I need to share you something controversial: sewage is intriguing. No, really. When most kids were binge-wasting summers at the pool in 2008, my siblings and I were up to our knees in clay, watching a grizzled installer named Carl yell at a off-center septic tank. Dad believed it would build character. Apparently, he was right—though I didn’t thank him when I missed the whole soccer season. But that season? It rewired us. While other companies were just maintaining tanks, we were figuring out to build them from the earth up. Actually.

Here’s the septic truth few people admits: anyone can dig a hole. But creating a system that endures 30 years? Now that’s art blended with science, with a dash of grit. I learned that the difficult way in 2015 when we got cocky. Put in a system near Mount Rainier using “textbook” techniques. Six months later, the client phoned us—voice shaking—about sewage bubbling up like a disaster film. As it happened, “standard” won’t cut it when the groundwater table delivers curveballs. We pulled it out, took the $12k loss, and dedicated the next winter getting certified in hydrogeological assessments. Truth carved into our bones: certifications are not paperwork. They are armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we bleed this stuff. Not metaphorically—though Carl did slice his thumb open that first summer training us pipe welding. (“Keep it steady, kid!”) Our team does not just have licenses; we are got obsessed. Washington State requires installers to clock 24 hours of further education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours each quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we hit a horror job near Woodinville where three “qualified” companies had thrown in the towel. The soil was like concrete soup, and the homeowner was on brink of suing everyone. Marco pulled out his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he studies them for fun—and reimagined the entire drainage field using a rare pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client delivered us a Christmas card with a photo of her thriving garden… right over the septic field.

But I’ll get real for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew sees them like decorations. Our advantage? Each tech at Septic Solutions has personally failed. Badly. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair expert, who botched a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to apologize to a irate grandma in Snohomish. (He now teaches our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best professor—which is why we’re fanatics about cross-training. Our installation team shadows repair crews each winter. Why? Because witnessing how systems break teaches you how to construct them better.

You looking for proof? Ask the Hendersons. In 2022, they acquired a “ideal” 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 came in, looked at the permits, and noticed something odd: the original 1998 installer had never updated their certification for website sand filter systems. Turns out, a straightforward recirculating sand filter retrofit—which our NSF/ANSI 40 certified team does all the time—saved them $18k. They’re now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Please don’t laugh—2,300 people follow it.

Here’s the kicker: professionalism isn’t what you display. It’s what you work through. I still think of Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You guys are gonna throw away those college brains on sewage?” she groaned. But this profession? It is alive. Soil evolves. Codes evolve. And when you find yourself knee-deep in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain penetrating your collar, you discover certifications are not about pride. They’re about keeping somebody’s basement from turning into a biohazard.

We’ve got collections of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you name it. But the one I feel proudest of? The personal note from Carl after he quit. “Didn’t thought you brats would outlast me.” Same here, old man. Not in a million years.

So yes. If you require a new septic system, six other companies will gladly take your call. But if you want a group who has failed, evolved, and geeked out over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? We’re the ones with dirt under our nails and reference books in our trucks. Because in this trade, the best qualifications never hang on walls. They are buried in the ground—functioning.