Let me tell you something controversial: sewage is captivating. I mean it. When typical kids were frittering away summers at the pool in 2008, my brothers and I were up to our waists in clay, observing a weathered installer named Carl curse at a off-center septic tank. Dad thought it might build character. Apparently, he was spot-on—though I certainly didn’t thank him when I missed the whole soccer season. But that season? It changed us. While other companies were just maintaining tanks, we were discovering to build them from the ground up. For real.

Here’s the septic truth few people admits: any fool can dig a hole. But building a system that survives 30 years? Now that’s art combined with science, with a splash of grit. I learned 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 called us—voice shaking—about sewage gurgling up like a nightmare. Apparently, “normal” does not cut it when the groundwater table serves up curveballs. We tore it out, absorbed the $12k loss, and spent the next winter getting certified in hydrogeological assessments. Reality carved into our bones: certifications ain’t just paperwork. They are armor.

At Septic Solutions LLC, we bleed this stuff. Not metaphorically—though Carl did slice his thumb open that first summer showing us pipe welding. (“Keep it steady, kid!”) Our team never just have licenses; we have got consumed. Washington State demands installers to clock 24 hours of further education. Our lead designer, Marco? He does 24 hours every quarter. Why? Because in 2019, we encountered a disaster job near Woodinville where three “licensed” companies had thrown in the towel. The soil was like wet cement, 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 reconfigured the whole drainage field using a uncommon pressure distribution method. Two years later, that client sent us a Christmas card with a snapshot of her blooming garden… right over the septic field.

But let’s get honest for a second. Certifications are meaningless if your crew views them like decorations. Our edge? Every tech at Septic Solutions has individually screwed 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 irate grandma in Snohomish. (He now runs our “Baffles 101” workshop.) Failure is our best professor—which is why we’re fanatics about cross-training. Our installation team follows repair crews every winter. Why? Because observing how systems break teaches you how to construct them better.

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

Here’s the reality: professionalism is not what you show off. It’s 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 sighed. But this profession? It feels alive. Soil evolves. Codes transform. And when you find yourself knee-deep in a trench at 3 PM on a Friday, rain soaking your collar, you discover certifications are not about pride. They exist about keeping someone’s basement from becoming a biohazard.

We have got collections of certificates—WSDA, OSHA, you list it. But the one I’m proudest of? The scribbled note from Carl after he retired. “Never thought you punks would survive longer than me.” Same here, old man. We didn’t either.

So yes. If you require a new septic system, six other companies will eagerly take your business. But if you want a team that’s failed, learned, and gone crazy over wastewater flow rates at 2 AM? We’re the ones with dirt under our nails and manuals in our trucks. Because in this business, the best qualifications do not hang on walls. They’re buried in the ground—working.