Sewer Line Installation & Replacement · Stonecrest, GA
Stonecrest sewer line installation starts with DeKalb's capacity sign-off, then the trench.
- Georgia DPH-certified installer & pumper
- Residential & commercial
- Local shop in Oxford, GA
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or call (678) 863-5620The short answer
How do you get a new sewer line installed in Stonecrest, GA?
A new Stonecrest home using public sewer needs DeKalb Watershed Management to approve a Sewer Capacity Evaluation before any building permit issues. After that, the county sells the tap, the city's Building Department permits and inspects the plumbing, and a licensed contractor lays the private line from the house to the county stub.↗↗
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
The Stonecrest story
Why DeKalb checks the pipe downstream before yours goes in
Stonecrest is still growing, and every new house adds flow to a county system that has been under federal oversight for more than a decade. When EPA, the Justice Department and Georgia EPD modified DeKalb's sewer consent decree in October 2020, one of the new requirements was a Capacity Assurance Program for new connections. The county also agreed to fix more than 100 especially troublesome spots on a faster schedule.↗
On the ground, that shows up as paperwork before the trench. DeKalb's Watershed Packet says no building permit issues for a new single-family detached home on sewer until Watershed signs off on capacity. It also warns that a connection permit grants only the right to connect at your own expense, and that nobody guarantees a stub is waiting at the lot line. Questions about a capacity form go to a dedicated county inbox, sewercapacity@dekalbcountyga.gov.↗↗
On the record
- The 2020 consent decree modification added a Capacity Assurance Program for new DeKalb sewer connections and set December 20, 2027 to finish priority-area rehabilitation.↗
- DeKalb's service call list routes sewer capacity form questions to sewercapacity@dekalbcountyga.gov and stub or tap locations to its Document Control group at 770-414-6188.↗
Permits · DeKalb Watershed Management (capacity, tap) and the Stonecrest Building Department (plumbing permit and inspections)
The Stonecrest sequence, start to finish
- 01
Submit DeKalb's Sewer Capacity Evaluation for a new detached home and wait for Watershed approval.↗
- 02
File a Sewer Tap Application if the lot has no existing tap, and pay the county's access fee.↗
- 03
Apply for permits online with the Stonecrest Building Department, 3120 Stonecrest Blvd., Suite 190; the city enforces Georgia's minimum standard codes, including the 2018 plumbing code with state amendments.↗
- 04
Request every inspection through the CitizenServe portal; since June 1, 2022 the city no longer takes inspection requests by email, text or phone.↗
- 05
Lay the building sewer at code slope and at least 6 inches below grade, set the cleanout, and leave it open until the inspector passes it.↗
Soil & terrain
Shallow rock and wet cracks under new lots
Clearing a Stonecrest lot often exposes how little soil there is. Where Ashlar soils are mapped, bedrock turns up 20 to 40 inches down, which is shallower than many laterals need to run to reach a street stub. Georgia's Geologic Survey used this part of eastern metro Atlanta as its field example of groundwater moving through fractured Lithonia Gneiss, so a trench cut into rock can also start taking on water from the cracks.↗↗
We plan for both: a pump or sump on standby, crushed-stone bedding so the pipe never rests on a point of rock, and a grade check every few feet before backfill.
What it costs
What a Stonecrest sewer hookup usually runs
New sewer line, up to 40 feet total
$1,600–$7,200
Typical market range — HomeGuide — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated December 2025), 2025
Hooking up to a public sewer
$1,000–$15,000
Typical market range — HomeGuide — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated December 2025), 2025
Plumbing permit
$30–$500
Typical market range — HomeGuide — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated December 2025), 2025
DeKalb sewer access fee, residential
$1,811.93
Typical market range — DeKalb County 2022 Current Rates — Water and Sewer Rates and Service Charges (via Wayback), 2022
What moves the price
These are third-party typical market ranges, not our prices. Every job is quoted after we see it — estimates are free.
Free estimate: (678) 863-5620- 01Rock within three feet of the surface on Ashlar ground
- 02How far the house sits back from the street stub
- 03Groundwater in the trench after a wet week
- 04Whether a stub exists or a new tap is needed
Who owns what
Where your new pipe ends and the county's begins
DeKalb County Watershed Managementsewer tap
County sets the tap and stub; the owner pays the full cost of installing and connecting the building sewer (Sec. 25-215)↗
Where the line sits: Stub at the right-of-way
Where a whole street is waiting on a main, DeKalb's sewer petition process charges per front foot of property along the new line, recorded as a lien against the lot, based on the previous year's average construction cost per foot.↗
More about Stonecrest
Additions, basements and commercial pads
Not every job is a new house. Owners adding a basement bath often find the new fixtures sit below the existing sewer, which means a new line or an ejector. A lateral replaced during an addition must keep a uniform 1/8-inch-per-foot fall for 4-inch pipe.↗
Retail and restaurant pads along Turner Hill Road and the mall corridor pay access fees by population equivalent, and food service buildings will need a grease interceptor designed in. Our commercial sewer page covers that work in detail.↗
Not every job is a new house.
