Allow me to share you something unpopular: sewage is captivating. Seriously. When typical kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my family and I were up to our shins in clay, watching a weathered installer named Carl curse at a off-center septic tank. Dad believed it would build character. Turns out, he was right—though I certainly didn’t thank him when I lost the whole soccer season. But that time? It rewired us. While other companies were just servicing tanks, we were learning to build them from the dirt up. For real.

Here’s the septic truth nobody admits: any fool can dig a hole. But creating a system that endures 30 years? Now that’s art combined with science, with a splash of determination. I learned that the difficult 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 throws curveballs. We tore it out, took the $12k loss, and invested the next winter getting certified in hydrogeological assessments. Lesson 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 slice his thumb open that first summer training us pipe welding. (“Hold it steady, kid!”) Our team never just have licenses; we are got addicted. 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 horror job near Woodinville where three “certified” companies had thrown in the towel. The soil was like liquid rock, and the homeowner was on verge of suing everybody. Marco pulled out his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he devours them for fun—and reconfigured the complete 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 treats them like trophies. Our advantage? Each tech at Septic Solutions has individually messed up. Seriously. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair expert, who got wrong a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to grovel to a furious grandma in Snohomish. (He now leads our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best instructor—which is why we’re fanatics about cross-training. Our installation team follows repair crews every winter. Why? Because seeing how systems break teaches you how to create them better.

You looking for proof? Talk to the Hendersons. In 2022, they acquired a “dream” 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 arrived, looked at the permits, and caught something odd: the original 1998 installer had failed to updated their certification for 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’ve become now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Don’t laugh—2,300 people follow it.

This is the reality: professionalism isn’t what you show off. It becomes what you grind through. I still remember Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You guys are gonna waste those college brains on sewage?” she lamented. But this work? It is alive. Soil evolves. Codes transform. And when you’re buried in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain soaking your collar, you understand certifications were never about pride. They’re about keeping someone’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We’ve got collections of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, web site you mention it. But the one I am proudest of? The scribbled note from Carl after he quit. “Would never have thought you brats would survive longer than me.” Same here, old man. Neither did we.

So absolutely. If you want a new septic system, six other companies will happily take your business. But if you want a team that’s failed, learned, and obsessed over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? We are the ones with earth under our nails and textbooks in our trucks. Because in this industry, the best credentials never hang on walls. You’ll find them buried in the ground—operating.