I need to share you something controversial: sewage is captivating. I mean it. When other kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my siblings and I were up to our knees in clay, studying a grizzled installer named Carl curse at a crooked septic tank. Dad thought it’d build character. As it happened, he was right—though I didn’t thank him when I lost the entire soccer season. But that summer? It rewired us. While other companies were just pumping tanks, we were figuring out to build them from the earth up. Actually.

This is the septic truth no one admits: any fool can dig a hole. But building a system that lasts 30 years? That is art blended with science, with a hint of stubbornness. I found out that the difficult way in 2015 when we got overconfident. Put in a system near Mount Rainier using “industry standard” techniques. Six months later, the client phoned us—voice shaking—about sewage gurgling up like a horror movie. Turns out, “standard” doesn’t cut it when the groundwater table delivers curveballs. We pulled it out, absorbed the $12k loss, and dedicated the next winter getting qualified in hydrogeological assessments. Reality carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They are armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we live this stuff. Not symbolically—though Carl did gash his thumb open that first summer showing us pipe welding. (“Keep it steady, kid!”) Our team never just have licenses; we have got addicted. Washington State requires installers to clock 24 hours of continuing education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours each quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we hit a nightmare job near Woodinville where three “certified” companies had given up. The soil was like liquid rock, and the homeowner was on edge of suing the world. Marco grabbed his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he studies them for fun—and reimagined the entire drainage field using a uncommon pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client sent us a Christmas card with a snapshot of her thriving garden… right over the septic field.

But let’s get real for a second. Certifications are worthless if your crew treats them like trophies. Our edge? All tech at Septic Solutions has themselves screwed up. Big time. Like me in 2015. Or Jake, our repair guru, who misdiagnosed a tank baffle issue in 2021 and had to make amends to a furious grandma in Snohomish. (He now teaches our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure’s our best professor—which is why we are zealots about cross-training. Our installation team follows repair crews every winter. Why? Because observing how systems collapse teaches you how to create them better.

You need proof? Talk to the Hendersons. In 2022, they acquired a “ideal” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to find the existing septic system was a time bomb. Three companies quoted them $35k+ for a total replacement. We showed up, looked at the permits, and web site spotted something strange: the original 1998 installer had not once updated their certification for sand filter systems. Turns out, a simple 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.

Let me share the reality: professionalism isn’t what you display. It is what you grind through. I still remember Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You’re gonna throw away those college brains on sewage?” she groaned. But this profession? It feels alive. Soil changes. Codes update. And when you find yourself buried in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain soaking your collar, you discover certifications were never about pride. They’re about keeping somebody’s basement from transforming into a biohazard.

We’ve got collections of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you list it. But the one I feel proudest of? The scribbled note from Carl after he left. “Never thought you punks would outlast me.” We didn’t either, old man. We didn’t either.

So absolutely. If you need a new septic system, six other companies will gladly take your call. But if you want a crew that has failed, evolved, and gone crazy 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 qualifications do not hang on walls. You’ll find them buried in the ground—functioning.