Jones County GA Septic Repair & Install

The short answer

Who permits septic in Jones County, GA, and how much of the county has sewer?

Jones County Environmental Health, at 114 Forest Street in Gray, permits septic installs and repairs. Sewer is thin: Jones County Water Systems runs over 200 miles of water main but only about 60 miles of sewer pipe, and Gray sewers its residents only to a limited extent. Most homes in Haddock, Round Oak and the countryside use septic.↗↗↗

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

At a glance

County seat: Gray
Health district: North Central Health District - Environmental Health
Septic permits: Jones County Environmental Health (North Central Health District)
EH office phone: (478) 986-3164
Population: 28,347 (2020 Census)
Median home built: 1991

Local facts

Jones County septic and utility facts

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

Each row links to the record it came from.
Topic	What it says	Source
Septic permits	Jones County Environmental Health, 114 Forest Street, Gray; (478) 986-3164; weekdays 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.	North Central Health District: Jones County Environmental Health Department
County water vs. sewer pipe	Over 200 miles of water main; about 60 miles of sewer	Jones County, GA: Jones County Water Systems
County water source	Crystalline-rock aquifers, through four groundwater plants and eight deep wells	Jones County Water System 2025 Consumer Confidence Report
County sewer bill	$24.19 base plus $6.27 per 1,000 gallons of water used	Jones County, GA: Jones County Water Systems
Mobile homes	2,953 of 11,872 housing units, about one in four; median year built 1991	Census Reporter: Jones County, GA (ACS 2024 5-year)
Gray's sewer plant	Wolf Creek WPCP, expanded from 0.4 to 0.8 million gallons a day with a $9 million state loan (2021)	WaterWorld: Georgia provides $39 million in water loans (Aug. 27, 2021)

The Jones County story

Off the lakes, on the edge of Macon, and mostly on septic

Jones is the one county we serve with no big lake. It runs from the Ocmulgee River and the Macon line up US 129 through Gray toward the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, with Jarrell Plantation and the old Griswoldville battlefield along the way. People move here for land within reach of Macon, and most of them end up on a well or county water and a septic tank.↗

The county's own plan is blunt about it. Many unincorporated properties still have no county water or sewer, and residents there deal with poor well and septic function, including backups into homes and yards. The plan's answer is to put water and sewer into undeveloped areas before the subdivisions arrive, not after.↗

So a lot of Jones County work is repair: tanks and fields under 1980s and 1990s homes and mobile homes that were never sized for the household now living there, on clay that does not forgive an overloaded field.

On the record

The joint plan describes unincorporated homes without county service living with minimal or poor well and septic function, including backups.↗
It urges installing water and sewer ahead of development rather than after neighborhoods are built.↗

Sewer or septic?

Gray's limited sewer, the county's 60 miles, and everyone else

Two utilities sell water in Jones, and both sell some sewer. The City of Gray serves more than 3,300 water customers in town and in parts of the county, but provides sewer only to a limited extent inside the city, treated at the Wolf Creek plant. Jones County Water Systems, formed in the 1960s from the Haddock, Jones County and River North systems, runs its 60 miles of sewer where the county has extended it, including a line toward Griswoldville Park financed by a state loan.↗↗↗

Gray has also been fixing leaks in its collection system: the plan lists a $10 million inflow project with manholes and sewer lines already replaced.↗

How to tell which one you have

A Jones County Water Systems bill with a sewer base charge means you are on county sewer.
A Gray utility bill shows sewer only if the house is tapped.
Water only on the bill means a septic tank in the yard.

Permits · Jones County Environmental Health, North Central Health District

The Jones County septic permit path

The district does not post a Jones septic fee schedule, so get current fees from the Forest Street office.

01
Apply at the Jones County Health Department, 114 Forest Street, Gray, (478) 986-3164, for a construction permit or a repair permit.↗
02
Where a private well is also planned, permit the well first; the application includes a site evaluation to locate it.↗
03
The county board must approve or deny a complete application within 20 days, and the permit is valid for up to 12 months.↗
04
The installed system or repair is inspected and approved in writing before backfill.↗

Soil & terrain

Davidson clay on the Ocmulgee-Oconee divide

Jones shares its soil survey with Baldwin and Putnam, and Davidson dominates: a deep, dark-red clay subsoil that drains well but accepts effluent slowly. At Gray, NRCS maps Davidson loam on 2 to 6 percent slopes, rated somewhat limited for septic fields, which is about as friendly as clay gets.↗↗

