Cottonwood County, Minnesota: septic system inspection at sale
Checked on November 9, 2026 against the official rule. Rule set by Cottonwood County.
General information, not legal advice. This is our summary of the official rule as we read it. The ordinance or code and the health department decide: confirm with them before you list, sign or close.
The rule
| Question | What the official text says |
|---|---|
| What is required | Before conveying land with a dwelling or an SSTS, a Property Transfer Septic System Disclosure/Agreement form must be completed and presented, including a Certificate of Compliance if required and a buyer-seller agreement on who brings a non-compliant system into compliance Source: cms5.revize.com |
| Triggered by | conveyance of land with a dwelling or SSTS (sale or transfer, foreclosure/tax forfeiture exempt) Source: cms5.revize.com |
| Deadline | form presented to County Recorder at or prior to closing; winter (Nov 1-Apr 30) sales: inspection by June 1 Source: cms5.revize.com |
| Who arranges it | seller completes form; buyer and seller agree in writing who is responsible for bringing a failing system into compliance Source: cms5.revize.com |
| How long a report is valid | new/replacement system certificate 5 years; existing-system certificate 3 years Source: cms5.revize.com |
| Exemptions |
Source: cms5.revize.com |
| If the system fails | Owner and buyer sign agreement to install a complying system within 10 months of property transfer (shoreland/other Sec. 17 rules may differ) Source: cms5.revize.com |
| Who may inspect | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) licensing of SSTS businesses. official list (webapp.pca.state.mn.us) Source: webapp.pca.state.mn.us |
| Official forms | Appendix 1 of Ordinance #38 (Property Transfer Septic System Disclosure/Agreement Form) Source: cms5.revize.com |
| In force since | Ordinance #38 dated June 2016 (version read) Source: cms5.revize.com |
This is our summary of the official rule as we read it. The ordinance or code and the health department decide: confirm with them before you list, sign or close. Rule set by: Cottonwood County.
Checked on November 9, 2026: read on the official site.
Septic systems in Cottonwood County: the state’s count
MPCA counts 1,539 septic systems (SSTS) in Cottonwood County in 2025, the 77th highest number of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Licensed inspectors and the county did 21 compliance inspections of existing systems that year: 1.4% of the county’s systems, against 2.11% statewide (the 51st highest share). The county issued 37 construction permits in 2025 and 845 from 2002 to 2025. MPCA’s table marks the county as requiring a compliance inspection at property transfer, which matches the rule on this page.
Source: MPCA, 2025 Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems Annual Report (April 2026), Appendix A, as reported by each county; ranks among the 87 counties in the table (1 = highest). MPCA counts all compliance inspections of existing systems, whatever the trigger (property transfer, building permit and others).
Private wells in Cottonwood County
In 2015 about 0 of Cottonwood County’s 11,549 residents (0%) got their drinking water from a private well, by the USGS estimate. That is the 87th highest share of the 87 Minnesota counties in the USGS table, and the 87th highest number of private-well users.
As we read it, this rule covers the septic system, not the well.
Source: USGS county water use 2015 (Dieter et al., 2018). Ranks count the Minnesota counties in the USGS table (1 = highest).
Soils and septic systems here
USDA soil surveys rate 92% of Cottonwood County’s rated land “very limited” for a conventional septic drain field, 8% “somewhat limited” and 0% “not limited”, the 67th highest “very limited” share of 85 Minnesota counties with survey data. The most common limits: slow percolation (dense or clay soil) on 96%; a high water table (saturated soil near the surface) on 95%; ponding on 9%.
Where soils are limited, inspections more often find drain fields that sit in seasonally wet soil, and replacement systems are often mounds or other engineered designs. A county-wide rating, not a test of one lot: a site evaluation decides. Source: USDA NRCS Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), via Soil Data Access, rating “ENG - Septic Tank Absorption Fields”, read November 15, 2026.
Certified labs nearest to Cottonwood County for a well water test
Labs on the Minnesota certified drinking-water list that the list marks as taking samples from homeowners or outside clients, certified for coliform bacteria, nearest first. All of them are outside Cottonwood County.
| Lab | Town | Distance | Certified on the list for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worthington Public Utilities Laboratory | Worthington, MN | 31 miles | coliform bacteria |
| Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories, Inc. | New Ulm, MN | 42 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic |
| Southwest Health and Human Services | Marshall, MN | 45 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate |
Source: MDH Accredited Labs in Minnesota Accepting Drinking Water Samples from Private Well Users (October 2026; read November 15, 2026). Straight-line distance from the centre of Cottonwood County (the average of its Census ZIP-area points); “approx.” = lab placed at its ZIP centre. Call the lab first: lists do not say which household tests each lab takes or what it charges.
Nearest other sale-time rules
Buying or selling near a county line? These are the closest other local rules in our census to Cottonwood County.
| Rule | State | Distance | Covers | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County | Minnesota | about 22 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Watonwan County | Minnesota | about 27 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Murray County | Minnesota | about 28 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Brown County | Minnesota | about 29 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Martin County | Minnesota | about 34 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
Straight-line distance between county centres (the average of each county’s Census ZIP-area points). Townships, villages and health districts are placed at the centre of their county.