Let me tell you something controversial: sewage is intriguing. Seriously. When most kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my siblings and I were up to our waists in clay, observing a grizzled installer named Carl swear at a crooked septic tank. Dad believed it would build character. Apparently, he was correct—though I did not thank him when I missed the whole soccer season. But that summer? It changed us. While other companies were just maintaining tanks, we were figuring out to build them from the earth up. Literally.

This is the septic truth no one admits: any fool can dig a hole. But building a system that lasts 30 years? Now that’s art mixed with science, with a dash of stubbornness. I discovered that the tough way in 2015 when we got cocky. Built a system near Mount Rainier using “industry standard” techniques. Six months later, the client contacted us—voice trembling—about sewage erupting up like a nightmare. Apparently, “conventional” won’t cut it when the groundwater table serves up curveballs. We tore it out, took the $12k loss, and spent the next winter getting licensed in hydrogeological assessments. Reality carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They are armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we bleed this stuff. Not figuratively—though Carl did gash his thumb open that first summer teaching us pipe welding. (“Hold it steady, kid!”) Our team never just have licenses; we’ve got obsessed. Washington State requires installers to clock 24 hours of continuing education. Our lead designer, website Marco? He does 24 hours per quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we encountered a nightmare job near Woodinville where three “qualified” companies had given up. The soil was like concrete soup, and the homeowner was on brink of suing the world. Marco grabbed his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he studies them for fun—and redesigned the complete drainage field using a specialized pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client mailed us a Christmas card with a snapshot of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

But let me get honest for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew views them like wall art. Our advantage? All tech at Septic Solutions has personally messed up. Big time. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair specialist, who got wrong a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to make amends to a furious grandma in Snohomish. (He now teaches our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best professor—which is why we are zealots about cross-training. Our installation team shadows repair crews every winter. Why? Because witnessing how systems collapse teaches you how to construct them better.

You want proof? Ask the Hendersons. In 2022, they acquired a “dream” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to discover the existing septic system was a disaster waiting. Three companies quoted them $35k+ for a full replacement. We showed up, looked at the permits, and spotted something weird: the original 1998 installer had not once updated their certification for sand filter systems. Apparently, a basic recirculating sand filter retrofit—which our NSF/ANSI 40 certified team does all the time—saved them $18k. They’ve become now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Please don’t laugh—2,300 people subscribe to it.

Let me share the truth: professionalism isn’t what you show off. It’s what you grind through. I still remember Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You guys are gonna squander those college brains on sewage?” she groaned. But this profession? It’s alive. Soil evolves. Codes update. And when you’re buried in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain drenching your collar, you understand certifications are not about pride. They are about keeping someone’s basement from transforming into a biohazard.

We have got walls of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you mention it. But the one I feel proudest of? The personal note from Carl after he retired. “Didn’t thought you kids would survive longer than me.” We didn’t either, old man. Not in a million years.

So yeah. If you need a new septic system, six other companies will gladly take your money. But if you want a group that’s failed, adapted, and obsessed over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? Look for the ones with earth under our nails and reference books in our trucks. Because in this trade, the best certifications do not hang on walls. They are buried in the ground—working.