John (Ivan) Rusev co-founded Rock Solid Septic & Excavation in Spartanburg in 2021, and he still answers most of the company’s calls himself. John (Ivan) estimates that he communicates directly with about 95% of the company's customers, handling initial inquiries, estimates, scheduling, and project updates. His work ranges from helping homeowners with emergency sewage backups to coordinating septic installations for builders preparing new residential projects. Rock Solid takes calls around the clock, seven days a week, so the person who picks up is usually the same person who prices the job and later stands in the yard explaining what went wrong underground.

In South Carolina, septic work is licensed by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES), and each license covers a specific part of the job. A pumping license does not allow a contractor to install systems, and installer licenses are issued in tiers that limit how complex a system a crew may build. Rock Solid holds licenses on both sides of that line.

John (Ivan) holds SCDES license OSWWP0109, which authorizes him to pump septic tanks and haul the waste for legal disposal. Pumping puts him inside tanks every week of the year, and that is how many problems get caught early. Septic installation work at Rock Solid is overseen by Alex Rusev, who holds a South Carolina Tier 3 installer license. This division of responsibilities allows John (Ivan) to focus on customer communication, estimates, and operations while Alex manages technical installation work.

John (Ivan) has also earned a North Carolina Grade Level II Onsite Wastewater Installer Certification (No. 9277), adding North Carolina credentials to his experience in South Carolina's septic industry.

John (Ivan) got his start in dirt work on horizontal directional drilling crews. On an HDD job, the crew steers a drill head underground along a planned path and then pulls pipe or conduit back through the bore, so the road or river above stays untouched. He worked on internet fiber runs and underground utility installations, including road crossings and bores beneath interstates. Some projects involved difficult underground crossings that required careful planning, accurate drilling, and close attention to existing utilities.

“That’s where I learned how to operate equipment,” John (Ivan) says. “That’s where I learned utilities: power, sewer, water, all that stuff.”
That background still shows up on septic jobs. Before a tank gets dug up or a drain field gets trenched, he knows how to read utility markings and where buried lines tend to run on a residential lot.

After drilling, John (Ivan) moved to Washington State and went to work for a septic contractor. It was his first full-time exposure to the septic trade, and it meant learning a different set of soils and a different state’s permitting rules before he ever bid a South Carolina job. When he returned to South Carolina, John (Ivan) launched Rock Solid as an excavation company. Septic calls started coming in alongside the dirt work, and the share kept growing until septic pumping, repairs, and installations became the core of the business.

“Within a year, I realized this was going to become a full-time thing,” he says.

Today the company handles septic pumping, drain field replacement, and new system installations, along with excavation and emergency service calls.

John (Ivan) prices every septic estimate and bid himself. He builds the weekly schedule around two moving pieces: the pump trucks and the installation crew. When an install needs a new tank and a load of drain field stone, the materials are ordered and confirmed before the crew rolls out, because a crew waiting on a delivery leaves a family waiting on a working toilet. He also keeps the trucks and equipment moving between counties, which on a busy week can mean a routine pump-out in Spartanburg in the morning and an emergency backup in Pickens by the afternoon.

“It’s my job to make sure everything stays rolling,” John (Ivan) says.

Most of the time John (Ivan) spends on a call goes into explaining what’s happening underground before any digging begins. When a homeowner reports sewage surfacing in the yard, John (Ivan) explains how the team checks for potential causes, including blockages, accumulated solids, mechanical problems, and drain field failure, before recommending the appropriate service. Builders get realistic timelines tied to permit approval and soil conditions.

Pricing surprises get the same treatment. If a buried septic tank cannot be located during a scheduled pumping visit, John (Ivan) explains that using a camera to locate it adds $250 to the service. For homeowners requesting a separate visit solely to locate their septic tank, the cost is $350. In either case, he explains the additional charge before proceeding.

John (Ivan)’s working rule came from experience on the wrong side of it.

“Doing the job right the first time means a whole lot after experience of doing it wrong the first time,” he says. “When you do it right, customers recommend you to everybody.”

In practice, that means a drain field gets sized for the actual soil test and a tank goes in at the depth the inlet pipe needs. It also means the yard is raked and cleaned before the truck leaves. John (Ivan) believes one poorly done job travels further through a community than ten good ones, so he treats every pump-out as part of the company’s long-term reputation.

John (Ivan) makes a point of keeping the equipment clean. A homeowner who sees a washed truck and an organized jobsite in the driveway tends to trust the person running it, and the crew is expected to treat every property and every customer with the same respect.

John (Ivan)’s long-term goal is to make Rock Solid one of the most recognized and trusted septic companies in Upstate South Carolina. He wants the company known for prompt service, honest communication, and septic installations built for reliable long-term performance.
“I want us to be known as the best septic guys around,” he says.

If an alarm is going off or you’re planning a build on a lot without sewer access, call us. In most cases John (Ivan) will be the one who picks up, and he’ll tell you what he thinks is going on before quoting anything.