01
Aerobic septic maintenance contracts
The State of Texas and Hays County require a maintenance contract on an aerobic system. They require it to be inspected by a qualified technician at set intervals, the reports to be filed with the permitting authority, and faults to be repaired in a timely fashion. If your contract has lapsed, that is the letter you are holding.
Every contract visit covers:
- Sludge levels in the ATU (tank 2) and the pump tank (tank 3), where access permits — the most important measurement on the system
- Water clarity and condition
- Compressor operation
- Effluent pump operation
- Sprinkler operation
- Control panel operation
- Notification of any deficiency or repair — most repairs need your approval before we touch them
- Report submitted to the permitting authority on your behalf
- Contract submittal and renewal notification, so it does not lapse again
We offer single and multi-year agreements. Two-year is the usual choice and carries a discount.
02
Real estate inspections
A change-of-ownership inspection with a report a buyer, a seller and a lender can all read. We are NAWT certified, accepted by the Texas Association of Real Estate Inspectors, and authorised to carry out change-of-ownership inspections in Hays County.
The report covers everything in a contract visit, plus a written account of how the system is actually operating, an opinion on the manufacturer's equipment, the quality of the installation, the repairs that are genuinely required, and the repairs that would bring it to best practice.
Most problems found at change of ownership are minor in scope. Our reports are simple and direct, and they are backed by more than two decades of doing the service, repair and installation work ourselves — not just looking at it. We know aerobic septic systems.
Call early. Inspection slots inside a contract deadline go first. The earlier you call, the more choice you have over the date.
03
Pumping
We pump septic and aerobic tanks across Hays County and the surrounding area with our own truck — a 2021 Peterbilt carrying 4,200 gallons, 300 ft of hose and a liquid-cooled pump that will lift over 20 ft. That reach matters on Hill Country lots where the tank is nowhere near the driveway.
We remove all the sludge unless you tell us otherwise, rinse the tanks where there is a water source nearby, carry out a visual tank inspection, and transport the waste to an authorised facility. Do not get caught hiring a smaller truck that cannot empty your tanks in one visit.
Published prices
- Grinder basin pump-out
- $150.00 flat
- Locating and digging beyond the first 15 minutes
- $25.00 per 15 min
- Tank locating, first 15 minutes
- Included
Tank pumping is quoted per system — size, access and sludge depth all move the number. Call and we will give you a figure before we roll. [CONFIRM PRICES CURRENT]
Have these ready when you call and the quote will be accurate first time:
- Is the system aerobic or conventional?
- How many gallons are the tanks — or for an aerobic system, how many gallons per day?
- Do you know where all the tanks and access points are, and are they above grade?
- When was it last pumped out, and how old is the system?
- Do you have any drawings or photographs of the tank locations?
- Is the system in alarm right now, with higher than normal water levels?
Breweries, wineries and distilleries — ask us about commercial pricing.
04
Service and repair
Alarms, compressors, effluent pumps, float switches, control panels, timers and chlorinators. This is where the company started and it is still most of what we do.
We carry a complete stock of parts for the majority of the systems currently installed in this area, which is the difference between a repair finished today and a repair that waits a week on an order. We keep up with new and improved equipment in the industry and buy it at the best price we can, and we pass that on.
Serious emergency repairs are usually responded to within 24 hours or less.
The two faults we are called out for most often are ones you can often understand before we arrive:
- A timer that is not doing what you think it is. Grasslin timers on effluent pumps are set at installation and rarely explained to the homeowner. A timer set wrong will run the sprinklers at 3am or not at all.
- A chlorinator that is empty, or loaded with the wrong thing. Tablets and liquid bleach are not interchangeable, and using the wrong one damages equipment as well as failing the test.
Both are written up in plain English in AAMS University below.
05
Root remediation
Roots are proving to be a significant problem in Central Texas, and it is not a problem most homeowners know to look for.
A septic system is full of high-nutrient water, and for whatever reason trees strongly prefer the aerated section of an aerobic system. That is a serious issue on most systems because of the way they are manufactured and assembled: roots get in, and in some cases they get into places that cannot be seen or reached without dismantling part of the system.
