Funding for Septic Systems

Septic system sewage pump stuck

Learn about potential funding sources for your septic system:

Federal Funding Sources

U.S. EPA Programs

Under the CWSRF, EPA provides grants to all 50 states plus Puerto Rico to capitalize state CWSRF loan programs. The CWSRF programs function like environmental infrastructure banks by providing low interest loans to eligible recipients for water infrastructure projects. CWSRF-eligible decentralized wastewater treatment projects include:

  • Upgrade (e.g., nutrient removal), repair, or replacement of existing systems;
  • Construction/installation of new systems; costs associated with the establishment of a responsible management entity (RME) (e.g., permitting fees, legal fees, etc.); and
  • Septage treatment works and pumper trucks to support the proper maintenance of decentralized systems.

States are responsible for the operation of their CWSRF program and for selecting the projects that receive assistance. You can contact your CWSRF state representative to learn more about the application process and eligibility requirements.

EPA developed materials to better illustrate how the CWSRF may be used to finance decentralized wastewater projects. These include:

  • Financing Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems: Pathways to Success with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund  (pdf) (51.65 MB)
    This guide is for local and state onsite/decentralized wastewater programs and community leaders to learn ways to access CWSRF financing. It describes CWSRF program basics, requirements, alternative financing structures, and mechanisms to effectively reach prospective borrowers to repair, construct, or replace their decentralized wastewater systems. This guide may also assist CWSRF state program staff who have never financed decentralized system projects to begin, or expand, their assistance to include such projects. This guide provides the tools and knowledge necessary to successfully navigate the financing process and to understand the basics of alternative CWSRF financing structures.
    • Financing Decentralized Treatment Systems Fact Sheet (pdf) (1.59 MB)
      This fact sheet is a companion piece to the above guide. The fact sheet highlights the major sections of the guide and is a useful tool to hand out to local stakeholders and leaders to get a general sense of how to finance decentralized wastewater systems through the CWSRF.
  • Funding Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (pdf) (2.55 MB)
    This fact sheet demonstrates how the CWSRF provides assistance to eligible recipients for decentralized wastewater treatment system projects. It highlights successful decentralized wastewater treatment programs in Rhode Island and Alabama.

Under section 319 of the Clean Water Act, EPA provides grants to states to control nonpoint sources of pollution from a variety of sources such as agricultural runoff, mining activities, and malfunctioning onsite septic systems. Some, but not all, states use these grants to construct, upgrade, or repair onsite systems. Depending on your state’s NPS management program, grants may be available to construct, upgrade, or repair individual septic systems. Please note that individual homeowners are not eligible to directly receive grant assistance through this program, as the grants are typically provided to watershed organizations that are actively implementing watershed-based plans to restore impaired waterbodies.

The Water Finance Clearinghouse is an easily navigable web‐based portal to help communities locate information and resources to make informed decisions for their drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure needs.

EPA grants funded 10 university-based environmental finance centers, the Environmental Finance Center Network, to work with the public and private sectors to fund environmental programs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Programs

Rural Home Loans Program
Offers loan assistance to low and very low-income applicants. The amount of assistance is determined by the adjusted family income. Funds can be used to build, repair, renovate, or relocate a home, or to purchase and prepare sites, including providing water and sewage facilities (Rural Home Loans Program Fact Sheet).

Single-Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants Program
Offers grants and low-interest loans to repair, improve, or modernize rural single-family homes or grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards, including septic systems. Loans may be used on repairs and improvements and grants must be used to remove health and safety hazards. The maximum loan amount is $20,000 and the maximum grant amount is $7,500 (Single-Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants Program Fact Sheet).

Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program
Offers grants to rural homeowners. Grant funds may be used to help a nonprofit create a revolving loan fund for eligible individuals who own and occupy a home in an eligible rural area. The fund may be used to construct, refurbish, or service individually-owned household water well and septic systems. Terms for the loans include one percent fixed interest rate, 20-year maximum term, and an $15,000 maximum loan per household (Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program Fact Sheet).

Other Federal Programs

There are additional community financing programs that in certain cases may be used on wastewater infrastructure.

Provides funds to states through community development block grants. The grants fund various projects, including rehabilitation of residential and nonresidential structures, construction of public facilities, and improvement of water and sewer facilities.

