Rockdale 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 Rockdale County Water Resources in Conyers, Milstead and the rest of Rockdale County. Main breaks, overflows and backups on the county side go to RWR; the service line from your house to the county's lateral, and any sewage pump on it, is the owner's, and that is the part we work on, so call us at (404) 482-2527.

Rockdale County has one public sewer provider for Conyers and the unincorporated county alike: the county's own water department. Its rules live in Chapter 98 of the county code, which spells out who handles basements, pumps, laterals and septic tanks.

Here is what the department and the code say, as we checked them in October 2026, and how they shape the work we do here.

Rockdale County Water Resources (RWR) provides water and wastewater service to Rockdale County residents, and its 2026 overview notes platinum awards for its five wastewater treatment facilities (RWR overview). Sewer connections inside Conyers go through RWR too: the county code lays out how RWR handles sewer connection permits for projects within Conyers city limits (Code § 98-91). Starting in 1998, the county has contracted a professional operations firm to run its treatment plants and pump stations and to maintain and repair the sewer collection system (Wastewater Treatment).

The county's sewer charge is based on the water each customer uses (Code § 98-94). If your bill shows water but no sewer charge, ask RWR whether your home is on septic; the guide to telling septic from sewer lists other checks.

In Conyers, the city's Department of Planning and Inspection Services handles residential and commercial inspections, including plumbing rough-in inspections, and asks for at least a half day's notice (City of Conyers). In unincorporated Rockdale, including Milstead, the county's Planning and Development department says permits may be required to install, extend, alter or repair plumbing, and it coordinates reviews with the water and sewer department and environmental health when needed (Rockdale County permits).

Work that touches the public system goes through RWR. Only county employees or authorized agents may uncover, connect to or alter a public wastewater line without approved plans and a written permit from the director (Code § 98-111). A new lateral connection is tested in the presence of the director or a designee, and road cuts must be sawed, backfilled to a set compaction and capped with concrete (Code § 98-119). A connection that is no longer used, for example after a demolition, must be capped and sealed (Code § 98-123).

In Rockdale County, request a locate through Georgia 811 at least three business days before digging, as it asks; for work with powered equipment, state law makes the request mandatory (Georgia 811; Georgia dig law). Rockdale's locating duty under that law likewise ends at the public right-of-way. If your job needs a permit, we tell you before work starts. For repair methods, see sewer line repair options.

RWR's Preventing Blockages page carries one message, don't clog the pipes with grease and wipes, along with an educational video. County code bars connecting roof downspouts, foundation drains, areaway drains or any other source of surface runoff or groundwater to a sewer lateral or building drain (Code § 98-118). It also obliges every user to reduce inflow and infiltration by using watertight pipe in the private parts of the system, and it prohibits emptying grease-trap contents into the sewer (Code § 98-142). For household habits, see what not to flush or pour.

Septic permits in Rockdale come from the county environmental health office of GNR Public Health, which serves Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties (GNR Health). Since February 7, 2022, it has required a Level 3 soil report for every septic permit, including repairs and additions that modify a system, and it offers evaluations of existing systems (GNR Health). County code adds a local step: no one may build, repair, alter or enlarge a septic tank without prior approval from the RWR director as well as a health department permit (Code § 98-192).

If public sewer is available and your septic system fails, the code gives you 30 days after written notice to connect (Code § 98-194). A tank taken out of service must be cleaned and filled or removed, and the sewer connection is made to the plumbing upstream of the tank (Code § 98-195). Even when treatment capacity is short, the code reserves a small share for a county program that brings sewer to homes whose failing septic systems the health department finds can't feasibly be repaired (Code § 98-90).

Before anyone digs near the street, call RWR and ask where the county's service lateral begins at your address and whether a crew will check the county side first. On your side, we restore flow with main sewer line cleaning or hydro jetting for grease, show you the cause with a sewer camera inspection, and replace leaking private pipe with watertight pipe through sewer line repair or sewer line replacement. Call Georgia Sewer at (404) 482-2527.