Some Good News In Our Bad News

The recession has finally brought competition to the septic industry. The contractors have dropped their prices by huge percentages. Why? Because they now want any job they can get and there are fewer jobs than there are contractor / installers that want to do them; hell need to do them. This puts competition back in the septic marketplace and if you homeowners think about it, it will give you an idea of how much the general public has been overpaying for the past couple of decades.

No one thinks, I hope, that the contractor / installers are working now at a loss. No, they are now working closer to the actual cost of installing a septic system. The difference is that they are not able to charge anything their "little heart's desire" because there is now no "going rate pricing". My brother in law who is septic contractor said to me a couple of months ago that "We're really having to make deals we wouldn't have considered before the housing market took a dump". (I like the term dump don't you to describe his position...now its in his "backyard") There is competition and its fierce in most areas of the country that have contractor / installers trying to survive the economic and housing down turn. So pay attention now to what is being charged for septic work (you can ask around to find out what costs are now in your area) and then watch out for when better economic times return, and in some form better economic times will return, and compare the difference. By paying attention now, you will have a reasonable yard stick to gauge whether you're being price gouged in the future.

I'm betting my money on the installers and contractors ramping up their future prices when economic "good times" return to as near as they can to what they were in the "good ol' days" of going rate pricing. I intend to watch and raise a red flag against this if I'm proven correct. I have no idea whether anyone will pay attention but I do so love waving around red flags. We have to have reform in the septic industry and we have to break the "unintentional collusion" between the EHDs and the industry. Like we're hearing out of Washington DC these days, we have to have reform and we have to let human ingenuity loose so we can have progress while prospering. No industry needs this more than the septic industry. Some may ask why?

Because that bathroom down the hall affects everyone of our lives. It is one area of our life that is as critical as eating and drinking. Remember, you have to take in food and water and what's left has to come out. Its kinda like a septic system. Its open at both ends. Plug one end up and the other end won't work. You're stuck with the consequence of eating and drinking. Therefore I personally don't want to be victimized because of my personal plumbing and the consequence of using it.

We see and feel the affects of government, sometimes its good and sometimes its not so good and all to often its just plain bad. In the way the EHDs operate around this country, I believe it is more "just plain bad" for the homeowner. As I pointed out above and before, septic issues are different than other building related issues. We don't have to fix the leaky roof if we don't like the price. We can put plastic over the roof or put a bucket under the drip. We have a choice that doesn't affect our neighbors or the environment. We aren't forced by a daily bodily function to do anything. Unlike the other areas of the construction industry, we have to take care of septic problems (unless you like many don't really give a damn about a bit of nasty liquid surfacing in your yard). Septic issues should therefore be considered in an entirely different framework.

I believe that septic problems and solutions from a governmental point of view should not discount, nor casually waive off the idea that government can't be concerned with cost of installations and repairs when making decisions (quite cavalier when it ain't their money...remember none of the money in government is their money ITS OUR MONEY!) on what is allowed or not allowed assuming we can't stop the government from limiting our options (I should say since government will not stop interfering and limiting our options). Ideas that are a bit out there but ideas none the less: Every business involved in doing work in the septic industry be required to provide a cost breakdown for the job to the homeowner with all profit clearly delineated; control of allowable profit margins is another idea. I don't personally like either as a life long contractor and businessman. But something has to be done to stop the escalating cost of septic installation and repairs so that costs are affordable. That something is the Pirana System technology.

I will keep bringing this issue to point...if the government wants to limit my options then limit my costs. What I want is government to stop limiting my options. I have no problem with requiring me and every other homeowner that has a septic problem to fix it, but don't tell me how. Make government's job to make sure our septic systems are functioning properly. We're all hearing that the future holds changes in our standard of living. I didn't get the idea that the changes are going to be upward financially. We are most likely not going to like what occurs. This is all the more reason to join together as homeowners and tax payers to loudly protest to our local governments to make changes that protect us from this particular financially damaging situation the government has created. (I don't want to diminish the recognition of any other damaging situation our over paid and over controlling government has created so I use the word "particular")

I talk to many many homeowners across the country every week. They all sing the same song that should be titled, "I Can't Pay $10,000 For My Septic Repair and I Don't Want Any Of Those SOBs On My Property". Who the hell can and does? The $10,000 is a discounted price!

I just had to get this one out. Don't miss the point. If you hear that costs of repairs are substantially lower during this economic crisis, you know how much you were over charged before the crisis. Don't let it happen again. Join with your neighbors who are on septic systems and make your discontent heard by your local government and point to the price reductions to back up your position.

Thanks for stopping by.