Let me share you something most won’t say: sewage is fascinating. Seriously. When typical kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my siblings and I were up to our shins in clay, watching a veteran installer named Carl swear at a crooked septic tank. Dad believed it’d build character. As it happened, he was correct—though I didn’t thank him when I missed the complete soccer season. But that summer? It changed us. While other companies were just servicing tanks, we were figuring out to build them from the dirt up. Literally.

Let me share the septic truth no one admits: any fool can dig a hole. But constructing a system that lasts 30 years? Now that’s art combined with science, with a hint of stubbornness. I learned that the tough way in 2015 when we got overconfident. Installed a system near Mount Rainier using “conventional” techniques. Six months later, the client called us—voice trembling—about sewage erupting up like a nightmare. As it happened, “normal” does not cut it when the groundwater table throws curveballs. We ripped it out, took the $12k loss, and invested the next winter getting certified in hydrogeological assessments. Lesson carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They become armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we breathe this stuff. Not symbolically—though Carl did slice his thumb open that first summer showing us pipe welding. (“Maintain it steady, kid!”) Our team does not just have licenses; we have got consumed. Washington State requires installers to clock 24 hours of further education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours per quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we faced a nightmare job near Woodinville where three “licensed” companies had failed. The soil was like concrete soup, and the homeowner was on verge of suing everybody. Marco pulled out his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, webpage he studies them for fun—and reconfigured the entire drainage field using a specialized pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client mailed us a Christmas card with a photo of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

But I’ll get real for a second. Certifications are worthless if your crew views them like decorations. Our advantage? Each tech at Septic Solutions has personally messed up. Big time. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair specialist, who botched a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to apologize to a furious grandma in Snohomish. (He now leads our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure’s our best teacher—which is why we are fanatics about cross-training. Our installation team shadows repair crews every winter. Why? Because seeing how systems break teaches you how to construct them better.

You need proof? Ask the Hendersons. In 2022, they acquired a “ideal” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to learn the existing septic system was a time bomb. Three companies quoted them $35k+ for a full replacement. We came in, looked at the permits, and noticed something weird: the original 1998 installer had failed to updated their certification for sand filter systems. Turns out, a simple recirculating sand filter retrofit—which our NSF/ANSI 40 certified team does all the time—kept them $18k. They are now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Don’t laugh—2,300 people read it.

Here’s the reality: professionalism is not what you flaunt. It’s what you work through. I still think of Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You are gonna throw away those college brains on sewage?” she groaned. But this job? It feels alive. Soil changes. Codes evolve. And when you find yourself stuck in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain drenching your collar, you discover certifications aren’t about pride. They exist about keeping somebody’s basement from turning into a biohazard.

We got displays of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you mention it. But the one I am proudest of? The scribbled note from Carl after he quit. “Didn’t thought you brats would beat me.” Neither did we, old man. Neither did we.

So yeah. If you need a new septic system, six other companies will happily take your call. But if you want a group that has failed, evolved, and gone crazy over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? Look for the ones with dirt under our nails and textbooks in our trucks. Because in this industry, the best credentials never hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—working.