomewhere else in the four counties?
The match covers all of Medina, Summit, Portage, and Geauga counties, not just the six cities above. Tell us where you are and what the county letter says, or browse the services first. What the O and M inspection visit involves is on the operation permit inspection page.