Records
How to get the file on an existing septic system
If you are buying a house east of town, hunting a tank lid under two feet of dirt, or arguing about a replacement area, the first useful document is the permit SIPH already has—if it has one. The district says it maintains permitted and approved system records beginning in 1973.
Use the septic records form
SIPH publishes a dedicated Septic Records Request (PDF). Completed requests go to recordsrequest@siph.idaho.gov. Watch for replies from addresses ending in @siph.id.gov.
Fill in as much property identity as you can:
- Street address
- Township, range, and section
- Subdivision, lot, and block
- Year the home was built
- Year of known septic repairs
- Names of previous owners
Legal descriptions matter in Bingham County because rural addresses change, and “the white house on 800 West” is not a filing key. Tax notices and deeds usually carry the township-range-section string.
What the law allows them to charge
The form cites Idaho public-records rules:
- Five cents per copy page, generally prepaid
- Actual labor if the request is over 100 pages, needs redaction, or takes more than two person-hours
- Mailing costs if you want paper mailed
- Idaho Code 9-348: you are not requesting the file to build a mailing or telephone list
Idaho Code §9-339 gives the agency three working days to grant or deny the request to examine or copy records. “No records were found” is a valid outcome, especially for homes built before 1973 or systems installed without a permit.
If there is no file
SIPH’s pumping page is honest about this. Older tanks can sit deeper than modern lids. Tips they publish:
- Tanks are often 5–25 feet from the home, in line with the building sewer or roof vent stack
- Look for a small mound, depression, or a suspiciously green rectangle
- Rule out locations within 50 feet of wells, under pavement, under the house or a deck, or hard against the foundation
- Concrete tanks with rebar sometimes show up with a probe or metal detector
- Never enter a tank. Methane and oxygen deficiency kill quickly. SIPH and DEQ both say this without hedging.
A licensed pumper or installer can locate a tank as part of service. That is a paid field skill, not something this website can do from a browser.
Keep a copy that moves with the house
Once you have the as-built, scan it. Put the pump dates in the maintenance log. The next buyer will not inherit your email inbox.