Liquid Waste (Septic Tank) Program

Our mission is to protect public health, safety and water quality by ensuring that on-site disposal of household sewage is done safely.

• Apply for a Liquid Waste Permit or Registration
• Find an Existing Liquid Waste Permit  This tool searches the current Liquid Waste Database.  You can customize your search to find a liquid waste permit by owner, address, city, TRS, and other parameters.  Once you find the permit you are searching for, you can click on the Result bullet, and then the Select button.  A replicate permit will appear which can be printed (there may be limitations on this function, depending on your browser).

An Indigent Liquid Waste Assistance Project that will fund the elimination of cesspools and other substandard onsite wastewater systems serving indigent households in the Middle Rio Grande Basin (MRGB) has been launched by the Liquid Waste Program in collaboration with the Office of the Natural Resource Trustee.  A Fact Sheet and Application Forms in English and Spanish are included in the link above.  Additional background information on this Project is available here.  Efforts to assist indigent households in other areas of New Mexico are ongoing.  Contact the Liquid Waste Program Manager, Dennis McQuillan, if you have any questions.  Dennis is available by email at Dennis.McQuillan@state.nm.us or by phone at 505-476-8607.

The Professional Onsite Wastewater Reuse Association of New Mexico, and Link Summers Pro Se, have submitted petitions to the Environmental Improvement Board for proposed amendments to the Liquid Waste Regulations and to the Liquid Waste Fee Regulations.  The petitions and underline-strikeout documents that were submitted can be downloaded here:  Liquid Waste Regulations Petition, Liquid Waste Regulations Redline Petition; Liquid Waste Fee Regulations Petition, Liquid Waste Fee Regulations Redline Petition

Santa Fe County, Water Well Testing Results, 2009

The Liquid Waste Program has issued a Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report that summarizes the current status of the program, financial information, program performance and the direction of the program.

The Liquid Waste Program has a revised draft of the On-site Liquid Waste System Submittal Procedures based on public comments received, that is now open for public comment through the close of business on June 25, 2010.  Please send written comments to Dennis McQuillan, Liquid Waste Program Manager, by email, or by mail to 525 Camino de Los Marquez, Suite 1, Santa Fe, NM 87505.  A representative of the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) made a presentation to the Wastewater Technical Advisory Committee at its March 189, 2010 meeting about the NSF certification process for onsite products.

• NMED held ten public meetings around the state to discuss the issues related to potential regulation amendments.  Meeting Presentation  
• A requirement for resilient connectors that meets all requirements of ASTM Standard C-923 on precast concrete septic tanks installed in New Mexico has been issued by NMED.  A letter describing the new requirement was sent to all concrete tank manufacturers.

Low Pressure Pipe (LPP) dispersal systems are an alternative to conventional leachfields.  The Liquid Waste Program, in collaboration with the Wastewater Technical Advisory Committee, has developed a technical guidance for design of LPP systems.  This guidance describes standards that are acceptable to the Liquid Waste Program for the design of LPP systems.  Designs based on other technical sources will also be considered, but on a case-by-case basis.  For general information about LPP systems, see the EPA Technical Fact Sheet.

Carlos Romero, Director of the Environmental Health Division of NMED has issued a Notice of Non-Enforcement.  This document gives notice that, until further notice, NMED will not enforce portions of Section 904, "Requirements for Certification", of 20.7.3 NMAC, the Liquid Waste Disposal and Treatment Regulations.  Section 904 was to have gone into effect July 1, 2009.  A public meeting will be held for all interested parties to discuss possible changes to Section 904 on May 25th at the NMED District I Office in Albuquerque. 

• The Liquid Waste Program issued a Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report that summarized the status of the program, financial information, program performance and the direction of the program.
• Technologies other than conventional septic tanks and drainfields are available for use on difficult sites or where conditions require a higher level of wastewater treatment.  A summary of these technologies can be seen in the guidance document Alternative Technologies to a Conventional Treatment System.
• A paper, written by Dennis McQuillan and Eugene Bassett and entitled Return Flow to Groundwater from Onsite Wastewater Systems, was presented at the NOWRA conference in Milwaukee in April, 2009.
• The USEPA has created a Website for Small Communities.  It can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/owm/mab/smcomm/index.htm. 
• NMED Field Office Training.  Various topics are presented and discussed around New Mexico, and are available upon request for interested groups.
• The Advanced Treatment System Report has been updated.  The new version of this report contains more data and information on specific advanced treatment systems.  The October 2006 report is still available at: 2006 Advanced Treatment System Report
• Liquid Waste Environmental Geographic Information System (eGIS) (aquifer sensitivity maps, hydrogeologic mapping, much more).
• The Office of the State Engineer has recently adopted Well Driller Regulations that require well drillers to comply with NMED regulations regarding setbacks from contamination sources.  Go to page 6, Section 19.27.4.29.D of the OSE regulations for details.  This requirement includes setbacks from existing on-site wastewater systems.    Liquid Waste Treatment and Disposal Regulations require a minimum 100-foot separation of private wells, and a minimum 200-foot separation of public wells, from on-site wastewater disposal systems.
• Drinking water testing and bio-monitoring for arsenic and various other metals now available .  See announcement from the New Mexico Health Department.
• Frequently Asked Questions