Lehigh Acres Wells, Septic and Sewer: A Homeowner Guide

How water and sewer work in Lehigh Acres today

Lehigh Acres is a big place. It covers roughly 92 square miles of unincorporated Lee County, and water and sewer mains don’t reach every street. That’s why many homes here still have a private well in the yard and a septic tank out back, while a house a few miles away is fully on utility service.

Where central service exists, it comes from the Florida Governmental Utility Authority, usually just called FGUA. FGUA owns and runs the Lehigh Acres water and wastewater systems. If you’re not sure which side of the line your house falls on, look at your bills. No sewer charge usually means septic. No water bill usually means a well.

This guide is for the well and septic crowd. We’ll cover what’s happening with sewer expansion, what changes when the pipe reaches your street, and how to keep your current setup healthy until then. If you’d like the general rundown on our work in town first, our Lehigh Acres plumber page has it.

The septic numbers behind the push for sewer

A Lee County planning document puts the count at 32,879 permitted septic tanks in Lehigh Acres. That’s a lot of individual systems upstream of the Caloosahatchee River basin.

Nitrogen from septic systems is the main reason local and state agencies keep funding conversions. Lee County’s 2023 Countywide Wastewater Management Plan identified septic-to-sewer conversion as a priority, and FGUA’s Lehigh Acres work builds on that plan.

Why it matters to you, not just the river

For a homeowner, the bigger question is practical. Septic systems need pumping, inspections and eventually repair or replacement. Your well sits on the same lot as the drainfield. Keeping both in good shape protects your drinking water as much as the estuary.

Active FGUA septic-to-sewer projects in Lehigh Acres

Here’s what public records show. Schedules on these projects tend to move.

Sewer main extensions

FGUA requested state funding in 2023 to extend sanitary sewer mains in its Lehigh Acres collection system. The stated goal was cutting septic reliance and reducing nutrient loading in groundwater and surface water.

The roughly 300-home conversion

A 2025 state funding request described converting up to 300 septic systems in the FGUA Lehigh Acres service area, with half the cost already covered by a Florida DEP water quality grant. Local news in September 2025 reported about 290 homes in the project footprint, with some residents worried about connection costs and others noting they’d recently put in new septic systems. FGUA estimated the work would keep about 4,500 pounds of nitrogen a year out of the Caloosahatchee basin.

LEP 35 along Lee Boulevard

FGUA also lists LEP 35, focused on an area along Lee Boulevard. It’s a study of options for expanding the wastewater service area under a septic-to-sewer program. A feasibility report is done, and FGUA was negotiating with an engineering firm at last check.

Bottom line: if your street is in one of these areas, you’ll hear from FGUA directly. If it isn’t, plan on staying on septic for a while and maintain it accordingly.

Connection rules: what Florida law and DOH-Lee require

Once sewer is coming, the timeline isn’t up to you. Florida Statute 381.00655 sets the rules, and they’re stricter than most people expect.

• The utility has to notify you at least one year before sewer becomes available to your property, and tell you connection will be mandatory.
• After written notice that sewer is available, a working septic system has 365 days to connect.
• If your septic system needs repair or modification, the window drops to 90 days after notice from the health department.
• After you connect, the Florida Department of Health in Lee County requires the old tank to be abandoned within 90 days.

That last point trips people up. Connecting the house to sewer doesn’t end the job. The tank still has to be properly taken out of service, inspected and closed out with the county.

Septic tank abandonment in Lee County, step by step

DOH-Lee Environmental Health spells out the abandonment process. In order, it looks like this.

• Check with your utility for its connection requirements.
• Apply for and pay for a septic abandonment permit with DOH-Lee.
• Have the tank pumped by a licensed septage hauler. Keep the receipt.
• Crush the tank or collapse its walls so it can’t hold water.
• Fill and grade the area with clean sand or other suitable material.
• Email Lee County Environmental Health with the pump-out receipt to request the final inspection.

Who can do the tank work

Per DOH-Lee, crushing and filling the tank can only be done by the owner if they live in the home, a licensed septic installer, or a licensed plumbing contractor. Pumping is separate and goes to a licensed septage hauler.

The plumbing side of the hookup

The new building sewer runs from your house drain to the utility’s connection point, and in unincorporated Lee County that work needs a plumbing permit. The county’s plumbing guide says a permit is required for sewer connections and changes to them. We pull those permits, install the line and coordinate inspections. Our sewer line repair page covers how we handle the pipe itself.

Septic warning signs to watch before sewer arrives

Even if conversion is years away for your block, the tank you have now has to work. Watch for these signs.

• Slow drains or gurgling in more than one fixture at the same time
• Toilets that back up or sewage smell inside after heavy water use
• Soggy ground, standing water or a sewage odor over the drainfield
• Grass over the drainfield that’s suddenly much greener than the rest of the yard
• Water backing into the lowest tub or shower when the washer drains

One slow sink is usually a clog in that branch, and drain cleaning solves it. When several fixtures act up together, the problem is downstream at the main line, the tank or the drainfield. That’s when you call a septic contractor to look at the tank, and a plumber to rule out a blocked line between the house and tank.

