Foothills
A Jeffco OWTS permit can bring a well-water test
A Porch Note from Colorado Porch — plain-English local details for all 64 Colorado counties.
Plenty of Jeffco homes in the foothills west of the metro line draw their own water from a well and send their wastewater to a septic system on the same lot. When those two systems meet on one property, an onsite wastewater permit can pull the drinking-water source into the same file.
In certain cases, a sample of well water from the well serving the property, analyzed for total coliform bacteria and nitrate as nitrogen, is required before a construction, repair, or use permit is issued. Final approval will not come until those bacteria and nitrate results have reached Public Health, when a private well serves the property.
The logic is straightforward once you see it. A new or repaired septic system sits close to the same ground the well draws from, so the review checks the water the household actually drinks, not just the tank and field that handle the waste. One application ends up carrying both answers.
Use raw, untreated water for the sample and a certified laboratory, as the instructions call for, and gather those lab results before you apply rather than after. The Jefferson County septic page walks through which permit types trigger the test and where the numbers go.
Sources
Official or primary sources used for this note. Local details can change, so confirm before acting.