November 7, 2025 • 10 mins
Hidden systems make or break a home. That’s why we brought on David Bar Shimon, co-owner of Asheville Septic and Well, to pull back the curtain on septic tanks, well inspections, sewer scopes, and the mountain springs that still supply water to some homes across Western North Carolina. If you’ve ever bought a house, sold a house, or wondered what’s really happening under your yard, this conversation delivers the practical answers you need.
We walk through how a modern septic inspection actually works, from locating and opening the tank to measuring solids, checking baffles, and evaluating the drain field’s health. David explains the most expensive myth in the industry—“never pump your septic tank”—and gives a clear schedule that prevents clogs and field failure. For homes on city sewer, we get into why a camera scope down the lateral line is essential, especially in older properties where root intrusion, offsets, and cracked clay pipes are common. On the water side, we cover well performance, flow and pressure checks, and water quality testing that keeps families safe. And because this is the mountains, we also talk springs and cisterns: how to find them, how to judge the setup, and why improvised systems can put water quality at risk.
David shares his path from early field training to securing installer licensing, which allows his team to go from problem to solution—repairs, replacements, and new builds—while navigating North Carolina’s permits and environmental health rules. The theme throughout is clarity: readable reports that help buyers budget before closing, help owners plan upgrades, and protect both property value and public waterways. If you care about home maintenance, real estate due diligence, or simply want to avoid a five-figure surprise underground, you’ll find this guide grounded, local, and immediately useful.
Enjoy the episode? Follow the show, share it with a neighbor who’s house-hunting, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find practical, local insights that protect their homes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Marty.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
And welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
We're super excited this morningto have somebody uh in our
studio for the first time.
And uh I'm very excited to learnall about them and what they do,
and I'm sure you will be aswell, because today I have the
pleasure of introducing yourgood neighbor, Mr.
David Bar Shimon, who isco-owner of Asheville Septic and
Well.
David, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Hey, good morning, Skip.
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Well, I said we're very excited to have you and uh
welcome and also excited tolearn all about your business.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about Asheville Septic and Well?
SPEAKER_02 (00:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Asheville Septic and Well wasincorporated in 2019.
And we originally started thecompany specifically focusing on
inspections, typically realestate inspections when
someone's buying the house.
Everybody knows what a homeinspection is, of course.
If you've ever bought a house,it's pretty critical.
But it's not as common, at leastin the past, for people to do
(01:07):
septic inspections, um, becauseit's hiding underground, so
people don't even know whattheir septic is sometimes.
We find when we're doing septicinspections.
But we also offer wells, we alsooffer well inspections.
Um, and then we've added sewerscopes, which is for homes on
sewer mains.
We'll run a sewer uh snakecamera down a wastewater line to
(01:29):
inspect the sewer system andfind if there's any issues,
especially with older houses,things that are 80 or 100 plus
years old.
If the pipe hasn't been updated,there's oftentimes issues found.
And then the last one, it's notas common, but we do love them,
are uh spring and cisterninspections, they're still homes
that get their water, as youknow, in the mountains from
spring water.
(01:50):
And those are actually the mostfun because it's basically
hiking in the woods looking forwhere's the water is coming
from?
Is it set up and sealedproperly?
And every single spring is kindof done differently because
there's not a lot of regulationaround it, like there is
receptic and wells.
So we oftentimes see a lot ofinteresting bootleg or homemade
type, you know, systems that arethat are unusual.
And sometimes they're very fancyand sometimes they're a little
(02:11):
more primitive depending who wasthe installer.
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
Bootleg spring systems, uh yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, we see some interesting things.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
I bet you do.
Now, when you find somethingthat pardon me, somebody's jury
rigged, you know, and and puttogether themselves, do you are
are you like obligated to say wegotta fix this or or so I don't
necessarily work with the stateor the county to say, like, oh
my god, look at this thing, redflag, red flag.
SPEAKER_02 (02:38):
Um, we have on occasion seen septic systems
that are dumping into thewaterways, what we call straight
piping or just poorly designedto the point where stuff's
leaking down into the creekbecause the drain field or the
system's too close to it.
Um but my reports are very, veryeasy to read and will tell you
exactly like these are thethings that need to be solved or
remedied immediately before youuse the system, whether it's
(03:00):
something you're drinking out ofor whether it's a septic system,
whatever the system we'reworking on, we make these very
clear-cut and easy reports sothat people know what they're
buying.
