The ground in Morristown
Morristown is the Hamblen County seat and the largest city on Cherokee Lake, on the lake’s south side. Panther Creek State Park sits on the shore just west of town.
Inside the city, most homes and businesses are on public sewer, and the work there is mostly restaurant and commercial grease traps. Out in the county and along the lake, homes rely on septic tanks set in red clay and limestone, often on slopes running down to the water. Those lake lots leave a drain field very little room for error.
Permits and records
Hamblen County is served by TDEC’s Division of Water Resources through its Knoxville field office, not Johnson City. For food businesses on public sewer, grease trap sizing, inspections and pumping records follow the local sewer utility’s fats, oils and grease (FOG) rules.
Calls we get from Morristown
- Grease trap pumping for restaurants and kitchens on city sewer
- Septic pump-outs for homes in the county and on the lake
- Lake houses that get heavy use in summer
- Commercial septic systems outside the sewer area
Morristown septic questions
Questions from Morristown.
Who permits septic systems in Hamblen County?
TDEC’s Division of Water Resources, through its Knoxville field office. Hamblen isn’t a contract county, so new systems, repairs and permit records go through the state.
How often should a Morristown restaurant pump its grease trap?
Often enough that grease and solids never fill more than about a quarter of the trap, which for many busy kitchens is every one to three months. Your sewer utility may set its own schedule, so follow your permit and keep every receipt.
My house on the Hamblen side of Cherokee Lake is on septic. Anything special?
Keep the tank pumped on schedule, especially if the house is busy in summer, keep runoff and vehicles off the drain field, and never let grease or wipes go down the drain. Lake lots are often steep and thin-soiled, and the shoreline is managed by TVA, so the system has to stay on your own lot and in good shape.
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