Everybody has an opinion on the state of the industry, and much of the talk revolves around issues that get in the way of profitability, expansion and an operator’s ability to make decisions without having his hands tied at every turn. Our readers are no different, and here they discuss several obstacles threatening their ability to make a living as septic service contractors.
“In Iowa, the only thing is the restrictions on land application,” says Ken Williams of a threat he feels to his business. Certified Septic Service does septic pumping, inspections, maintenance and testing, but Williams’ concern is about the future of disposal.
“We’re being forced to go to a public treatment plant, and it adds a lot to the cost of our job. And a lot of them won’t even accept the septage. Many of the public plants can’t even handle their own city’s waste, let alone take on the county stuff.”
He says he has no plans to enter the dewatering business himself any time soon. But a pumper within 50 miles does it and Williams will likely be hauling his septage there before too long. “That’s probably the direction we’re all going to be heading,” he says, guessing that he’ll have to start doing so within maybe 2-3 years, as tougher land-application regulations move out from the more urban areas where they originated.
Shea Davis feels less-stringent regulation of septic system installations is limiting his profitability. He would like to see state legislation requiring inspection and maintenance of all types of new septic systems, something that would be good for the environment and for a healthy business for pumping contractors.
“I think that when you pull a septic installation permit, it should be mandatory that (the customer) have the system pumped every 3-5 years. Just like with aerobic systems; those come with a maintenance contract. So when you put in your standard septic system, it ought to be mandatory that it be taken care of, just like the aerobic ones.”
He says all systems should be treated equally, with whatever level of regular maintenance required to keep the system healthy.
“To my knowledge, there’s no such law in Texas, and that’s a very neglected aspect of our industry. If someone would put such a law into practice, that systems be pumped every so often, it would save homeowners countless dollars” in the long run, he believes. And it would build more consistent revenue streams for businesses like his
Wastewater Services Inc. supervisor Mike Norcross echoes the concern over rising disposal costs at public treatment facilities. “I’d say the prices for offloading keep going up, and it’s hard to match those rises with continuing price increases to customers,” he says. He reports increases of $30 per 1,000 gallons, which pushes the disposal costs for customers up to $120. “Also, when fuel skyrocketed, that was hard to cover with a surcharge. And there’s always the downward pressure on (service charges) when other guys are out there scrambling for work and pumping more cheaply than ever.”
His boss, Andy Coleman, says falling prices due to the recession have eaten into profits on the inspection side of the business, but he fights that with a message about the quality of service he provides. “I feel we do the best job because we use the video, so we do a higher quality inspection instead of just flow tests or something less revealing. When customers call, we explain exactly what we do and let the service sell itself.”
