Green Valley Environmental

Could not diagnose our septic aerator properly, suggesting the purchase of a new ~$1300 aerator. Upon further inspection with a separate company, we discovered aerator is fine, and we are still using it today.

Company is very expensive. Asked to have a service tech come out and they quoted us $148 for a service call. We didn't want a full inspection at this time so we thought this was a good deal. It was explained to us that the $148 covered the first hour and anything over the hour would be billed separately. When the the techs came over, they were over an hour late. ( they blamed the boss for the delay) As a result we were late for work costing us more money. They we were on site for 45 minutes. We thought all was good until we got the invoice. There were two charges, one for service call and one for 45 min labor charge. When we contacted the office we were told the $148 covered travel time and fuel costs but no on site time. After Green Valley came by we had several other companies come over for FREE. I would stay away from GVE as they are very expensive for what they provide.

Had a septic pump out. The two man crew who arrived on site were polite and professional. There knowledge of septic systems allowed for the detection of a issue. With there advice, I conducted the repair and was able to save alot of money. I will certainly return to GVE for any future septic pumping, repair, and eventually tank replacement. I would recommend them to any one.

Avoid GVE. One expensive option only. After speaking to several relatives, acquaintances, engineering firmsiit became obvious all septic suppliers are basically unregulated. Anyone looking for septic system installation should initially stay away from GVE or the division Smart Septic Solutions. The first point of contact for a new septic system should be an environmental engineering firm. Engineering firms are regulated. Leveraging professional environment engineering credentials, they provided me with several design possibilities. From my experience, a reputable engineering firm will visit the site, survey the property lines, dig test holes, take soil samples and inspect in detail. The cost is about $1600.00 but is well worth the investment. Engineering firms will provide a comprehensive review of all septic system options for your property and submit the chosen design to the appropriate city department for permit approval. There is a cost associated with permit submission. Whether you choose shallow bury, peat moss or a module system, once you decide on a specific system manufacturer, the engineering firm will provide approved and accredited excavating contractors for the chosen system type. GVE had a different approach. They tote themselves as the only place you need to rely on for septic design and advice. Based on the one system type they install, GVE and Smart Septic Solutions will charge you $975.00 to site visit, survey, take soil samples and create a draft septic system design. Basically, you are paying GVE to complete a singular design to move forward with the permit process. Although they say you can take the design to any installer, my review of the industry in the area reveled GVE is the only authorized installer of the singular design GVE makes no secret that they only sell and service one type of septic system, which by comparison to other options provided by an engineering firm, is a very complicated solution that requires annual inspection plus a yearly maintenance contract. The 2019 yearly cost verbally exchanged was approximately $300.00. Specific to GVE, no written estimate for the maintenance contract was provided. Given the number of proposed pumps, aerators and chambers, it rather unlikely the $300.00 includes parts that may fail. As a result of my first site meeting with GVE and based on their assessment of my property, I was left with the impression there were no options other than the shallow bury trench system GVE sells. This fact was proved false. The engineering firm provided 5 options and 4 system types. Although the owner of GVE is a polite and affable individual our site meeting focused solely on the merits of the single system they install. Callous disregard was the approach to my questions regarding soil conditions previously determined. During the 90-minute sales pitch, it was clear he had no intention of rising from a chair in my backyard to look in the pilot holes or review the condition of the exposed existing septic tank. In my view, GVE’s cost estimate was not comprehensive and spelled out caveats that could increase the costs in excess of 15-20% over the original and did not provide costs associated with house to system exterior plumbing, electrical, the amount of excavation material or backfill material required to complete the installation. As though winter was cause for a full stop with excavating, GVE attempted to applied pressure to submit a permit before winter. This winter excavating work stoppage also proved to be false Be mindful of any GVE verbal arrangements. You can buy Norweco from GVE if you want but do yourself a favor. Hire an engineering firm and avoid GVE. They have one objective and that is to sell and service a very complex septic system they enjoy installing.

Granted we were very impressed initially with GVE when dealing with the septic designer Steve Bassett who was quick to show up, polite and knowledgeable; and even though the system we choose was comparatively more expensive than other companies/systems on the market we chose to go ahead with the job after owner Bill Seabrooke came out in person charming us with his smooth talk and promises of a beautiful graded yard with no typical septic hump. Unfortunately, as first time home owners and parents of a 6 month old we should have read online reviews and perhaps done some more homework because once the job commenced it has been nothing short of a headache. A septic job which we were advised would take a maximum of 6 days turned into 14. This meant pushing many of our other trades and deadlines. Workers are best described as lazy and disrespectful. Work would commence no earlier than 9am with more than half the day spent taking breaks both on and off the property, smoking marijuana on the job, speaking poorly of the homeowner when simple requests are made, no respect for homeowners property (leaving garbage, brush they cut and mud/clay on street at end of job). When following up with concerns (not putting the proper amount of loads of fill back to make property level) and what was clearly indicated on plan/design, met with comments "there is always something". Charging for extra loads of top soil (tandem/ not Tri-axel), contract doesn't even include seeding the property, asking for payment prior to completion of job and topping it off with walking through the middle of freshly seeded top soil when returning to site. We would not recommend GVE to our family, friends or general public as we have quickly learned that they are more concerned about money than customer satisfaction and at a cost of 40k, we wrongly believed we would get what we paid for... learn from our costly mistake and avoid GVE!

After some shopping around we decided to use Green Valley we had them re-engineeer our system to fit our yard for a pool which costed an addition 1+k. NP. We as home owners were kind of dragging our feet because this extra cost was never really discussed at length. It was "not a problem" as Bill put it. When we finally signed a contract to do the work at 33k they hit the ground running and they did remove a few extra loads of soil/clean fill from our pool excavation and a small tree. They did a very good job of grading and the installation. When the installation was complete a bill for 44k was dropped on us. It was a shocker for sure. through some negotiations I managed to talk the price down a bit. When in fact it states in the contract that any extra cost would be signed off by both parties. Shortly after the installation we had an alarm go off on the system. I contacted GVE and I was told this was normal operation. I Called BS and had them send out the Tech. When I met him it was the owner and it was clear he had no Idea how to use the system at all and he said he would send out another fellow... When the second alarm went off I contacted them again and asked for a users manual or any documentation. I was told he would send it. The tech came by on a Monday and made some adjustments and so far we haven"t had any issues. I would expect some paperwork and a users manual on a system that costs this much just my opinion. Another thing I was never told was there would be a maintenance service fee coming down the tubes after the first two years. Which was never disclosed or discussed when the unit was being sold. I would avoid Bill or Will Seabrooke and his company like a plague if I could do it all over again.

The owner (Bill) took my emergency call after I was suspecting either an issue with my house plumbing or the septic system. He sent his guys and they pumped the tank and told me the issue was the septic tank/system and not the plumbing. They told my wife that she can resume use of toilets which caused a sewage over flow into my basement and damage. Later on I was told by their own men that looking back " we should have flushed and make sure that there is no plumbing issue ". They further found all sort of fault with my septic tank and started selling their $40,000+ system. Mean while all I needed was a plumber who found the blockage and fixed the problem with less than $400. I have since had other consults with other Septic management companies and they have reassured me that my system ,as old as it is, it has not failed and does not need to be replaced. Bill seems like a nice man in person and on the phone but I question his ethics and his team's professionalism.

I am very happy with my new Norweco septic system installed by Green Valley Environmental. The company did a great job keeping the original look of my property.