Goodhue County, Minnesota: septic system inspection at sale
Checked on November 9, 2026 against the official rule. Rule set by Goodhue 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 | County form: certificate of compliance or notice of noncompliance 'shall be provided by the seller to the buyer on or before the date of the sale or transfer'; buyer agrees to bring noncompliant SSTS into compliance. Source: goodhuecountymn.gov |
| Triggered by | sale, transfer Source: goodhuecountymn.gov |
| Deadline | On or before the date of sale/transfer Source: goodhuecountymn.gov |
| Who arranges it | seller Source: goodhuecountymn.gov |
| How long a report is valid | 3 years (COC) Source: goodhuecountymn.gov |
| 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 |
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: Goodhue County.
Checked on November 9, 2026: read on the official site.
Septic systems in Goodhue County: the state’s count
MPCA counts 6,354 septic systems (SSTS) in Goodhue County in 2025, the 34th highest number of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Licensed inspectors and the county did 64 compliance inspections of existing systems that year: 1.0% of the county’s systems, against 2.11% statewide (the 64th highest share). The county issued 119 construction permits in 2025 and 2,808 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 Goodhue County
In 2015 about 15,435 of Goodhue County’s 46,435 residents (33%) got their drinking water from a private well, by the USGS estimate. That is the 48th highest share of the 87 Minnesota counties in the USGS table, and the 27th 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 78% of Goodhue County’s rated land “very limited” for a conventional septic drain field, 22% “somewhat limited” and 0% “not limited”, the 84th highest “very limited” share of 85 Minnesota counties with survey data. The most common limits: slow percolation (dense or clay soil) on 89%; a high water table (saturated soil near the surface) on 50%; steep slopes on 33%.
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 Goodhue 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. 1 of them is in Goodhue County.
| Lab | Town | Distance | Certified on the list for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Wing City Laboratory | Red Wing, MN · in this county | 15 miles | coliform bacteria |
| Southeastern Minnesota Water Analysis Laboratory | Rochester, MN | 29 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic (subcontracted) |
| RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc. - Burnsville | Burnsville, MN | 38 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic (subcontracted) |
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 Goodhue 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 Goodhue County.
| Rule | State | Distance | Covers | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge County | Minnesota | about 26 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Rice County | Minnesota | about 29 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Olmsted County | Minnesota | about 29 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Dakota County | Minnesota | about 32 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Dakota County | Minnesota | about 32 miles | Well water test | 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.