The Septic System Saga

I want to start off by saying our septic system is back up and running and we are fully operational once again! Hooray!

Here is what happened.

This is our full story from our own perspective. 

We signed our lease on May 1, 2026.

There was some discussion of the limits of the well, since there is only one well for the entire complex we lease in. However, there was no mention of any issues with the septic system before we signed our lease. 

May 2026

We met with contractors, received quotes and timelines, and began the non-permit-needing improvements we wanted to make to the two units we had rented. (The carpet removal is a saga for a different time.) At this time, we were also informed we had been declined a small business loan. We put in some hard work, found a few fabulous investors, and emptied our savings accounts. The vision felt too important to give up just because the bank didn’t see it (they actually did see it, we just didn’t have enough collateral). 

June 2026

Our original timeline changed to accommodate the change in capital, and we “Soft Opened” in the smaller of our two units. Drew built self-contained carts to act as a temporary bar. All of the water and electricity were inside the carts, so we were not plumbed into the building yet. We hauled fresh water to supply and the grey waste water at the end of the day every single day. It was a lot of work, but it allowed us to build up a bit of savings to afford the needed construction to build a permanent bar in the other unit. 

July 2026

When we were fairly confident we were ready (thanks in large part to a late investor), we applied for construction permits through the county. At first, they were approved and we began planning. Quickly, they came back and declined the permits referencing a citation about the septic system from 2013. At this point, we believed this to be a mistake. This citation was 13 years old and we had already been approved. Once we reviewed the declination with our general contractor, however, we learned it was indeed real and something that multiple landlords had not fixed in over a decade. Band-aids and temporary fixes had allowed the building to keep operating as normal. Now though, it had escalated. 

When inspectors from the county came out, they discovered the septic system was “surfacing.” There was an issue with the electrical sensors of the system that did not have the tank leach liquid into the leach field. Therefore, the liquid remained in the tank, causing it to overflow, and “surface” into the parking lot. It had happened enough times that the soil around the parking lot had too-high levels of contamination and was deemed a health hazard. Not to mention the disgusting realization we had been parking our cars and walking through septic overflow. Ew.

The county threatened to shut the entire complex down until a fix was installed - all 17 businesses that operate in this complex. The landlord negotiated that we all stay open so long as there was not another “surfacing” event and he had a permanent fix to the problem no later than December 11th. With multiple small issues, and one larger issue needing a custom-made part, an agreement was made between the county and the landlord. 

At this same time, we were applying for all of our operating permits. We were told that we would automatically fail the health and safety inspection (needed for every other permit) due to the state of the septic system, so we were granted temporary permission to operate as normal until the fixes were made, since it was completely out of our control.

July - September 2026

We operated out of our temporary setup in the smaller unit, hauling water every day while we waited for permits and then executed the plans we got approved. For weeks we were serving coffee, running events, and doing construction in our spare time. Drew and I (but let’s be honest, mostly Drew) did as much of the construction work as we were legally allowed with help from friends and family. We truly wouldn’t be where we are without the help of everyone that showed up for us during this time. (Thank you all so much!) Throughout this time, the complex was under a “Low-Flow Mandate” that we all followed well and had no issues for a couple of months.

September 2026

We had our permits, we were almost done with construction. Then, an inspector who was uninformed of our current temporary approval status failed us. It delayed our grand opening for two weeks. What was supposed to be a one week closure to transition into using both units became a three week battle with an unknown conclusion for most of the month. Remember the fact that we didn’t have a loan to lean on? Not serving or making any money during this time was a critical hit. These weeks contained some of the most stressful days - not knowing when we would be able to re-open or if we would be granted some leniency since it was out of our control. Finally, a few days before the rescheduled grand opening, we passed our final inspection and were granted access to continue operating with temporary approval until the septic system was fixed. 

September 26th was the Grand Opening of Bounties Brew Haus and more than we ever could have imagined! Everything went so well - we had so many people come through to see the new space and congratulate us on opening. The community was so excited we were here and it made all of the incredibly hard work and stress worth it. 

October 2026

For two weeks, we operated in the newly expanded space, using both units. Almost every day we were setting records for sales and the number of people in our doors. We were getting more and more of the community telling us about how they learned we were here. We truly felt that we were building momentum. We were starting to hit our break even numbers on our busiest days, which is a huge win as a brand new business (and especially one with very little financial cushion). Even with the new coffee shop, during this time the complex septic use was down 30%. Everything was looking good. 

Then, on October 10th, one of the toilets in the complex did not fully flush and continuously ran for 24 hours straight. In that time, thousands of gallons of water were dumped into the septic system, obviously flooding it. We had another surfacing event. 

The county shut the building down. For almost a week we had to be closed. Less than three weeks after our grand opening, we were forced to close our doors again. This time, all 17 businesses were instructed to shut down and await further instruction. We felt like we were going to lose all of the momentum we had been building. Again. Days passed without knowing when or if we would get to open again until the full fix of the septic system was complete.

After days of back and forth, the complex was granted permission to operate without use of the septic system at all. Each individual business was instructed to contact the county directly to determine what operations could commence and what needed to be off-limits until the septic system was fixed - what we were allowed to do without any septic use. Some businesses could operate as normal - those with no water use - some were granted limited operations, and some did not even try to open during this time. I will say, the county was very accommodating and did their best to help the businesses stay open that could come up with solutions during this time. 

We were granted the ability to serve warm drinks and anything cold that was pre-packaged. We were told we could not use ice since the use of ice was on the same permit as the septic tank and we no longer had that permit. So, we made due with no ice, drain use, or bathrooms. We went back to to-go cups only to avoid as many dishes as possible. We collected the grey water from washing the dishes that were essential, and hauled it just as we had before. The landlord finally got a port-a-pot trailer with 5 stalls per gender.

They were heated and had running water. Honestly, they were pretty nice, except for having to tell our customers to walk to the front of the building to use the facilities. We called them the “Porta-Party” for the duration they were here. Humor definitely helped us get through. 

On Thursday, October 22nd we were told the custom-made part for the septic system had arrived and had begun to be installed. On the following Monday, the county did an inspection, and on Tuesday we were told the septic system had passed the inspection. We were granted use of the septic system again! Hooray. 

We still have to be in a low-flow mandate for two weeks to ensure the fix is working properly. And we will begin the process of moving our permits from temporary to permanent permits. We are just so grateful we can get back to business as we had hoped it would be once we were fully open. We are grateful for the incredible amount of support we have received from this community during this time. We can’t wait to move on to the other fun things we have planned for Bounties Brew Haus! Thank you for reading, thank you for being here, thank you for supporting us, and thank you for looking forward to the future with us. We are so excited.