DeKalb County Sewer and Drain Service: Local Rules

Georgia Sewer clears, inspects and repairs the private side of sewer and water lines for homes served by DeKalb County Watershed Management in Decatur, Dunwoody, Tucker, Brookhaven and unincorporated DeKalb. Call DWM for a problem in the county main or in the part of the connection in a county right-of-way or sewer easement; the building sewer on your property is the part we work on.

In the DeKalb cities and unincorporated communities on this page, the sewer under your street belongs to the county, not to your city. That means DeKalb's code and crews, not your city hall, decide where your part of the line ends and who clears a blockage near the street. Your city still issues the plumbing permit for work on your own pipes.

What follows comes from county and city sources we checked in October 2026.

The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management (DWM) provides water and sewer service to more than 775,000 residents, maintains about 5,200 miles of water and sewer pipe, and treats wastewater at its Pole Bridge and Snapfinger plants. Decatur tells residents its water and sewer issues are handled by DeKalb County (City of Decatur). Brookhaven and Avondale Estates both say the county owns the sewer pipes and the service laterals under their streets, and that city crews have no authority to repair them (Brookhaven; Avondale Estates).

To confirm you are a DWM sewer customer, check your county water and sewer bill. DWM applies no sewer charges to customers who have septic tanks, so a bill without a sewer charge suggests your home is on septic (Services & Billing); the guide to telling septic from sewer lists other checks. The county's sewer work runs under a Clean Water Act consent decree with the U.S. EPA and Georgia EPD (Consent Decree).

In unincorporated DeKalb, the county's Planning & Sustainability Department issues permits and inspects the work, and a plumbing permit must be submitted by a licensed plumbing contractor (permits page). The county's owner-occupant affidavit, which lets homeowners act as their own builder, says plumbing permits still require a state-licensed contractor (affidavit). Inspections are requested through the county's e-permitting portal (permits page).

Inside a city, the county says primary permitting is handled by the city's own permitting office, not the county (permits page). Decatur requires a separate trade permit for any sewer, drainage or plumbing work regardless of cost, plus a pre-application meeting with the city arborist if the work would disturb a protected tree's root zone (Decatur). Tucker lists sewer line replacement among jobs that need a plumbing permit (Tucker), and Brookhaven requires a permit for emergency work no later than 24 hours after it starts (Brookhaven). The table below links each city's office.

Work on the county's own pipes needs DWM's permission: no unauthorized person may uncover, connect to or disturb a public sanitary sewer without a written permit from the department (Code § 25-252). Whoever does the digging in DeKalb County, the first step is the same: a Georgia 811 request at least three business days ahead, which state law requires for mechanized excavation (Georgia 811; Georgia dig law). Under that law, DeKalb's help in locating a lateral ends at the edge of the public right-of-way. If the job needs a permit, we tell you before work starts.

DWM's household grease advice: pour cooled fats, oils and grease into a sealed container for the trash, scrape plates and cookware before washing, and wipe greasy pans with a paper towel (Customer Outreach Programs). Its commercial program inspects restaurant grease interceptors (Commercial FOG Program), and its 2025 consent decree report says staff handed out grease education at apartment complexes and neighborhoods near sewer spills (2025 annual report). After an overflow from an apartment complex's private sewer line, county code can require the owner to get a grease permit, clean the lines with camera verification and educate residents (Code § 25-265.22).

County code bars connecting roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, area drains or other surface runoff to a building drain or building sewer, and existing connections must be removed when the building sewer joins the public system (Code § 25-218). Rain is a real strain here: the county's 2025 report attributes 2024's jump in overflows to more heavy rain events and the inflow and infiltration they caused, and traces many wet-weather overflows to capacity limits in large trunk sewers (2025 annual report). For household habits, see what not to flush or pour and why drains back up when it rains.

DeKalb Public Health's septic program must permit a new septic system, a new drain line or a repair before a contractor does the work, requires DPH-certified contractors for installing, repairing and pumping systems, and may hold a copy of your system's installation inspection report (DeKalb Public Health).

County code requires owners on a street with a public sewer to connect, at their own expense, within 24 months of official notice when the sewer is within 100 feet of the property line (Code § 25-154). Neighborhoods that want sewer have a cost-sharing route: five or more owners in the same drainage basin and within a quarter mile can ask DWM for a feasibility study, and if owners of at least 51 percent of the property in the designated area petition, the county can create a special tax district to build the line (Code § 25-187).

On the private side of the DWM split, our technicians handle main sewer line cleaning, hydro jetting for grease, sewer camera inspection to show which side a blockage is on, sewer line repair and replacement, and cleanout installation and repair, including the property-line cleanout DWM's response plan relies on. City pages: Decatur, Dunwoody, Tucker, Doraville, Stone Mountain and Lithonia. Call Georgia Sewer at (404) 482-2527 or request service.