If your system is under or beside mature trees, or performance has fallen off with no obvious equipment fault, this is worth ruling out before anything is replaced.
06
Excavation and system access
Buried lids are the single most expensive habit in septic ownership. You pay someone to find and dig out your access points every time anyone comes to the property — a pump-out, a contract visit, an inspection, a repair. Over the life of a system that is a lot of digging paid for twice.
We locate and uncover tanks, lids and access ports, and we dig for service, repair and installation work. The first 15 minutes of locating and digging is included with a pump-out; beyond that it is $25.00 per 15 minutes.
The fix is usually risers and lids:
- We strongly recommend supplying and installing risers and lids to every access point on the system
- It brings every access port above grade, so nobody digs for it again
- Fitted at the time of a pump-out it is not expensive to do, because the tank is already open
- It makes every future inspection and service call faster and cheaper
- In some areas, bringing access ports above grade is code
Do not pay for locating and digging twice.
07
Installation and system design
Coming from a background of service and repair, we have hands-on knowledge of which systems and designs actually work here — and which brands to steer away from, because their maintenance characteristics can needlessly cost you hundreds of dollars a year to run.
We install everything from small grinder pump transfer stations up to 5,000 gallon-per-day aerobic systems. We have Registered Sanitarians on standby with years of experience working with the local permitting authorities.
We also have the foresight to help you lay out a homestead properly. There are design parameters that are perfectly acceptable on paper and will not serve you and your family well in actual use. Do not get caught out by setbacks, landscape plans you have not made yet, and an underperforming system you cannot move. The devil is in the details, and the details are cheapest to fix before the trench is open.
AAMS University
Read this before you call — it may save you the call
Education is the single most important part of owning an aerobic septic system. Steven started this company in 1999 partly because nobody would explain to homeowners how these systems actually work. These are written by us, about the systems installed around here.
- Grasslin timer functions, and how to program themWhy your sprinklers run at the wrong hour, and how to change it yourself.
- Chlorinators: tablet vs liquid bleachThey are not interchangeable. Using the wrong one costs equipment as well as test results.
- Root remediationWhat roots do to an aerobic tank, and why Central Texas has it worse.
- Inspection reportsWhat is in one, and what the findings actually mean for a sale.
- The Hays County letterWhat the county sends out, and what you are required to do about it.
Who you are dealing with
A three-person company, and you will meet all of them
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Steven White
Owner
Started AAMS in 1999 because he could not find a service company that offered maintenance contracts at a reasonable cost, or that would explain to a homeowner how these systems work. He was working full time as a firefighter for a major local municipality, which gave him the time to take every certification needed to manage and install secondary treatment systems. Over twenty years of hands-on work diagnosing, repairing and preventing problems on them since.
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Vanessa Jones
Office Manager
Over twenty years of accounting experience, and the reason your contract paperwork reaches the county on time. Long involved with the school PTO when her children were younger, now with the Wimberley Lions Club, where she oversees the Youth Exchange Program. Any question about paperwork, billing or where your contract stands, call the office and ask for her.
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Dylan Robinson
Pump Truck Operator
Joined AAMS in 2018 as an inspection technician and learned the systems from the inside before taking the pump truck. He jumped at it. If a truck is on your property, this is who is driving it.
Where we go
Hays County and Northern Comal County
We provide septic maintenance agreements, inspections, pumping and repairs in:
- Wimberley
- Dripping Springs
- Buda
- Driftwood
- Kyle
- San Marcos
- Northern Comal County
Just outside it? Call and ask — we will tell you straight whether we can get to you.
Open Wimberley, TX on Google Maps
Office hours: [HOURS] — emergency line answered 24/7 on 512-847-0757.
Diagram, not a survey map. Call if your address is near the edge.
Tell us what it is doing
Three fields. If it is an emergency, do not fill in a form — call 512-847-0757, the line is answered around the clock.
Prefer email? office@aamswastewater.com