Lyon County, Minnesota: septic system inspection at sale
Checked on November 9, 2026 against the official rule. Rule set by Lyon County.
General information, not legal advice. This is our summary of the official rule as we read it. The ordinance or code and the health department decide: confirm with them before you list, sign or close.
The rule
| Question | What the official text says |
|---|---|
| What is required | For land transfers that require a Certificate of Real Estate Value, a Lyon County Sewer Information Data Form must be completed and filed with the CRV; the compliance inspection part of the form is skipped under listed exemptions Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2023-10-31 |
| Triggered by | land transfers that require a Certificate of Real Estate Value Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2023-10-31 |
| Deadline | form filed with the Certificate of Real Estate Value; form valid 12 months Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2023-10-31 |
| How long a report is valid | Sewer Information Data Form valid 12 months; certificate of compliance for existing SSTS valid 5 years Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2023-10-31 |
| Exemptions |
Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2023-10-31 |
| Who may inspect | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) licensing of SSTS businesses. official list (webapp.pca.state.mn.us) Source: webapp.pca.state.mn.us |
| Official forms | lyonco.org Source: lyonco.org via wayback 2026-06-14 |
This is our summary of the official rule as we read it. The ordinance or code and the health department decide: confirm with them before you list, sign or close. Rule set by: Lyon County.
Checked on November 9, 2026: read in a web-archive copy of the official page (the live site was blocked from our connection).
Septic systems in Lyon County: the state’s count
MPCA counts 2,520 septic systems (SSTS) in Lyon County in 2025, the 59th highest number of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Licensed inspectors and the county did 45 compliance inspections of existing systems that year: 1.8% of the county’s systems, against 2.11% statewide (the 32nd highest share). The county issued 35 construction permits in 2025 and 1,125 from 2002 to 2025. MPCA’s table marks the county as requiring a compliance inspection at property transfer, which matches the rule on this page.
Source: MPCA, 2025 Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems Annual Report (April 2026), Appendix A, as reported by each county; ranks among the 87 counties in the table (1 = highest). MPCA counts all compliance inspections of existing systems, whatever the trigger (property transfer, building permit and others).
Private wells in Lyon County
In 2015 about 3,943 of Lyon County’s 25,673 residents (15%) got their drinking water from a private well, by the USGS estimate. That is the 76th highest share of the 87 Minnesota counties in the USGS table, and the 62nd highest number of private-well users.
As we read it, this rule covers the septic system, not the well.
Source: USGS county water use 2015 (Dieter et al., 2018). Ranks count the Minnesota counties in the USGS table (1 = highest).
Soils and septic systems here
USDA soil surveys rate 98% of Lyon County’s rated land “very limited” for a conventional septic drain field, 2% “somewhat limited” and 0% “not limited”, the 23rd highest “very limited” share of 85 Minnesota counties with survey data. The most common limits: slow percolation (dense or clay soil) on 96%; a high water table (saturated soil near the surface) on 90%; flooding on 9%.
Where soils are limited, inspections more often find drain fields that sit in seasonally wet soil, and replacement systems are often mounds or other engineered designs. A county-wide rating, not a test of one lot: a site evaluation decides. Source: USDA NRCS Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), via Soil Data Access, rating “ENG - Septic Tank Absorption Fields”, read November 15, 2026.
Certified labs nearest to Lyon County for a well water test
Labs on the Minnesota certified drinking-water list that the list marks as taking samples from homeowners or outside clients, certified for coliform bacteria, nearest first. 1 of them is in Lyon County.
| Lab | Town | Distance | Certified on the list for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Health and Human Services | Marshall, MN · in this county | 5 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate |
| Worthington Public Utilities Laboratory | Worthington, MN | 53 miles | coliform bacteria |
| Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories, Inc. | New Ulm, MN | 68 miles | coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic |
Source: MDH Accredited Labs in Minnesota Accepting Drinking Water Samples from Private Well Users (October 2026; read November 15, 2026). Straight-line distance from the centre of Lyon County (the average of its Census ZIP-area points); “approx.” = lab placed at its ZIP centre. Call the lab first: lists do not say which household tests each lab takes or what it charges.
Nearest other sale-time rules
Buying or selling near a county line? These are the closest other local rules in our census to Lyon County.
| Rule | State | Distance | Covers | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County | Minnesota | about 19 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Murray County | Minnesota | about 29 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Pipestone County | Minnesota | about 31 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Lac qui Parle County | Minnesota | about 43 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
| Cottonwood County | Minnesota | about 44 miles | Septic system | November 9, 2026 |
Straight-line distance between county centres (the average of each county’s Census ZIP-area points). Townships, villages and health districts are placed at the centre of their county.