The county sits on a divide. West of Gray, water runs to the Ocmulgee by way of Walnut Creek; the northeast quarter drains to the Upper Oconee by Commissioner Creek, and the southeast corner to the Lower Oconee.↗↗

Where homes use private wells, Georgia's manual pushes absorption fields 50 feet from property lines unless the 100-foot well separation can be kept, which matters on the narrow tracts common along the highways.↗

Davidson↗
Dominant series; mapped at Gray as somewhat limited.
Cecil↗
About 124,000 acres in the three-county survey.
Wilkes↗
About 50,600 acres; shallow and often steep.
Gwinnett↗
About 9,700 acres.
Enon↗
About 8,600 acres.
Soil series · USDA NRCS

Median year homes were built

1991

Typical house here is about 35 years old — and so is its original sewer or septic line.

ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035 · Census Reporter: Jones County, GA (ACS 2024 5-year)

Housing era

A 1991 median home, and one in four is a mobile home

Half of Jones County's homes were built before 1991, and nearly 3,000 are mobile homes. Systems that old commonly need a new outlet baffle, a replaced distribution box or a field moved to fresh ground.↗

Services here

What we do in Jones County

Also available:Excavation Services Grading & Driveway Preparation French Drain Installation Underground Tank Removal

Towns we serve

Gray and the Jones County communities

GrayCounty seat; limited city sewer to the Wolf Creek plant.Gray septic & sewer

Also in the county

Haddock · One of the three original systems behind Jones County Water Systems.
Round Oak, Wayside, Clinton, Bradley, Fortville, James and East Juliette · Unincorporated communities.
Griswoldville · County sewer is being extended toward Griswoldville Park.

Who to call at the county

Jones County offices and utilities

Septic permits & records

Jones County Environmental Health (North Central Health District)

Address: 114 Forest Street, Gray, GA 31032
Phone: (478) 986-3164
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Office website

Jones County Water Systems County water and about 60 miles of sewer270 Highway 49, Macon; (478) 743-3211.↗
City of Gray Water/Sewer Department Water for 3,300+ customers; limited sewer in the city109 James Street; 478-986-5433.↗
Jones Co.-Haddock Water Commission Groundwater system, about 201 connections↗

Nearby areas

Counties next to Jones

FAQ

Jones County septic questions

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

(678) 863-5620

Where is the septic permit office in Jones County, GA?

Jones County Environmental Health, part of the North Central Health District, is at the health department, 114 Forest Street, Gray, (478) 986-3164, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Source: North Central Health District: Jones County Environmental Health Department

Is my house in Jones County on sewer or septic?

Probably septic unless you are in Gray or on a county sewer line. Jones County Water Systems has about 60 miles of sewer against 200-plus miles of water main, so county water alone does not mean sewer. Check your bill for a sewer base charge.

Source: Jones County, GA: Jones County Water Systems

What does Jones County charge for sewer service?

Jones County Water Systems bills sewer at a $24.19 base plus $6.27 per 1,000 gallons of all water used; water is $21.96 for the first 2,000 gallons and $4.44 per 1,000 after that.

Source: Jones County, GA: Jones County Water Systems

Is there a lake in Jones County?

No large one. Jones sits on the Ocmulgee-Oconee divide west of Lake Sinclair, so there are no Georgia Power lake rules here, only the state setbacks from streams, ponds and wells.

Source: Wikipedia: Jones County, Georgia

Does Gray require a deposit for water service?

The City of Gray lists a $100 residential water deposit. Tap and access fees are not published; the city says to contact the water department.

Source: City of Gray, GA: Utility Billing Information

How close can a drain field be to a pond or creek in Jones County?

Georgia's rule keeps absorption fields at least 50 feet from the normal water level of any pond, stream or tributary and 100 feet from a well. Farm ponds count.

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

Is Gray adding sewer capacity?

Yes. A $9 million state clean water loan in 2021 financed expanding Gray's Wolf Creek Water Pollution Control Plant from 0.4 to 0.8 million gallons a day. More plant capacity can bring new taps, but it does not run a main to a house that lacks one.

Source: WaterWorld: Georgia provides $39 million in water loans (Aug. 27, 2021)

When was Jones County formed?

On December 10, 1807, named for U.S. Representative James Jones. Gray is the county seat and its only city.

Source: Wikipedia: Jones County, Georgia

Guides

Helpful for Jones County homeowners

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 excavation in Jones County, Georgia, where most homes outside Gray rely on a septic system.

Who permits septic in Jones County, GA, and how much of the county has sewer?

Jones County septic and utility facts

Off the lakes, on the edge of Macon, and mostly on septic