Name and title or job description: Art Nikolin, co-founder and general manager
Business name and location: Septic Solutions of Arlington, Washington
Services we offer: Septic pumping, installation, maintenance, inspections
Age: 34
Years in the industry: 4
Association involvement: Washington On-Site Sewage Association, National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association and Washington State Department of Health Technical Advisory Group.
Benefits of belonging to the association: The state association does a good job keeping track of who’s accredited and provides continuing education. It also gives us a centralized location to get information regarding revisions to different county and state regulations across Washington state. Plus, it’s great to meet with others in the industry who belong to the association.
Biggest issue facing your association right now: Improving public education about the septic industry as a whole. People just think about the one time we go to their home to pump their tank. They don’t think about the oversight by the Health Department or the reporting we do.
Our crew includes: Septic Solutions has a crew of 16 people who are pumpers, operators and office staff. We bring a modernized approach to the septic industry, with modern capabilities, technology and systems in place. We are responsive and committed to being available to customers in emergencies and their time of need.
Typical day on the job: My day is split between office and fieldwork. I oversee projects and provide technical support out in the field. On the back-end, I’m involved in the administrative portion of the business. I meet with vendors, designers and customers. I don’t think I could be strapped in a chair for very long, so I like getting out in the field.
The job I’ll never forget: We got involved in a property sale in which another party inspected a residential septic system and recommended repairs, but the inspection was lost and no repairs were made before the sale. We worked with the home buyer on the repairs and tried to find out who was responsible for footing the bill. This situation showed us how much the public relies on us to provide all of the answers they need for their septic systems. We do our own inspections and our own quotes. We want to make homeowners know their septic system is taken care of.
My favorite piece of equipment: AI (artificial intelligence) because we have been using it extensively in administrative work. I have a virtual secretary that keeps everything straight that I need to write down. It’s auto correct on steroids. We use it for our spreadsheets, meeting minutes and other administrative work.
Most challenging site I’ve worked on: We acquired a group of maintenance customers from a different company. At one home, an alarm was going off at odd times. The previous contractor informed us the system always had issues. We were trying to figure out a decades-old problem. After months of trying to find out what the problem was, we learned that the alarm issues started after the last maintenance inspection session. So, we started asking what may have happened at the inspection that would be causing the problem? We checked the control panel and saw that the main wire was just close enough to the alarm wire to trip the alarm. Having the right information from the start would have saved a lot of time and made for a better outcome.
Oops, this didn’t work out as planned: A home was located on the side of a cliff on a narrow lot where outbuildings blocked access. We went on site and saw all of these challenges. There was no way we could easily get equipment in there. We were going to give a quote that included destroying the backyard and retaining walls, but the Health Department pulled back on the permits. From what I know, they are still waiting for approval from the Health Department, and I don’t know what we will do when they call back.
The craziest question or most insightful comment from a customer: On lots where septic isn’t feasible, we’ll talk to property owners who went online and researched a system that they think will work for their case. They’ll try to prove to us that this system will work. No matter how much they try to explain, until the lot meets the state’s requirements, no amount of research into proprietary systems will get them the results they want.
If I could change one industry regulation, it would be: I’d like to see better enforcement of annual inspections statewide. Some counties in Washington do this well, while others don’t. It’s challenging for everyone when a system that hasn’t been inspected in 10-12 years needs a lot of repairs. The property owner should have called us a long time ago.
Best piece of small business advice I’ve heard or came up with: Keep your books clean. Start on Day 1 with keeping accurate accounts. The further wrong you go in your financial accounts, the harder it is to clean them up. A good bookkeeper is one of the first jobs you should hire for. Before you hire helpers, get yourself a good accountant.
If I wasn’t working in the wastewater industry, I would like to: I came to Septic Solutions from a commercial executive background, and I was a firefighter for a while, but wastewater is my current passion. I came into this industry because my brothers were doing it, and I had the opportunity to work with them. I don’t want to do anything else.
Crystal ball time – This is my outlook for the wastewater industry: I think septic systems are here to stay. Rural areas will keep growing, so it’s a good industry to get into. I’m pretty optimistic about the outlook, and this generation has a better realization of the impact we have on the environment. We know our systems have to work right to protect the watersheds to have clean water.
