Let me tell you something controversial: sewage is intriguing. I mean it. When most kids were binge-wasting summers at the pool in 2008, my siblings and I were up to our waists in clay, watching a weathered installer named Carl curse at a crooked septic tank. Dad figured it’d build character. Turns out, he was spot-on—though I certainly didn’t thank him when I skipped the whole soccer season. But that time? It changed us. While other companies were just servicing tanks, we were learning to build them from the ground up. Actually.

This is the septic truth few people admits: any fool can dig a hole. But constructing a system that lasts 30 years? Now that’s art blended with science, with a hint of determination. I found out that the difficult way in 2015 when we got cocky. Built a system near Mount Rainier using “conventional” techniques. Six months later, the client called us—voice shaking—about sewage gurgling up like a nightmare. Turns out, “conventional” does not cut it when the groundwater table delivers curveballs. We pulled it out, ate the $12k loss, and invested the next winter getting qualified in hydrogeological assessments. Truth carved into our bones: certifications ain’t just paperwork. They’re armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we breathe this stuff. Not symbolically—though Carl did gash his thumb open that first summer training us pipe welding. (“Keep it steady, kid!”) Our team doesn’t just have licenses; we’ve got addicted. Washington State demands installers to clock 24 hours of ongoing education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours every quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we encountered a horror job near Woodinville where three “certified” companies had failed. The soil was like concrete soup, and the homeowner was on verge of suing everyone. Marco grabbed his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he studies them for fun—and redesigned the complete drainage field using a uncommon pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client mailed us a Christmas card with a picture of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

But let me get raw for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew sees them like wall art. Our secret? All tech at Septic Solutions has personally messed up. Big time. Like me in 2015. Or homepage Jake, our repair guru, who misdiagnosed a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to grovel to a irate grandma in Snohomish. (He now leads our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best instructor—which is why we are zealots about cross-training. Our installation team observes repair crews each winter. Why? Because seeing how systems fail teaches you how to construct them better.

You want proof? Talk to the Hendersons. In 2022, they purchased a “perfect” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to learn the existing septic system was a ticking bomb. 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—spared them $18k. They are now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Do not laugh—2,300 people subscribe to it.

Let me share the reality: professionalism is not what you show off. It is what you grind 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 lamented. But this job? It feels alive. Soil changes. Codes evolve. And when you are stuck in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain penetrating your collar, you discover certifications were never about pride. They exist about keeping somebody’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We got displays of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you list it. But the one I feel proudest of? The handwritten note from Carl after he left. “Didn’t thought you brats would survive longer than me.” Same here, old man. Neither did we.

So yes. If you want a new septic system, six other companies will gladly take your call. But if you want a crew who has failed, evolved, and geeked out over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? Look for the ones with dirt under our nails and manuals in our trucks. Because in this business, the best credentials never hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—working.