And maybe they can use thatreport to go to a contractor and
get estimates before they buythe house so they know just like
when you go to home inspection,like do I need a new roof?
Do I need a new septic?
Things like that are reallycritical for making decisions on
your home purchase.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, fascinating, David.
What um how did you get intothis business?
What's your journey?
SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
I kind of I kind of fell into it a little bit
accidentally.
Um, I've gone through a fewdifferent careers in the past,
and uh a friend of mine who wasa home inspector in Asheville
years ago, this would have been,yeah, back in around 2018, 2019,
uh essentially said, Hey, I'vebeen subcontracting out septic
and well inspections as part ofmy home inspection package and
my business here, but I'm reallydissatisfied with the companies
(03:53):
I've been using and the qualityand the service, et cetera.
I want to just do it in-house.
And he said, Why don't you goget trained and we'll, you know,
learn it.
So basically we we learned bytrial by fire the first year in
2019.
Um, and just sometimes mademistakes, but over the course of
the years we've gained a lot ofexperience.
And I went out and started myown business after that.
Um and uh that's sort of howcame into it.
(04:15):
And it's been been aninteresting, interesting journey
uh learning about how wastewaterand water supply systems are set
up here.
Also, wanted to mention one lastthing.
Um, we about two years ago wegot our septic septic installer
licensure.
So now we are installing septicsystems.
So if anyone has any need for arepair for their septic, say
their drain field's failing, saytheir tank has collapsed, worst
(04:37):
case scenario there.
Or they just need a new septicsystem for a new house build.
That is also something we are uhlicensed and able to do as well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Wow.
So you do pretty mucheverything.
We're doing a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (04:48):
Yeah, and we're taking on we're taking on more
every year.
We're always trying to addservices.
SPEAKER_01 (04:52):
That's awesome.
Awesome.
Whatever you need.
So um can you think of any mythsor misconceptions in in your
industry that people have?
SPEAKER_02 (05:03):
The most common one, and we see this sometimes way
out in the country, is we'llshow up and the homeowners
there, they're not usually ourclient, usually the buyers.
Our client will go, hey, do youknow where your septic is?
And sometimes these people willlive in there 20, 30 years and
they'll go, yes or no, whateverthe case is.
And I go, have you have you hadit opened or pumped?
And like, no, we were told neverto pump it when we moved in.
(05:23):
We've heard that before.
SPEAKER_01 (05:24):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02 (05:25):
And in case someone listening isn't familiar with
septic systems, a real quickoverview is you got a big box
and it's full of poop andwastewater, you basically
everything you you dump down thetoilet or the shower should be
going in there.
And then after it, it goes intowhat's a leech field or a drain
field, usually and like sort ofpipes underground that leach
down into the soil and allowjust the water to be to go back
(05:47):
into the soil and remediate.
And then the idea is the box,the septic tank, is full of
solids and you need to pump thatout every it's recommended every
three to five years, dependingon the amount of people in the
house.
And if you do not pump theseptic, which is what a lot of
people seem to think is okay orhave been told by others,
eventually the solids will fillup so much in the tank that
(06:09):
it'll go into your drain fieldand clog it up, and then you
don't have a working septicsystem, and it's really can be
very difficult to remediate itdepending on how bad it gets.
Sometimes you need a whole newsystem put in.
So if you're not familiar withseptic systems, if you do have
one, I highly recommend that youget on a schedule with the
pumper and have it done atminimum at least every five
(06:29):
years.
And if you're at a larger familyin a smaller home, let's say
you're in a three or fourbedroom home and you have like
six or seven people living therefor whatever reason, pump it
more often.
SPEAKER_01 (06:40):
More people, more poop.
unknown (06:41):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (06:42):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
Yeah, you said it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, I could I I could I couldsee that.
I could see people not evenknowing where their septic tank
is.
I I've been that been therebefore when I bought a house and
didn't even ask, it's like whereI was in the front yard.
Had no idea.
SPEAKER_02 (06:57):
You flushed the toilet and everything went down,
so why worry about it?
Is usually that thing thatpeople are thinking, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:02):
Yep, yep, that's exactly right.
So you live in a really coolplace, but you work a lot.
But when you're not working,what do you like to do for fun?
