I need to explain you something controversial: sewage is intriguing. No, really. When other kids were burning through summers at the pool in 2008, my brothers and I were up to our knees in clay, observing a weathered installer named Carl yell at a crooked septic tank. Dad figured it’d build character. Turns out, he was spot-on—though I didn’t thank him when I lost the complete soccer season. But that season? It changed us. While other companies were just pumping tanks, we were discovering to build them from the earth up. Literally.

This is the septic truth few people admits: anyone can dig a hole. But creating a system that survives 30 years? That is art combined with science, with a hint of grit. I found out that the hard way in 2015 when we got arrogant. Installed a system near Mount Rainier using “industry standard” techniques. Six months later, the client phoned us—voice quivering—about sewage bubbling up like a nightmare. Turns out, “standard” doesn’t cut it when the groundwater table serves up curveballs. We pulled it out, ate the $12k loss, and spent the next winter getting qualified in hydrogeological assessments. Truth carved into our bones: certifications aren’t paperwork. They’re armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we breathe this stuff. Not figuratively—though Carl did cut his thumb open that first summer teaching us pipe welding. (“Hold it steady, kid!”) Our team does not just have licenses; we are got addicted. Washington State mandates 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 “qualified” companies had thrown in the towel. The soil was like liquid rock, and the homeowner was on brink of suing everybody. Marco grabbed his International Association of Plumbing Officials (IAPMO) manuals—yes, he studies them for fun—and redesigned the entire drainage field using a rare pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client sent us a Christmas card with a photo of her flourishing garden… right over the septic field.

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

You looking for proof? Ask the Hendersons. In 2022, they bought a “ideal” cabin near Snoqualmie Pass—only to learn the existing septic system was a time bomb. Three companies quoted them $35k+ for a complete replacement. We arrived, looked at the permits, and spotted something strange: the original 1998 installer had failed to updated their certification for sand filter systems. As it happened, a simple recirculating sand filter retrofit—which our NSF/ANSI 40 certified team does regularly—saved them $18k. They’ve become now newsletter subscribers. Yes, we have a septic newsletter. Please don’t laugh—2,300 people follow it.

Here’s the truth: professionalism ain’t what you show off. It is what you work through. I still think of Mom’s face in 2010 when we got our first business license. “You guys are gonna waste those college brains on sewage?” she sighed. But this work? It’s alive. Soil evolves. Codes update. And when you’re knee-deep in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain soaking your collar, you discover certifications are not about pride. They are about keeping somebody’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We got displays of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you mention it. But the one I’m proudest of? The handwritten note from Carl after he left. “Never thought you kids would survive longer than me.” Neither did we, old man. Not in a million years.

So yes. If you need a new septic system, six other companies will eagerly take your money. But if you want a team that’s messed up, web page adapted, and gone crazy over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? Look for the ones with mud under our nails and manuals in our trucks. Because in this trade, the best credentials do not hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—operating.