Plumbing and Septic Service in Hobe Sound, FL

Sewer, septic and who serves Hobe Sound

Hobe Sound is an unincorporated census-designated place in Martin County, so there is no town hall issuing permits. Municipal water and sewer come from South Martin Regional Utility (SMRU), which the Town of Jupiter Island runs as a utility enterprise. SMRU calls itself the sole source supplier of municipal drinking water, wastewater treatment and reclaimed water for Hobe Sound and Jupiter Island.

Sewer has not reached every house. Martin County's Hobe Sound redevelopment plan, adopted in December 2000, quoted the utility director's estimates for its study area: south of Bridge Road only Banner Lake had sewer lines, and only about 80% of that neighborhood had access, while about 40% of the area north of Bridge Road was connected. Those figures are about 25 years old, and we have found no current official septic count. SMRU's 2018 territory map also shows a separate ENCON boundary at the southern end, so a few far-southern addresses may have a different sewer provider.

• Building permits: Martin County
• Septic permits and inspections: Florida Department of Health in Martin County, under DEP rules
• Sewer availability by address: SMRU, 9000 SE Athena Street, 772-546-2511

Older houses, mobile homes and wear

Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count 7,705 housing units in the Hobe Sound CDP. About 62% were built from 1970 to 1989, about 75% before 1990, and only about 3.7% since 2010. Single-family detached homes make up 46.5% of units and mobile homes 28.4%.

A build year does not tell us what pipe is in your walls; a camera or a look at exposed lines does. Age does bring wear: tired water heaters, stiff shutoff valves, buildup in drains, and original septic tanks and drain fields with decades of use.

Zeus Park follows the 1920s Olympia plan, with streets radiating from a circular green. Banner Lake, west of US-1, is a grid of small single-family homes, and Old Hobe Sound has larger homes on big lots along Laurel Lane. North of Bridge Road, the county's 2000 plan found mobile homes and small houses predominating on streets such as Robyn Street, Seagrape Way and London Street. On mobile homes, supply and drain lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so we look there first for leaks.

Water, salt air and storm surge

SMRU draws from the Surficial Aquifer, 85 to 250 feet down, and the Floridan Aquifer, about 1,400 feet down. The North plant runs surficial water through nanofiltration, which SMRU says removes hardness, color and minerals, then blends in raw surficial water. The South plant treats Floridan water by reverse osmosis and also blends it with surficial water. The 2025 water quality report lists no MCL violations, and SMRU's 2024 inventory found no lead service lines in its system.

The Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge has nearly 10 miles of mangrove communities along the Indian River Lagoon. Close to that water, salt air is hard on hose bibs, exposed fittings and water heater connections.

Martin County's storm surge zones run from up to 6 feet in Zone AB to up to 16 feet in Zone E, and the county's evacuation orders include all mobile and manufactured homes regardless of zone. Do not pump a septic tank in flooded ground, because an empty tank in saturated soil can shift or float. Check your address on FEMA's flood maps and the county's evacuation zone map.

Septic care and the sewer rule

Most septic tanks need pumping every 3 to 5 years, depending on tank and household size. Slow drains, gurgling, soggy ground over the drain field or sewage odor in the yard mean call now, not at the next scheduled pump-out.

Ask SMRU about sewer availability before you pay for a new drain field. Its regulations set a mandatory connection zone where properties must connect once sewer is available and stay connected. Converting from septic starts with a Conditional Commitment Letter request and a non-refundable pre-reservation fee. If sewer already runs past your lot inside that zone, a new drain field may be money spent on a system you will have to retire.

Services for Hobe Sound homes

Common jobs on Hobe Sound properties:

• Septic tank pumping
• Septic inspections, including real estate inspections
• Drain field repair, replacement, rejuvenation and hydro jetting
• Septic system installation, checked against DEP's HB 1379 map
• Sewer camera inspection and sewer line repair or replacement
• Drain cleaning and hydro jetting
• Cast iron pipe rejuvenation once a camera confirms cast iron
• Leak and slab leak detection
• Water heater repair and replacement, tank and tankless
• Water line repair
• Water filtration and softeners sized from a water test
• 24/7 emergency plumbing for homes and businesses

What to expect when you call

A live dispatcher answers (561) 970-9282 around the clock. Tell us whether you are on SMRU sewer or septic, where the tank lid is if you know, and how to reach the crawl space on a mobile home.

LCI works under Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor license CFC1427175 and brings 32 years of plumbing and septic experience. We own our pump trucks and excavation equipment, so drain field work does not wait on rented machines. You get an upfront price before work begins, and customers rate us 4.7 stars across 950+ Google reviews.

Buying or selling a home in Hobe Sound

The median owner-occupied home value in the Hobe Sound CDP is about $394,700, give or take roughly $68,000. Confirm septic or SMRU sewer yourself rather than trusting the listing. A septic home inside SMRU's mandatory zone, with sewer available, comes with a connection requirement and fees.

Our real estate septic inspection looks at the tank and drain field. On a sewer home, a sewer camera inspection shows roots, sags or breaks before closing. Mobile home buyers should have the under-floor lines checked too.

Nearby areas

Hobe Sound stretches along the coast between Port Salerno to the north and Jonathan Dickinson State Park to the south, about 12 miles southeast of Stuart. The Town of Jupiter Island, across South Jupiter Narrows, is a separate incorporated town that SMRU also serves. Our office is at 140 Jupiter St in Jupiter, Palm Beach County.

• Port Salerno
• Stuart
• Town of Jupiter Island
• Jupiter
• Rural south Martin County