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Um I like hiking specifically in the summer.
I love uh with my kids goingcreek stomping, I call it, just
finding cool rivers to go downand swimming, find swimming
holes.
I think we're one of the mostbeautiful places in the country,
if not the world.
And summers are really majesticand gorgeous here.
Um I just recently got into likebouldering and rock climbing.
(07:31):
This is a really recent thing.
I currently have some callusesin my hand that need to be
healed up before I do anymore.
Um, so yeah, um those are my twofavorite things.
I also play mandolin, notprofessionally with people, but
just for fun.
I play some music on my own,mostly Celtic music.
Oh, and my other hobby I shouldmention is I love going contra
dancing.
There's a pretty good scene inAsheville for uh, if you're not
(07:52):
familiar, it's a folk dance uhthat has a pretty good scene for
it here in Asheville.
So that's some of my favoritestuff I do.
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Very cool, very cool.
Um lucky out love to be outside.
You know, we live in a beautifulplace, it's amazing.
So uh if uh David, if you couldthink of one thing that you
would like our listeners toremember about Asheville, septic
and well, what would that be?
SPEAKER_02 (08:15):
Yeah, um absolutely if you need septic work done of
any nature or just need aconsult on you know your
property or if you're gonnaexpand your septic system.
If you live in North Carolinaspecifically, um we have a lot
of regulations around septic.
So if you need any work donegenerally, you have to get
permits and things.
And we can also help guide youto the right people for that,
(08:37):
whether that's a private soilscientist, whether it's the
county, environmental healthdepartment, um, feel free to
reach out.
Um the the phone number, if youif you find my company,
AshvilleSceptic.com, but also myphone number is um for the
company goes to me, so you cangenerally reach me pretty
quickly if you have anyquestions about you know septic
well, sewer, spring systems,etc.
SPEAKER_01 (08:59):
Very good.
Good thing to remember.
And if uh you know somebody'sthinking about building a house
in the area or they they'reselling a house or they're you
know need a new septic systeminstalled, how can they learn
more?
SPEAKER_02 (09:14):
Yeah, uh asheville septic.com is my website.
Um phone number is 828-515-4545.
And also my email address ispretty simple, info at
ashevelseptic.com.
All all roads lead to me onthose.
Awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
All right.
Well, David, I can't tell youhow much I appreciate you taking
time out of your busy scheduleto hang out with us and and tell
us all about uh Asheville Septicand Dwell and the
misconceptions, because I'm surethere's a lot more than even
what we talked about, but uhappreciate it and uh hope you
and uh uh you wish you and youryour family, your uh business
(09:56):
and partner all the best movingforward.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
Absolutely.
Have a great one, Skip, andhappy Halloween day.
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
All right, you same to you, and uh maybe we can have
you back sometime.
Sounds great.
All right, man.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Tri Dash Citiesdot com.
That's GNP Tri Dash Cities dotcom or call four two two two two
two two two two two two threeseven one nine five eight seven
three.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Marty.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
And welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
We're super excited this morningto have somebody uh in our
studio for the first time.
And uh I'm very excited to learnall about them and what they do,
and I'm sure you will be aswell, because today I have the
pleasure of introducing yourgood neighbor, Mr.
David Bar Shimon, who isco-owner of Asheville Septic and
Well.
David, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Hey, good morning, Skip.
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Well, I said we're very excited to have you and uh
welcome and also excited tolearn all about your business.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about Asheville Septic and Well?
SPEAKER_02 (00:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Asheville Septic and Well wasincorporated in 2019.
And we originally started thecompany specifically focusing on
inspections, typically realestate inspections when
someone's buying the house.
Everybody knows what a homeinspection is, of course.
If you've ever bought a house,it's pretty critical.
But it's not as common, at leastin the past, for people to do
(01:07):
septic inspections, um, becauseit's hiding underground, so
people don't even know whattheir septic is sometimes.
We find when we're doing septicinspections.
But we also offer wells, we alsooffer well inspections.
Um, and then we've added sewerscopes, which is for homes on
sewer mains.
We'll run a sewer uh snakecamera down a wastewater line to
(01:29):
inspect the sewer system andfind if there's any issues,
especially with older houses,things that are 80 or 100 plus
years old.
If the pipe hasn't been updated,there's oftentimes issues found.
