If you’ve been pumping septic tanks for any length of time, you know that two trends are putting your service business on a course to deal with more and more repair work.

First, there’s the aging infrastructure. Many conventional septic systems were installed during the baby boom years of the 1960s and ’70s, and those systems are getting more than a little outdated. Heck, many septic systems probably had an expected lifespan of 20-30 years and they’re making it 40 or 50 years. They’ve paid for themselves a couple times over.

Secondly, state and local governments across the land are stiffening their regulations to root out the older, non-functioning systems to protect precious groundwater and the quality of water in streams, lakes and oceans. Environmental laws are triggering regular system inspections, and those checks are identifying systems badly in need of repair or replacement.

Just the other day I was talking to a friend, and knowing what I do for a living, she told me her tale of septic system woe. A pumper had been over to the house a few times in the past couple of months and found her system was sluggish and no longer working properly.

How old is the system? It was original to the house, built in the 1950s, she responded. I had to break the bad news that she probably hadn’t seen the last of her hometown pumping professional. Sure enough, a few weeks later the excavator was in her back yard digging a new drainfield.

MAINTENANCE SPECIALTY

Many pumpers are working hard to get out in front of this wave of obsolete systems. They’re learning how to install advanced replacement systems. They’re telling customers how regular maintenance checks can lengthen the life of an older system. They’re replacing components and looking for ways to help older systems remain compliant with stricter environmental laws.

One of our contractor profiles this month focuses on a Tacoma, Wash., pumper, Randy Skeen, whose Affordable Septic Service specializes in drainfield restoration. In addition to regular use of Terralift machines to aerate tired drainfields, Skeen tells writer Ken Wysocky (“Extreme Makeover”) that homeowner education is a key to extending the life of older systems.

“We always teach people what not to do … it’s what people put down into the lines that causes systems to go bad,” Skeen says. “Grease is one of the biggest concerns. People pour grease down a sink drain and it hardens in the mainline or inlet pipe and clogs it up.”

MANY MANDATES

In the Reader Pipelines feature this month, we hear from contractors getting used to providing required inspections and time-of-sale real estate inspections. They tell writer Mary Shafer (“Tougher System Regulations Mean Business”) these jobs raise revenue and improve water quality where they live.

Warsaw, Ohio, pumper Tim Kettler is happy to help homeowners and the environment.

“We need people to understand that (their septic system) is a capital investment, this is equity in their home that they need to protect,’’ Kettler says. “There’s a real need to protect the environment, which will probably result in a windfall for qualified providers.”