Let me tell you something unpopular: sewage is fascinating. I mean it. When most kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my family and I were up to our shins in clay, observing a grizzled installer named Carl swear at a misaligned septic tank. Dad thought it might build character. As it happened, he was right—though I didn’t thank him when I missed the complete soccer season. But that time? It rewired us. While other companies were just maintaining tanks, we were discovering to build them from the ground up. Actually.

This is the septic truth few people admits: any fool can dig a hole. But creating a system that endures 30 years? Now that’s art mixed with science, with a hint of determination. I discovered that the difficult way in 2015 when we got arrogant. Built a system near Mount Rainier using “conventional” techniques. Six months later, the client contacted us—voice quivering—about sewage erupting up like a nightmare. Apparently, “conventional” does not cut it when the groundwater table throws curveballs. We pulled it out, ate the $12k loss, and invested the next winter getting qualified in hydrogeological assessments. Lesson carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They are armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we breathe this stuff. Not figuratively—though Carl did slice his thumb open that first summer teaching us pipe welding. (“Keep it steady, kid!”) Our team does not just have licenses; we are got addicted. Washington State demands installers to clock 24 hours of continuing education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours every quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we hit a nightmare job near Woodinville where three “qualified” companies had failed. The soil was like liquid rock, and the homeowner was on edge of suing the world. Marco retrieved his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he devours them for fun—and redesigned the whole drainage field using a specialized pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client delivered us a Christmas card with a photo of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

But let’s get honest for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew views them like wall art. Our advantage? Each tech at Septic Solutions has themselves failed. Seriously. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair guru, who got wrong a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to make amends to a furious grandma in Snohomish. (He now leads our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best professor—which is why we are fanatics about cross-training. Our installation team observes repair crews every winter. Why? Because observing how systems break teaches you how to create them better.

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

Let me share the kicker: professionalism ain’t what you flaunt. It becomes what you sweat through. I still recall Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You guys are gonna throw away those college brains on sewage?” she sighed. But this profession? It’s alive. Soil evolves. Codes evolve. And when you are buried in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain drenching your collar, you realize certifications are not about pride. They are about keeping somebody’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We’ve got walls of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you list it. But the one I am proudest of? The personal note from Carl after he quit. “Didn’t thought you kids would beat me.” Neither did we, old man. Not in a million years.

So yes. If you want a new septic system, six other companies will happily take your business. But if you want a group that has failed, evolved, web page and obsessed over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? We are the ones with earth under our nails and reference books in our trucks. Because in this industry, the best qualifications never hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—working.