And then the last one, it's notas common, but we do love them,
are uh spring and cisterninspections, they're still homes
that get their water, as youknow, in the mountains from
spring water.
(01:50):
And those are actually the mostfun because it's basically
hiking in the woods looking forwhere's the water is coming
from?
Is it set up and sealedproperly?
And every single spring is kindof done differently because
there's not a lot of regulationaround it, like there is
receptic and wells.
So we oftentimes see a lot ofinteresting bootleg or homemade
type, you know, systems that arethat are unusual.
And sometimes they're very fancyand sometimes they're a little
(02:11):
more primitive depending who wasthe installer.
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
Bootleg spring systems, uh yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, we see some interesting things.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
I bet you do.
Now, when you find somethingthat pardon me, somebody's jury
rigged, you know, and and puttogether themselves, do you are
are you like obligated to say wegotta fix this or or so I don't
necessarily work with the stateor the county to say, like, oh
my god, look at this thing, redflag, red flag.
SPEAKER_02 (02:38):
Um, we have on occasion seen septic systems
that are dumping into thewaterways, what we call straight
piping or just poorly designedto the point where stuff's
leaking down into the creekbecause the drain field or the
system's too close to it.
Um but my reports are very, veryeasy to read and will tell you
exactly like these are thethings that need to be solved or
remedied immediately before youuse the system, whether it's
(03:00):
something you're drinking out ofor whether it's a septic system,
whatever the system we'reworking on, we make these very
clear-cut and easy reports sothat people know what they're
buying.
And maybe they can use thatreport to go to a contractor and
get estimates before they buythe house so they know just like
when you go to home inspection,like do I need a new roof?
Do I need a new septic?
Things like that are reallycritical for making decisions on
your home purchase.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, fascinating, David.
What um how did you get intothis business?
What's your journey?
SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
I kind of I kind of fell into it a little bit
accidentally.
Um, I've gone through a fewdifferent careers in the past,
and uh a friend of mine who wasa home inspector in Asheville
years ago, this would have been,yeah, back in around 2018, 2019,
uh essentially said, Hey, I'vebeen subcontracting out septic
and well inspections as part ofmy home inspection package and
my business here, but I'm reallydissatisfied with the companies
(03:53):
I've been using and the qualityand the service, et cetera.
I want to just do it in-house.
And he said, Why don't you goget trained and we'll, you know,
learn it.
So basically we we learned bytrial by fire the first year in
2019.
Um, and just sometimes mademistakes, but over the course of
the years we've gained a lot ofexperience.
And I went out and started myown business after that.
Um and uh that's sort of howcame into it.
(04:15):
And it's been been aninteresting, interesting journey
uh learning about how wastewaterand water supply systems are set
up here.
Also, wanted to mention one lastthing.
Um, we about two years ago wegot our septic septic installer
licensure.
So now we are installing septicsystems.
So if anyone has any need for arepair for their septic, say
their drain field's failing, saytheir tank has collapsed, worst
(04:37):
case scenario there.
Or they just need a new septicsystem for a new house build.
That is also something we are uhlicensed and able to do as well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Wow.
So you do pretty mucheverything.
We're doing a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (04:48):
Yeah, and we're taking on we're taking on more
every year.
We're always trying to addservices.
SPEAKER_01 (04:52):
That's awesome.
Awesome.
Whatever you need.
So um can you think of any mythsor misconceptions in in your
industry that people have?
SPEAKER_02 (05:03):
The most common one, and we see this sometimes way
out in the country, is we'llshow up and the homeowners
there, they're not usually ourclient, usually the buyers.
Our client will go, hey, do youknow where your septic is?
And sometimes these people willlive in there 20, 30 years and
they'll go, yes or no, whateverthe case is.
And I go, have you have you hadit opened or pumped?
And like, no, we were told neverto pump it when we moved in.
(05:23):
We've heard that before.
SPEAKER_01 (05:24):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02 (05:25):
And in case someone listening isn't familiar with
septic systems, a real quickoverview is you got a big box
and it's full of poop andwastewater, you basically
everything you you dump down thetoilet or the shower should be
going in there.
And then after it, it goes intowhat's a leech field or a drain
field, usually and like sort ofpipes underground that leach
down into the soil and allowjust the water to be to go back
(05:47):
into the soil and remediate.
