Effingham County, GA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Chapter 75, Article II of the Effingham County Code requires purple-pipe recycled-water infrastructure wherever new growth connects to county sewer. Sec. 75-55 requires "all new developments (defined as major subdivisions, commercial or industrial projects) proposed to be served by public or private sewage services" to install purple-pipe reuse lines within the development. Sec. 75-56(a) then requires the property owner to design and construct a reuse irrigation or other utilization system so the reclaimed water is used or stored on-site, or off-site at a location approved by the board of commissioners, with the design subject to approval by both the board and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division.

Every property owner requesting sewer service must pay a reuse water capacity capital recovery fee measured per equivalent residential unit (ERU), based on an average demand of 300 gallons per day for a detached single-family home; Sec. 75-56(c) sets that fee at $1,300.00 per ERU for detached housing, $859.30 for attached housing, and by meter size for nonresidential users, ranging from $1,300.00 for a 0.75-inch meter to $21,666.45 for a 4-inch meter. The fee is waived or credited if the developer's own on-site system absorbs some or all of the development's reuse demand, per Sec. 75-56(c)(1)-(3) and the county's Development Impact Fee Ordinance. Under Sec. 75-56(e), paying the applicable fee is a precondition of getting a building permit.