Drain field replacement in Brevard County / the Space Coast
When a field has failed — sealed biomat, undersized for the soil, or collapsed lines across the whole system — replacement is the fix. It's a permitted job with a site evaluation, and the soil decides the design more than anything else.
Cost in Brevard County / the Space Coast: $5,000–$15,000; mound or elevated fields at the top of that range. The spread is not random. Conventional gravity fields in good soil sit at the bottom; engineered systems the soil forces on you sit at the top.
How it goes
- Site evaluation by the county — soil, water table, setbacks. This determines what you're allowed to build.
- Design and permit. The contractor submits; the county approves. Budget time for this step.
- Installation — excavation, new lines or engineered unit, backfill. One to three days on site.
- Final inspection before the system goes back into service.
Florida requires two feet of separation between the bottom of the drainfield and the seasonal high water table. On many Brevard lots the original field never met that standard, so a replacement often has to be raised — a mound or an engineered fill system — which is where the top of the price range comes from. If the parcel is inside the Indian River Lagoon program area, a full replacement triggers the 65% nitrogen-reduction requirement: the new system must be an ATU or equivalent, and that is exactly the project the county's grant of up to $20,000 is designed to fund. Check eligibility before you sign a replacement contract.
What the yard looks like after. Honest answer: a construction site for a few weeks. Sod and grading are part of the quote; landscaping is not.
Alternatives worth asking about: where a sewer main is within reach, connecting can cost less than a new field — see lagoon for how that works in Brevard County / the Space Coast.
All work is performed by Florida-registered septic tank contractors who are licensed and insured.