Great Waters Reynolds Septic & Drain Fields

The short answer

Are Great Waters homes at Reynolds on sewer or septic?

Many are on septic. Piedmont Water lists Great Waters among its sewer communities, but Great Waters homes built in 2001 and 2005 were listed on septic tanks while a lakefront lot on Carolyn Drive listed public sewer. A Class Septic Services repairs and replaces septic tanks and drain fields here and does the surrounding lot work.↗↗↗

Reviewed by A Class Septic Services · Last updated October 13, 2026

At a glance

Lake: Lake Oconee
County: Putnam County
ZIP codes: 31024
Sewer: Piedmont Water Company (where tapped); individual septic tanks on many homes
Water: Piedmont Water Company, separate Great Waters system (community wells)

The Great Waters Reynolds story

The Putnam end of Reynolds

Most of Reynolds carries a Greensboro address. Great Waters does not: it sits across the county line in Putnam, with Eatonton 31024 mail, built around the Jack Nicklaus course that opened in 1992 with nine holes on the shore of Lake Oconee. Great Waters Marina followed in 1994 and a new clubhouse, pool and tennis center in 1997.↗↗

The course has kept getting attention since: Nicklaus came back to oversee a restoration in 2019, and in 2020 Great Waters hosted the LPGA Tour's Drive On Championship. The houses have aged on a different clock: listings off Reynolds Drive and Pine Bloom Way show homes from 2001 and 2005 still treating their wastewater on the lot.↗

Great Waters also runs on its own water. When Piedmont switched the Reynolds Water System to lake water in 2022, it said Great Waters in Putnam was a separate system and would not change. That matters for septic: Putnam's well and septic setbacks apply to every community well and drain field on the same ground.↗↗

On the record

Great Waters Marina opened in 1994, two years after the Nicklaus course, and Great Waters hosted the LPGA Tour's Drive On Championship in 2020.↗
When Piedmont switched the Reynolds Water System to lake water in 2022, it said the Great Waters community in Putnam County is a separate system and would not be affected.↗

Sewer or septic?

Septic tanks behind most Great Waters listings we found

On paper, Great Waters is a sewer community: 'Great Waters at Lake Oconee' is on Piedmont's list, and Piedmont's systems are mostly low-pressure, a grinder pump at each house feeding a pressurized main. On the ground, the listings say otherwise for a lot of homes.↗

A 2001 residence on 0.87 acre on Reynolds Drive was listed with a septic tank. So was a 2005 home on a half-acre on Pine Bloom Way, which also draws from a community well. Meanwhile a 0.89-acre lakefront lot on Carolyn Drive was marketed with public sewer. If you own or are buying in Great Waters, assume nothing until the specific address is checked.↗↗↗

For a home already on septic, Georgia's connection rule mostly bites at failure: a failing system must connect if sewer is available, though a home under 2,000 gallons a day can be exempted when a repair meets the state manual. Putnam Environmental Health makes that call.↗

How to tell which one you have

The listing's sewer field: Great Waters listings show both 'Septic Tank' and 'Public Sewer.'
Putnam County Environmental Health's permit record for the address, if one exists.
Piedmont's written answer on availability; a monthly Piedmont sewer charge means you are connected.
Green or concrete lids downhill of the house and no grinder alarm panel usually mean septic.

Local facts

Great Waters at a glance

Each row links to the agency, code or publisher it comes from. Tap a source to check it yourself.

Listing data as shown on the date we checked it; everything else from the linked public source.
Topic	What it says	Source
County and ZIP	Putnam County, Eatonton 31024	MLS listing: Reynolds Dr home, Eatonton GA 31024 (RP - Great Waters)
Septic example	2001 home, 0.87 acre, Reynolds Drive: septic tank	Same source as above
Septic and well example	2005 home, half-acre, Pine Bloom Way: community well and septic tank	MLS listing: Pine Bloom Way home, Eatonton GA (RP - Great Waters)
Sewer example	0.89-acre lakefront lot, Carolyn Drive: public sewer	MLS listing: Carolyn Dr lakefront lot, Eatonton GA (Great Waters)
Golf course	Jack Nicklaus design, opened 1992, nine holes on the lakeshore	Explore Georgia: Greene County visitor brochure (golf and lodging)
Soil at the section's center point	Cecil sandy loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes, moderately eroded; somewhat limited for septic fields	USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SSURGO GA604 Baldwin, Jones and Putnam): map unit and septic absorption rating at 33.3899, -83.2422

More about Great Waters Reynolds

When a Great Waters drain field starts to fail

A septic system here is often tucked under the landscaping that makes these lots look the way they do: pine straw beds, irrigated turf, a stone path to the dock. When a field fails, the fix has to find new ground on a lot that was designed decades ago with no spare room in mind.

The setbacks do not relax for a repair. A replacement field still has to sit 50 feet from the lake's normal water level and 100 feet from a well, and a new tank 25 feet from the water. On a lot where the original field took the only flat ground, the answer is often a pump tank sending effluent to soil higher on the lot, or drip tubing laid on contour across a slope too steep for trenches. Georgia's manual stops conventional fields above 25 percent slope without a soil classifier's special study.↗↗↗

Selling or buying? Georgia has no statewide septic inspection at sale, but Putnam's Board of Health will do a performance evaluation of an existing system on request, working from installation and maintenance records plus a site visit. If that evaluation turns up a problem, the repair permit and the dig come next.↗

A septic system here is often tucked under the landscaping that makes these lots look the way they do: pine straw beds, irrigated turf, a stone path to the dock.

