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Need feedback on N.E. Arizona off grid toilet permitting

4069 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  AZlife
I’d like to get feedback on my toilet dilemma. I bought a property in Apache County, AZ. The county has a bunch of rules and permitting for off grid toilet setups. I knew this before I bought the land. There are a number of options available. Under “Intent to Discharge,” the county has a type 4 general aquifer permit which covers the following: Septic tank/conventional, composting, pressure distribution, gravel-less trench, Wisconsin mound, engineered pad system, sewage vault, and cap system (Apache County Intent to Discharge) The septic tank option is a $300 permit fee. The others are a $550 permit fee. They all require a licensed person to come out and test the soil for an additional $300-600. If using one of these systems, you have to include this with the building permit for the home.

The state of Arizona allows automatically permitted toilets in its own code (Arizona Allowable Toilet Setups without Permit Request). It says: “A person may discharge under a Type 1 General Permit without submitting a Notice of Intent to Discharge….A 1.08 General Permit allows for any earth pit privy, fixed or transportable chemical toilet, incinerator toilet or privy, or pail or can-type privy if allowed by a county health or environmental department under A.R.S. Title 36 or a delegation agreement under A.R.S. § 49-107.”

This could be interpreted to mean that state law overrides county law. But the county law doesn’t include these toilets in its own permitting list. It would seem to me that the state is saying that it allows those toilets listed in the previous paragraph. I suppose the county could say that they are special and don’t like the state approved ones. I do like the incinerating type but this will be a solar powered tiny home. What do you think?
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Go to (or call) St. Johns (county seat) and ask them to explain the code. There are a lot of non-code properties in Apache county.....just sayin'.

Do you have water?
Ultimately, I'll have to contact them and ask them about the difference with the state law. The county's website says that all unincorporated areas must apply for a building permit. There is no water on the property.
Thanks for the replies. I contacted the county. They said that the state allows them to decide what the county wants. They said they disregard the state law and only use the county law.
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