Administers various funding programs to promote collaborative regional innovation, public/private partnerships, national strategic priorities, global competitiveness, and environmentally sustainable development.

Summary of Federal Funding Programs and Criteria

Criteria EPA CWSRF EPA NPS USDA Rural Home USDA Single-Family Housing USDA Rural Decentralized HUD EDA
Individuals Over 65 Years Old X   X X X X  
Low-Income Households X   X X X X  
Tribal Nations X X X X X X X
Nongovernmental Organizations and/or Community Banks X X         X
States X X       X X
Local/County Governments X         X X

State-specific Funding

A    C    D    F    G    H    I    K    M    N    O    P    R    S    T    V    W

Alaska

California

Connecticut

  • Capital for Change is the largest full-service Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in Connecticut. With support from community-minded investors and partners, the program serves people, nonprofits, small businesses and public institutions. The programs and products broaden access to affordable housing, energy efficiency and job opportunities for underserved communities.

Delaware

Florida

  • Individual Household Well & Septic Loan Program Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. (SERCAP) offers loans of up to $15,000 to residents of rural communities to pay for the installation of a new standard or alternative septic system. The interest rate is locked in at 1 percent.
  • The Wastewater Grant Program (WWGP) is operated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Restoration Assistance (DWRA). The program provides grants to governmental entities for wastewater projects that reduce excess nutrient pollution within a basin management action plan, alternative restoration plan adopted by final order or rural area of opportunity (RAO). The program requires at least a 50 percent match which may be waived by the department for RAOs. Projects to construct, upgrade or expand wastewater facilities to provide advanced wastewater treatment and connecting septic tanks to sewer systems are prioritized.

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Iowa

Kentucky

Maine

  • Small Community Grant Program provides grants to municipalities to help replace malfunctioning septic systems that are polluting a waterbody or causing a public nuisance.  

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

  • The Septic Replacement Loan Program (SRLP), created in partnership between the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and green bank lender, Michigan Saves, provides low-interest financing to Michigan homeowners for the replacement of failing or near-failing septic systems. The program offers both an income-based loan (Tier 1) and a market-based loan (Tier 2). Eligible project costs include system evaluation, septic tank pumping, system design and permitting, and system installation.

Minnesota

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

  • Community Septic System Loan Program (CSSLP) is a lending program that provides low-cost, long-term financing to residential property owners for the repair or replacement of substandard or failing septic systems or to replace cesspools when the homeowner wishes to upgrade to a septic system.
  • Rhode Island Community Septic System Loan Program (CSSLP) uses federal dollars recycled from previous Clean Water State Revolving Fund loans to provide the source of funds for the CSSLP. This program allows communities without wastewater treatment facilities to access low-interest loans to assist property owners with the cost of repairing or replacing failing or substandard septic systems, including the replacement of a cesspool with a septic system.

South Carolina

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

  • On-Site Systems Loan Program - The West Virginia Housing Development Fund, in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, help eligible households repair or replace on-site septic systems or connect to a public treatment system.

Wisconsin

Tribal Community Funding

Provides funding for wastewater infrastructure to Indian tribes and Alaska Native Villages. EPA administers this program in cooperation with the Indian Health Service (IHS). Tribes must identify their wastewater needs to the IHS Sanitation Deficiency System to receive funding.

Provides information for tribes about EPA and other federal grant resources and regulations and policies for applying for assistance.

The Indian Housing Block Grant Program is a formula grant that funds various activities, include housing development, assistance to housing developed under the Indian Housing Program, housing services to eligible families and individuals, crime prevention and safety, and model approaches to solving affordable housing problems.

Provides financial assistance to tribes and Native American nonprofit organizations for projects that address environmental regulatory enhancement, including formulating ordinances, implementing laws, and training community members to manage natural resources.

Local Community Funding

In addition to funding available at the federal and state levels, your local community may also have its own septic system financial assistance program. This may be particularly true if you live in a community with a high concentration of septic systems and/or live in a community with impaired waterbodies, or septic system failures contributing to degraded water quality.

To find out if your community has a financial assistance program for septic systems, you can contact your local government. Typically, it is a county-level Environmental Health Department of Public Health Department that oversees septic systems at a local level. If you need help identifying the correct contact in your community, you can reach out to your state’s septic system program for support.

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Last updated on June 14, 2024