I need to share you something controversial: sewage is captivating. No, really. When most kids were burning through summers at the pool in 2008, my family and I were up to our knees in clay, watching a weathered installer named Carl curse at a off-center septic tank. Dad thought it would build character. Apparently, he was correct—though I didn’t thank him when I missed the whole soccer season. But that summer? It changed us. While other companies were just pumping tanks, we were learning to build them from the earth up. Literally.

Here’s the septic truth few people admits: anybody can dig a hole. But creating a system that survives 30 years? That is art blended with science, with a splash of grit. I learned that the tough way in 2015 when we got overconfident. Built a system near Mount Rainier using “industry standard” techniques. Six months later, the client phoned us—voice quivering—about sewage gurgling up like a disaster film. Turns out, “normal” won’t cut it when the groundwater table throws curveballs. We ripped it out, took the $12k loss, and spent the next winter getting licensed in hydrogeological assessments. Lesson carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They become armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we bleed this stuff. Not figuratively—though Carl did cut his thumb open that first summer training us pipe welding. (“Maintain it steady, kid!”) Our team doesn’t just have licenses; we have got obsessed. Washington State requires installers to clock 24 hours of continuing education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours every 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 brink of suing the world. Marco pulled out his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he reads them for website fun—and redesigned the entire drainage field using a uncommon pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client sent us a Christmas card with a picture of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

But let’s get raw for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew treats them like trophies. Our advantage? Every tech at Septic Solutions has themselves screwed up. Seriously. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair guru, who misdiagnosed a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to make amends to a irate 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 observes repair crews all winter. Why? Because observing how systems collapse teaches you how to build them better.

You need proof? Ask the Hendersons. In 2022, they purchased a “ideal” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to discover the existing septic system was a ticking bomb. Three companies quoted them $35k+ for a complete replacement. We showed up, looked at the permits, and noticed something weird: the original 1998 installer had not once updated their certification for sand filter systems. As it happened, a straightforward recirculating sand filter retrofit—which our NSF/ANSI 40 certified team does weekly—saved them $18k. They’ve become now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Do not laugh—2,300 people follow it.

Here’s the truth: professionalism is not what you display. It is what you work 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’s alive. Soil shifts. Codes transform. And when you’re knee-deep in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain penetrating your collar, you discover certifications aren’t about pride. They are about keeping someone’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We have got collections of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you mention it. But the one I’m proudest of? The personal note from Carl after he quit. “Would never have thought you punks would survive longer than me.” We didn’t either, old man. Not in a million years.

So absolutely. If you require a new septic system, six other companies will happily take your call. But if you want a crew that has messed up, learned, and obsessed over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? We’re the ones with mud under our nails and manuals in our trucks. Because in this business, the best qualifications don’t hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—operating.