SepticByCounty
Licensed septic pumpers by county

Pennsylvania guide

How to verify a Pennsylvania septage hauler

Pennsylvania registers the business that pumps your tank, and requires the number on the truck. The catch is the age of the published list.

The registration that allows pumping

The Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act requires any individual or organization that pumps septic tanks or hauls residential septage to register with DEP. DEP issues a transporter number. That number must be displayed on the sides and rear of every vehicle in characters at least three inches high and of a colour that contrasts with the background. If the truck that arrives has no DEP number, that is a reason to stop the job.

The published list is from April 17, 2024

DEP publishes the Active register as a workbook. The copy linked from the official page is dated April 17, 2024, and the file's own Last-Modified stamp agrees. DEP has not posted a newer one. Businesses close, change hands and let registrations lapse in that time, so a name on these pages is a starting point, not proof the registration is still current. Ask for the number and look for it on the truck.

Verification steps

  1. Ask for the business name and its DEP transporter number.
  2. Open the DEP residential septage hauler page and download the current Active list if DEP has posted a newer file.
  3. Confirm the company is still on the Active list.
  4. When the truck arrives, look for the DEP number on both sides and the rear.
  5. Confirm the business pumps household tanks at your address, then get a written quote.

Reading the county

DEP publishes a county code with each registration. That is where DEP files the business, not a service area. A DEP registration is a Pennsylvania registration, so a business in the next county may well cover your address.

112 businesses are filed under DEP's out-of-state county code and are counted here rather than placed on a Pennsylvania county page. 5 more are filed under a Pennsylvania county while mailing from another state; their cards say so.

What we publish

742 businesses across 66 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, drawn from the 856 Active rows on the April 17, 2024 workbook. Nothing is filtered out by name: this registration is Pennsylvania's tank-pumping credential. Because portable-toilet, plumbing and environmental firms hold it too, the 463 businesses whose name does not say septic carry a note asking you to confirm household work first.

DEP publishes no usable phone number for 14 of the businesses here; those cards have no Call button rather than a guessed number.

Start with the Pennsylvania county directory, then confirm the transporter number with DEP and on the truck.