Pumping and inspection intervals

The EPA suggests having a typical household septic system inspected at least every three years and pumped about every three to five. Household size and water use change that, so ask your septic contractor what your tank needs.

Drainfields and heavy rain in Lehigh Acres

Summer storms and hurricane season are hard on drainfields here. In the rainy season the water table comes up, and a drainfield can’t treat wastewater well when the soil around it is already saturated.

When yards are flooded, toilets may flush slowly or drains may gurgle even though nothing is broken. Cut back on water use until the ground drains. Spread out laundry loads for a day or two. Our hurricane plumbing checklist has more on getting through a storm.

Simple drainfield habits

• Point gutters, downspouts and sump discharge away from the drainfield. The EPA notes extra water slows or stops treatment.
• Don’t drive or park on the drainfield, and don’t pave over it.
• Keep trees and shrubs away so roots don’t get into the lines.
• If floodwater covered your wellhead, have the well water tested before drinking it.

Common well water problems in Lehigh Acres homes

Private well water in Southwest Florida comes from the ground with whatever minerals and bacteria are in that aquifer. Most of what we see falls into a few buckets.

Rotten egg smell

That smell is hydrogen sulfide gas, and it can occur naturally in groundwater. The Florida Department of Health suggests a quick test: run hot and cold separately. If only the hot water smells, the reaction is happening inside the water heater. If both smell, the source is the well or the plumbing. If it comes and goes, sulfur bacteria may be living in the well or pipes.

Orange stains and slime

Iron bacteria combine iron or manganese with oxygen and leave rust deposits. You’ll notice red or orange stains in sinks and tubs, and sometimes a red, slimy film inside the toilet tank. Fixes range from well cleaning and chlorine treatment to aeration or carbon filtration.

Hard water

Scale on fixtures, spotty dishes and crusty showerheads point to hardness. Over time scale builds up in water heaters.

Bacteria and nitrates

You can’t see or smell these. The Florida Department of Health strongly recommends testing private wells for bacteria and nitrates at least once a year. With a septic system on the same lot, that’s cheap insurance.

Well pump and pressure tank symptoms

Your well is only as good as the pump and pressure tank feeding the house. When pressure goes sideways, these are the usual patterns.

• Pump clicks on and off every few seconds while a faucet runs. That short cycling often means a waterlogged pressure tank or a bad air charge.
• Pressure surges strong, then fades, then comes back.
• No water at all after a power outage or storm.
• Air spitting from faucets or cloudy, sputtering water.

Low pressure isn’t always the well, though. Corroded or leaking water lines, a failing pressure switch or a hidden leak can all look like a pump problem. If the pump runs when nothing’s on, a leak is a real possibility, and leak detection can find it before it shows up as a soft spot in the yard or a stain on drywall.

Plumber, well contractor or septic contractor: who handles what

Three different trades touch these systems, and calling the right one first saves time.

Plumbing contractor

Everything inside the house and the pipes connecting it to the outside systems. That includes supply lines from the tank to the house, the building drain and sewer, the new connection to FGUA sewer, water heaters, fixtures and leaks. Per DOH-Lee, a licensed plumbing contractor can also do the septic tank crushing and fill work during abandonment. See our residential plumbing hub for the full range.

Water well contractor

Drilling, repairing and plugging wells. Lee County’s Groundwater program issues well construction permits and enforces the county well code, including rules on plugging and abandoning wells. Deep pump and well casing problems belong here.

Septic contractor and septage hauler

Septic tank pumping, inspections, drainfield repair and new septic installs. A licensed septage hauler must pump the tank before abandonment.

A sewer conversion usually involves more than one of these trades.

Lehigh Acres vs. Cape Coral UEP: how they compare

Neighbors in Cape Coral went through something similar with the city’s Utilities Extension Program. The big difference is who runs it. Cape Coral is a city with its own utility and a large, citywide program. Lehigh Acres is unincorporated, served by FGUA, and conversions have come in smaller, targeted project areas.

The state rules are the same for both. The 365-day connection requirement and the DOH 90-day abandonment rule apply either way. If you want to see how the Cape process plays out from notice to final inspection, read our Cape Coral UEP sewer and water hookup guide. North Fort Myers has its own FGUA conversion work too, covered on our North Fort Myers plumber page.

Homeowner checklist for wells, septic and sewer conversion

If you’re staying on well and septic

• Test well water for bacteria and nitrates at least yearly, and again after flooding.
• Track septic pumping dates and keep receipts.
• Keep rain runoff, vehicles and trees off the drainfield.
• Note how often the well pump cycles so you notice changes early.
• Check the water heater if only hot water smells.

If FGUA notifies you about sewer

• Read the notice and write down your connection deadline.
• Ask FGUA where your connection point is and what it requires.
• Get a plumbing permit for the house-to-sewer line through Lee County.
• Schedule the septic pump-out with a licensed septage hauler.
• Pull the DOH-Lee abandonment permit and finish abandonment within 90 days of connecting.
• Request the final abandonment inspection and keep all paperwork with your house records.

We work across Lehigh Acres from our Fort Myers office, and our service areas page lists the rest. Planning a conversion? Reach us through our contact page or call (239) 518-4198.