And then the idea is the box,the septic tank, is full of
solids and you need to pump thatout every it's recommended every
three to five years, dependingon the amount of people in the
house.
And if you do not pump theseptic, which is what a lot of
people seem to think is okay orhave been told by others,
eventually the solids will fillup so much in the tank that
(06:09):
it'll go into your drain fieldand clog it up, and then you
don't have a working septicsystem, and it's really can be
very difficult to remediate itdepending on how bad it gets.
Sometimes you need a whole newsystem put in.
So if you're not familiar withseptic systems, if you do have
one, I highly recommend that youget on a schedule with the
pumper and have it done atminimum at least every five
(06:29):
years.
And if you're at a larger familyin a smaller home, let's say
you're in a three or fourbedroom home and you have like
six or seven people living therefor whatever reason, pump it
more often.
SPEAKER_01 (06:40):
More people, more poop.
unknown (06:41):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (06:42):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
Yeah, you said it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, I could I I could I couldsee that.
I could see people not evenknowing where their septic tank
is.
I I've been that been therebefore when I bought a house and
didn't even ask, it's like whereI was in the front yard.
Had no idea.
SPEAKER_02 (06:57):
You flushed the toilet and everything went down,
so why worry about it?
Is usually that thing thatpeople are thinking, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:02):
Yep, yep, that's exactly right.
So you live in a really coolplace, but you work a lot.
But when you're not working,what do you like to do for fun?
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Um I like hiking specifically in the summer.
I love uh with my kids goingcreek stomping, I call it, just
finding cool rivers to go downand swimming, find swimming
holes.
I think we're one of the mostbeautiful places in the country,
if not the world.
And summers are really majesticand gorgeous here.
Um I just recently got into likebouldering and rock climbing.
(07:31):
This is a really recent thing.
I currently have some callusesin my hand that need to be
healed up before I do anymore.
Um, so yeah, um those are my twofavorite things.
I also play mandolin, notprofessionally with people, but
just for fun.
I play some music on my own,mostly Celtic music.
Oh, and my other hobby I shouldmention is I love going contra
dancing.
There's a pretty good scene inAsheville for uh, if you're not
(07:52):
familiar, it's a folk dance uhthat has a pretty good scene for
it here in Asheville.
So that's some of my favoritestuff I do.
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Very cool, very cool.
Um lucky out love to be outside.
You know, we live in a beautifulplace, it's amazing.
So uh if uh David, if you couldthink of one thing that you
would like our listeners toremember about Asheville, septic
and well, what would that be?
SPEAKER_02 (08:15):
Yeah, um absolutely if you need septic work done of
any nature or just need aconsult on you know your
property or if you're gonnaexpand your septic system.
If you live in North Carolinaspecifically, um we have a lot
of regulations around septic.
So if you need any work donegenerally, you have to get
permits and things.
And we can also help guide youto the right people for that,
(08:37):
whether that's a private soilscientist, whether it's the
county, environmental healthdepartment, um, feel free to
reach out.
Um the the phone number, if youif you find my company,
AshvilleSceptic.com, but also myphone number is um for the
company goes to me, so you cangenerally reach me pretty
quickly if you have anyquestions about you know septic
well, sewer, spring systems,etc.
SPEAKER_01 (08:59):
Very good.
Good thing to remember.
And if uh you know somebody'sthinking about building a house
in the area or they they'reselling a house or they're you
know need a new septic systeminstalled, how can they learn
more?
SPEAKER_02 (09:14):
Yeah, uh asheville septic.com is my website.
Um phone number is 828-515-4545.
And also my email address ispretty simple, info at
ashevelseptic.com.
All all roads lead to me onthose.
Awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
All right.
Well, David, I can't tell youhow much I appreciate you taking
time out of your busy scheduleto hang out with us and and tell
us all about uh Asheville Septicand Dwell and the
misconceptions, because I'm surethere's a lot more than even
what we talked about, but uhappreciate it and uh hope you
and uh uh you wish you and youryour family, your uh business
(09:56):
and partner all the best movingforward.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
Absolutely.
Have a great one, Skip, andhappy Halloween day.
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
All right, you same to you, and uh maybe we can have
you back sometime.
Sounds great.
All right, man.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Tri Dash Citiesdot com.
That's GNP Tri Dash Cities dotcom or call four two two two two
two two two two two two threeseven one nine five eight seven
three.
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