Warning signs
When a Stonecrest owner calls us for a new line
Seeing two or more of these? Call before it gets worse.
- 1. A building permit held up waiting on sewer capacity
- 2. A lot with no stub where the survey shows one
- 3. A basement being finished with a bathroom
- 4. An older rural parcel south of I-20 still on a tank
- 5. A lateral crushed during driveway or pool work
FAQ
Stonecrest sewer installation FAQ
Straight answers, with the rule or record behind them. Still unsure? Call and ask the crew that digs.
(678) 863-5620Why can't I get a building permit for my new Stonecrest house yet?
If the house will use sewer, DeKalb must approve a Sewer Capacity Evaluation first. No building permit issues until Watershed signs off.
Source: DeKalb County Planning & Sustainability — Watershed Packet (revised 5/6/25)
Who inspects the sewer line itself?
The Stonecrest Building Department, and all inspection requests go through the city's CitizenServe portal.
Is there always a sewer stub at my lot?
No. DeKalb's packet states plainly that there is no guarantee of a stub. We verify before digging.
Source: DeKalb County Planning & Sustainability — Watershed Packet (revised 5/6/25)
What does DeKalb charge to connect a new house?
On the 2022 rate sheet, the most recent we found, the residential sewer access fee is $1,811.93 and the water access fee is $2,000.
Source: DeKalb County 2022 Current Rates — Water and Sewer Rates and Service Charges (via Wayback)
Why is DeKalb so strict about new connections?
Its sewer system operates under a federal consent decree, and the 2020 modification added a Capacity Assurance Program for new connections.
Source: US EPA — DeKalb County, Georgia Clean Water Act Settlement Modified (Oct. 22, 2020)
Will rock make my installation cost more?
Often. Ashlar soils can hit hard rock at 20 to 40 inches, and cracked gneiss can let groundwater into the trench.
Source: Official Series Description — ASHLAR Series (USDA NRCS)
Do I have to connect if I'm on septic and sewer is close?
Georgia requires connection for new buildings and failed systems when sewer is available within 200 feet of the property line or in an abutting right-of-way.
Source: Georgia DPH Rules Chapter 511-3-1 On-Site Sewage Management Systems (Jan 2016)
Nearby areas
Sewer installation in neighboring towns
Sources
Where these facts come from
Rules, costs and local facts on this page link to the agency, code or publisher that states them. Cost figures are third-party market ranges, not our prices — estimates are free.
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
- 1DeKalb County Planning & Sustainability — Watershed Packet (revised 5/6/25)
- 2Building Department | Stonecrest, GA
- 3US EPA — DeKalb County, Georgia Clean Water Act Settlement Modified (Oct. 22, 2020)
- 4DeKalb Watershed Management Service Call List (revised July 11, 2025)
- 5Georgia State Minimum Standard Plumbing Code 2018, Chapter 3 General Regulations (§305.4.1) — via UpCodes
- 6DeKalb County 2022 Current Rates — Water and Sewer Rates and Service Charges (via Wayback)
- 7Official Series Description — ASHLAR Series (USDA NRCS)
- 8Georgia Geologic Survey Guidebook 23 (2003) — Ground water in fractured-crystalline bedrock: areas of Lithonia Gneiss in eastern metro Atlanta (Digital Library of Georgia)
- 9HomeGuide — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated December 2025)
- 10DeKalb County Code Ch. 25, Art. IV, Div. 3 — Building Sewers and Connections (Municode, Supp. 72)
- 11Georgia State Minimum Standard Plumbing Code 2018, Chapter 7 Sanitary Drainage — via UpCodes
- 12Georgia DPH Rules Chapter 511-3-1 On-Site Sewage Management Systems (Jan 2016)
Ready when you are
Building in Stonecrest? Get the sewer plan settled early.
Call and we will confirm the stub, walk the route over the rock and price the line before your framing crew is waiting on it.
(678) 863-5620- Georgia DPH-certified installer & pumper
- Residential & commercial
- Oxford, GA
Free estimate
or call (678) 863-5620