More about Great Waters Reynolds

Lot work at the water's edge in Putnam

Georgia Power's Lake Oconee guidelines govern the strip along every Great Waters lakefront lot. Grubbing or reshaping ground in its 25-foot vegetative buffer, or on its project land, needs the company's written approval first, and the county's buffer permits before that. Drain lines from a roof or a regraded yard cannot be piped across that land; they end at the boundary in a swale, French drain or dry creek bed.↗

Putnam adds its own line for buildings. At a June 2024 commission meeting the lake setback was described as 65 feet, cut from 100 about four years before, according to the local paper's account. Treat that as a starting point and confirm the current figure with Putnam Planning and Development before siting an addition, a garage or a new field.↗↗

Putnam is on EPD's summer open-burning ban, May 1 through September 30, so clearing debris from a Great Waters lot in those months gets chipped or hauled.↗

Georgia Power's Lake Oconee guidelines govern the strip along every Great Waters lakefront lot.

Soil & terrain

Cecil sandy loam on a gentler shore

At the mapped center of Great Waters the soil survey shows Cecil sandy loam on 2 to 6 percent slopes, moderately eroded, rated somewhat limited for septic fields because water moves slowly through its clay subsoil. That is gentler ground than much of the lake, which helps a repair field fit, but the lots that drop to the water still fall faster than the survey's center point suggests.↗

Lake Oconee

Cecil sandy loam, 2-6% slopes, moderately eroded↗
Mapped at the Great Waters center point (survey area GA604); somewhat limited, slow water movement.
Soil series · USDA NRCS

Permits · Putnam County Environmental Health (North Central Health District), Putnam County Health Department, Eatonton

Septic permits for Great Waters go through Putnam, not Greene

Reynolds' Greene County paperwork does not apply on this side of the line. Every repair and new system here is permitted and inspected by Putnam.

01
Apply to Putnam County Environmental Health for the repair or construction permit; the state gives the office 20 days to approve or deny a complete application.↗
02
If the lot needs its own well, that permit comes first, and its fee covers a visit to locate the well.↗
03
Build inside the permit's 12-month window and keep the work open until the county's inspector approves it.↗

Services here

Our work in Great Waters

Septic first, because that is what most Great Waters homes have; site work for every lot.

Also available:Aerobic Septic Systems Land & Lot Clearing Erosion Control

Local service pages

Our services in Great Waters Reynolds

Who to call at the county

Offices for a Great Waters job

Septic permits & records

Putnam County Environmental Health (North Central Health District)

Address: 117 Putnam Drive, Suite C, Eatonton, GA 31024
Phone: (706) 485-8591
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Office website

Piedmont Water Company Great Waters water system; sewer where available800-248-7689; vacant-lot questions to development@piedmontwater.com.↗
Georgia Power Lake Resources Office (East Georgia) Buffer and shoreline approvals on Lake Oconee125 Wallace Dam Road NE, Eatonton.↗
DPH statewide list, Putnam EH Alternate number (706) 484-2914Differs from the district page; confirm with the office.↗

Nearby areas

Around Great Waters

FAQ

Great Waters septic questions

Straight answers, with the rule or record behind them. Still unsure? Call and ask the crew that digs.

(678) 863-5620

Is Great Waters in Greene or Putnam County?

Putnam. Great Waters homes carry Eatonton 31024 addresses, so septic permits come from Putnam County Environmental Health, not Greene.

Source: MLS listing: Reynolds Dr home, Eatonton GA 31024 (RP - Great Waters)

How can a Great Waters home be on septic if Piedmont lists the community for sewer?

Piedmont's list means sewer exists in the community, not at every address. Listings show Great Waters homes on Reynolds Drive and Pine Bloom Way with septic tanks.

Source: MLS listing: Pine Bloom Way home, Eatonton GA (RP - Great Waters)

Can my failing drain field just be replaced in the same spot?

Sometimes, if the new field meets today's setbacks: 50 feet from the lake's normal water level and 100 feet from any well. Putnam EH decides at the repair permit.

Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 511-3-1-.07, Absorption Fields (LII)

Do I need a septic inspection to sell a Great Waters home?

Georgia has no statewide point-of-sale rule, but the county Board of Health will do a performance evaluation of an existing system on request.

Source: GA DPH Manual for On-Site Sewage Management Systems (March 2026), Section L: Operation and Maintenance

What water system serves Great Waters?

Piedmont runs Great Waters as its own system, separate from the lake-water Reynolds Water System in Greene.

Source: Madison/Morgan & Greene Record: New Piedmont Water treatment plant goes online (Sept 7, 2022)

Can I regrade my yard down to the lake?

Not inside Georgia Power's 25-foot buffer or on its land without written approval, and county buffer permits come first.

Source: Georgia Power: Lake Oconee Shoreline Guidelines

Who handles a grinder pump on a Great Waters sewer home?

Piedmont says the grinder pump is the homeowner's property and that it offers repair on pumps it installs; call Piedmont for the pump itself.

Source: Piedmont Water Company: Grinder Pumps

Guides

Reading for Great Waters owners

Sources

Where these facts come from

Rules, costs and local facts on this page link to the agency, code or publisher that states them. Cost figures are third-party market ranges, not our prices — estimates are free.

Reviewed by A Class Septic Services · Last updated October 13, 2026

Septic repair and installation, drain fields and site work in the Great Waters section of Reynolds Lake Oconee, Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

Are Great Waters homes at Reynolds on sewer or septic?

The Putnam end of Reynolds