Pope County, Minnesota: septic system inspection at sale
Checked on November 9, 2026 against the official rule. Rule set by Pope 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 | Compliance inspection completed before a tract with a dwelling (or structure needing an SSTS) is sold or transferred; results to seller, buyer and Land & Resource Management; Septic System Disclosure & Transfer Agreement form approved by the Department before recording the transfer Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| Triggered by | any sale or transfer of land (disclosure form); compliance inspection on sale/transfer of tract with dwelling or SSTS structure Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| Deadline | before recording the sale/transfer with the County Recorder (form approval); inspection before sale Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| Who arranges it | not specified; seller and buyer both receive results; a winter agreement can allocate Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| How long a report is valid | existing-system Certificate of Compliance valid 3 years; new-system certificate under 5 years old exempts the sale from the inspection Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| Exemptions |
Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| If the system fails | Imminent threat: upgrade/replace/abandon within 10 months of Notice of Noncompliance; failing to protect groundwater: within 1 year; replacement plan and permit application within 20 days; winter agreement allowed Nov-Apr when frozen Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
| 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 | popecountymn.gov Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2024-03-01 |
| In force since | May 20, 2019 Source: popecountymn.gov via wayback 2025-03-13 |
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: Pope County.
Checked on November 9, 2026: read on the official site.
Septic systems in Pope County: the state’s count
MPCA counts 4,821 septic systems (SSTS) in Pope County in 2025, the 42nd highest number of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Licensed inspectors and the county did 78 compliance inspections of existing systems that year: 1.6% of the county’s systems, against 2.11% statewide (the 42nd highest share). The county issued 76 construction permits in 2025 and 1,932 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. The county figures include the city and township septic programs inside it (MPCA footnote).
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 Pope County
In 2015 about 6,591 of Pope County’s 11,041 residents (60%) got their drinking water from a private well, by the USGS estimate. That is the 15th highest share of the 87 Minnesota counties in the USGS table, and the 49th 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 88% of Pope County’s rated land “very limited” for a conventional septic drain field, 12% “somewhat limited” and 0% “not limited”, the 74th highest “very limited” share of 85 Minnesota counties with survey data. The most common limits: slow percolation (dense or clay soil) on 70%; a high water table (saturated soil near the surface) on 59%; fast seepage below the field (risk to groundwater) on 37%.
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 Pope 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 Pope County.
| Lab | Town | Distance | Certified on the list for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traut Water Analysis Lab | St. Joseph, MN | 58 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic (subcontracted) |
| A.W. Research Laboratories, Inc. | Brainerd, MN | 80 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic |
| Southwest Health and Human Services | Marshall, MN | 81 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 Pope 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 Pope County.
| Rule | State | Distance | Covers | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County | Minnesota | about 24 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Swift County | Minnesota | about 25 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Grant County | Minnesota | about 34 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Kandiyohi County | Minnesota | about 39 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Todd County | Minnesota | about 42 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.