Name and title or job description: Scott Search, owner
Business name and location: Search Septic, Bailey, Colorado
Services we offer: We do septic pumping, installations, repairs, inspections and pipe thawing in a four-county area in the Rocky Mountains. The only thing we don’t do is engineering, which we subcontract out to a local company.
Age: 53
Years in the industry: Nine. Previously I was a software and network engineer. My wife and I were going to buy another house, but instead I talked her into starting a business. We weren’t sure what business, but a septic company here did some work for us and I saw how fast they did it and thought, “I could do that.” I did a lot of research, got my CDL, purchased a truck at an auction and built a tank for it. Eventually we bought a mini-excavator and did small repairs. Going into winter we thought we should have a four-wheel drive truck so I bought a used one and built a tank for it. We’ve had to take that truck up into the high country and cross a couple of river crossings to get to some cabins to pump their tanks.
Association involvement: I’ve been a member of the Colorado Professionals in Onsite Wastewater and the National Association of Wastewater Technicians for nine years.
Benefits of belonging to the association: We attend classes for continuing education to keep our certifications and licenses. We also go to some of their social events such as member appreciation day and ski day. There are opportunities for meeting people. I’m still good friends with a guy I met about eight years ago.
Biggest issue facing your association members right now: Disposal is a big problem. It’s expensive and there are so few places. We have to go down the mountain to the Denver area which is a two- or three-hour process. We try to load up the trucks full because the facility charges for a full load no matter how much you have.
Our crew includes: My wife Mishaun takes care of the office and does small repairs and inspections. My son Oliver is our NAWT inspector and does repairs, but will soon be joining the Marines. My son Jack, a high school student, works summers. Jason Nyland is our main pumping technician. Becky Gemmer and Jennifer Samountry work in the office. Brian Poppelreiter does repairs and installations. Will Pinner is our driver who takes the waste down to Denver.
Typical day on the job: I respond to emails, messages and phone calls. I do estimating, technical repairs and heavy truck repairs. I work on pumps and electrical devices and run the excavation equipment.
The job I’ll never forget: I had to climb 20 feet down into the bottom of a customer’s tank to replace a pump and fix some of the plumbing. It had about a foot of water at the bottom. My wife was at the surface running air down to me. All of a sudden I heard a “plop” behind me. I didn’t see anything so I continued working. When I climbed out, my wife said, “I think I lost my phone.” I climbed back down and reached into the water and found it. We put it in a bag of rice and it works great.
My favorite piece of equipment: We have four excavators, but my favorite is the Kubota KX080 midi. It’s small but also large, very versatile and gets jobs done fast.
Most challenging site I’ve worked on: We did a job near the top of 10,000-foot Kenosha pass. We had to install a leachfield 160 feet up a really steep hillside. Climbing up there with the excavator was a “pucker” factor — scary and challenging. When we were done, it was really nice to see what we had completed. And the customer was ecstatic we didn’t tear down too many trees.
The craziest question or comment from a customer: We have a lot of customers whose homes were built in the 1960s, and they ask why their septic system is failing. These are single-compartment tanks, no filter, 60 years old. They’ve reached the end of their life. And people sometimes go 20 years without pumping their tank. Eventually something’s going to fail. Everyone on our team, including the office staff, does a lot of customer education.
If I could change one industry regulation, it would be: Standardize the regulations among all the counties. Right now each has its own.
Best piece of small business advice I’ve heard or came up with: The customer is always right, the customer comes first, be honest, do a great job. For every customer we service, working at their property, we try to do our best and make sure they’re pleased with our work. If they’re not happy with what we did, we will correct it at no charge. That has a domino effect — they will tell their neighbors, their friends. That’s the best advertising. We get the most calls from people who are repeat customers or referrals.
If I wasn’t working in the wastewater industry, I would like to: I am an adrenaline junky. I love to ski, hike, run. I fly planes and sky dive. I’m a ski coach and love to teach kids to ski. I’d like to eventually be a professional pilot — when I retire!
Crystal ball time – This is my outlook for the wastewater industry: It would be great if we could work with somebody like Elon Musk to come up with a way to reuse the waste and turn it into energy.
