Just bought a 40 year old home in the heart of South Katy that has a septic tank. It was cleaned out post Harvey, but I'm not sure it'll hold for my family of four about to move in.

I'm interested in jumping onto Fort Bend County's MUD district, but no one with the county could help point me in the direction to see if this was possible. Has anyone gone through this before or have any recommendations on how to connect with the right person?

Is there a sanitary sewer manhole within 400 feet of your property? Walk around and look for it, and/or ask neighbors.

I haven't seen one around, but I'll double-check tomorrow when dropping off some other materials.

What MUD? Typically you can't join a MUD after the fact, at least I've never seen it occur.

There is not a "Fort Bend County MUD," there are myriad MUDs in unincorporated Fort Bend County.

If you're in Katy, you'll be serviced by Katy utilities, not a MUD.

Have you spoken to the board of the MUD you're trying to join?

I'd imagine putting in the infrastructure to "join" the MUD would cost a lot more than reworking your septic system.

What's the homes address and I can see if there is a MUD near by or if like Ducks suggested the city would be your service provider.

Ducks4brkfast said:

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There is not a "Fort Bend County MUD," there are myriad MUDs in unincorporated Fort Bend County.

If you're in Katy, you'll be serviced by Katy utilities, not a MUD.

Have you spoken to the board of the MUD you're trying to join?

I'd imagine putting in the infrastructure to "join" the MUD would cost a lot more than reworking your septic system.

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Understood, but didn't know how to phrase it. My apologies ...

I'm not within Katy city limits so this would be Fort Bend County

Not yet, because I'm not sure which MUD I'd like to join. The neighborhood I'm moving to is surrounded by them, but not currently listed within a MUD.

Agreed, but I'd like to explore all options if possible.

You'd likely have to put up about 50-100k in your own money to be connected into a MUD.

I assume youre also on a private water well?

Scratch that. Pretty much 0 chance a MUD would absorb you as it would cost WAY too much for them to plumb you in and the tax return would be negligible.

Do you think something is wrong with the septic or well?
If so, why would you be buying the place?

That aside, MUDs don't just add singular properties into their regulated area, it's undeveloped areas which are already in an existing MUD footprints that when developed get rolled into a MUD.

You're on your own for the septic and water. At your size of lot, and age of house you can maintain the possible aerobic system you have or if you get a new one, it'll be a 3 tank sump. It'll be fine with your family.

OnlyForNow said:

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What's the homes address and I can see if there is a MUD near by or if like Ducks suggested the city would be your service provider.

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It's an older neighborhood surrounded by new developments. I believe most homes (mine included) have a well and septic, but as stated above, I'm interested in learning more about the possibility of joining a MUD

OnlyForNow said:

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You'd likely have to put up about 50-100k in your own money to be connected into a MUD.

I assume youre also on a private water well?

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Ouch, was worried about that.

Has anyone seen a neighborhood buy into the thought of joining a MUD? That cost split between 15 homes is a lot more palatable.

It wouldn't be worth it to the MUD 15 homes don't bring enough tax revenue in to make it worth the $$$ it would take in infrastructure, plus your neighbors would NOT be in favor of additional taxes.

So, I'm just curious, do you know anything about MUDs?

Just wanted to be sure you saw this,

Scratch that. Pretty much 0 chance a MUD would absorb you as it would cost WAY too much for them to plumb you in and the tax return would be negligible.

Do you think something is wrong with the septic or well?
If so, why would you be buying the place?

That aside, MUDs don't just add singular properties into their regulated area, it's undeveloped areas which are already in an existing MUD footprints that when developed get rolled into a MUD.

You're on your own for the septic and water. At your size of lot, and age of house you can maintain the possible aerobic system you have or if you get a new one, it'll be a 3 tank sump. It'll be fine with your family.

OnlyForNow said:

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Just wanted to be sure you saw this,

Scratch that. Pretty much 0 chance a MUD would absorb you as it would cost WAY too much for them to plumb you in and the tax return would be negligible. Gotcha. I assumed it would cost too much, but told my wife I'd look into it in the event it was a possibility

Do you think something is wrong with the septic or well? No, except that both are relatively aged
If so, why would you be buying the place? Location and lot size

That aside, MUDs don't just add singular properties into their regulated area, it's undeveloped areas which are already in an existing MUD footprints that when developed get rolled into a MUD. Makes sense

You're on your own for the septic and water. At your size of lot, and age of house you can maintain the possible aerobic system you have or if you get a new one, it'll be a 3 tank sump. It'll be fine with your family. Thanks for your help on this. Really helps put things into perspective

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Sorry if I'm a little harsh about it.

Just hope you know what you're getting into by not being in a MUD or city served neighborhood.

The only things the county or city will be supplying will be fire/ems/police.

On your well and septic, if the house was flooded from the bayou during harvey you need to be sure the water well was tested and cleared of contamination.

Likewise you should get the septic inspected (BEST Spetic is good) wouldn't recommend Hurts personally.

I know that area well actually

OnlyForNow said:

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Sorry if I'm a little harsh about it.

Just hope you know what you're getting into by not being in a MUD or city served neighborhood.

The only things the county or city will be supplying will be fire/ems/police.

On your well and septic, if the house was flooded from the bayou during harvey you need to be sure the water well was tested and cleared of contamination.

Likewise you should get the septic inspected (BEST Spetic is good) wouldn't recommend Hurts personally.

I know that area well actually

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All good, no worries.

The water well was tested and both; total coliforms and E.coli were absent.

I'll reach out to BEST Septic (out of Rosenberg) and set up a time to meet.

Thanks for the recommendation and input. It's been very informative

The purpose of a MUD is to establish a taxing authority in an unincorporated area in order to issue bonds to fund infrastructure improvements such as roads, drainage, water, and sewer. The taxes paid to the MUD then are used to pay off those bonds. There is no motivation for an existing MUD to add new homes as adding them to the system costs them money which they would then be responsible for paying off.

jamesf said:

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There is no motivation for an existing MUD to add new homes as adding them to the system costs them money which they would then be responsible for paying off.

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Appreciate the insight. As mentioned above, this conversation has been very informative.

And depending on the size of your yard, how much you like to water, etc, you'll probably be better off in the long run with your own well.

Why would you want to be part of a MUD if you don't have to be? It never financially works out in your favor.

I wouldn't even say something like you're talking about is "rare" for commercial property it probably happens quite a bit if the MUD system can handle the commercial load/need.

And it's a money maker for the MUD in that case.