If you’re not already dealing with minimum septic pumping mandates in your state or local municipalities, it’s likely you will be someday soon. For some, such ordinances are right around the corner. For others, they’re still a ways off. But make no mistake, with growing environmental awareness, these changes are coming.
What will the new laws mean to your business? Contractors already working under these mandates offer a glimpse at their impact..
Dennis Sullivan performs septic installations, pumping and inspections. The health department in one Illinois county where he operates has mandated septic pumping. “We have a lot of smaller subdivisions with small lots, so to try to increase the life of these septic systems, they’ve implemented that five-year program,” Sullivan says.
The county maintains a list of pumpers certified to perform tank cleaning through its licensing program. For three years, it has distributed a copy of this list to homeowners, along with a letter explaining the maintenance mandate.
Sullivan says the mandate has been good for business. “We’ve noticed an increase not only in our pumping calls, but also requests for system inspection,” he explains. “Our inspections picked up originally when neighboring Iowa introduced a law requiring inspection and approval of septic systems for houses before property could change hands during a sale. One requirement for approval was that the tank had to have been pumped sometime in the previous three years. If it hadn’t been, we pumped it. That business grew, simply through the fact that we’re on a list of preferred vendors.”
With mandates, he expects business will continue to expand, and estimates a growth of at least 25 percent so far, due to the legislation. He attributes this growth to real estate agents feeding him direct referrals.
Asked how other pumpers could benefit from such referrals, he says, “Any time you have a certification, it gives you a little edge. The perception is that you’re more of an expert.”
All Town & Country Septic pumps and performs small repairs on septic tanks, drains and aerators. Owner Theresa Blankenship says the county requires a minimum pumping schedule of once every three years for septic tank customers.
The mandate, passed three years ago, has helped build her business. “They send out reminder cards, which gets people to call us. We send out our own reminder cards, but they only go to our previous customers.”
Blankenship also advertises in phone books and local newspapers to gain new customers, and highlights the new requirement. She estimates the new law has helped the company’s recent 20- to 25-percent business growth. “When we had no reminders, so many people would forget, or not even be aware that they had a septic tank that required service. The cards really help the older people who forget about servicing their tank, and younger people moving out here from the city who’ve never had one.’’
Blankenship doesn’t go after business through real estate agents, but when agents have called All Town & Country once, the company gets referrals from them over and over.
Action Septic Service offers complete service for standard and aeration septic systems. Owner Tim Kettler knows about relevant laws, having run for office himself. He recalls Ohio first implemented maintenance regulations statewide in 2002. He applauds taking the legislation to the state level to ensure consistency in application and enforcement, but says the timing was abysmal.
“In the midst of an economic crisis in the housing business, along came some very strict regulations that affected real estate transfers and time-of-sale inspections,’’ he recalls. “We saw a very high number of properties with potential for sale that now needed very expensive new mound or aeration systems.’’
The regulations only lasted six months, when legislators put a two-year moratorium on the program. That expired in July of 2009, and now they’re implementing it with a phased-in approach that doesn’t burden homeowners so drastically, Kettler says.
Kettler sees “just a ton of opportunity for pumpers, as stewards of the environment, to convey the message to the general public to elevate their priorities.’’
He says contractors will experience great demand for qualified service providers in both pumping and inspection, so there will be opportunity for those who become trained, certified septic system inspectors. He also says contractors have to become educators.
“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.”
