Editorial Policy

How content gets made here

Research first, writing second, and nothing publishes on a schedule that outruns its sourcing. Every county page, permit guide, cost guide, and service explainer starts from primary sources: state agency records and rules (TCEQ, 30 TAC 285), county permitting authorities, federal guidance (EPA), and university extension services. We link the source next to the claim. Where a fact can’t be sourced, we either leave it out or say plainly that no verified figure exists.

The rules that bind every page

• Named, dated sources for every number. Cost figures cite who published them and when. Undated ‘average cost’ numbers are how the rest of this industry publishes; we don’t.
• No boilerplate recycling. County pages and listings are never madlib text with the county name swapped. If two pages say the same thing, it’s because the underlying facts are the same.
• Listings and county data are never AI-generated. Provider records come from official registries and our own validation pipeline. We use software heavily — for checking, matching, and formatting — and drafting assistance operates under these same sourcing rules with human review; facts and figures are never invented by any tool.
• ‘Tested’ means tested. If a product guide says we tested something, we did. Research-based recommendations are labeled as research.
• Updates are dated. Pages show when they were last meaningfully updated, and license data shows when it was last checked.

Where money can and can’t touch content

Affiliate links and paid placements are banned from the trust core of this site: county pages, permit guides, provider profiles, and our methodology pages. Product guides in our supplies section may carry affiliate links, disclosed above the first link on any page that has them. Advertisers and affiliate programs get no say in verdicts, rankings, or editorial coverage. Organic provider order is never sold.

Corrections

If we got something wrong, we fix the page, not just quietly edit it. Material corrections are noted on the page with a date. Report errors through the contact page — corrections from county officials, providers, and homeowners are how a directory stays true. See also: How we verify and About Nearby Septic.