Our History

Revolutionizing the Onsite Wastewater Industry Since 1987

In 1979 Jim Nichols, a plastics-design consultant, looked out the window of his home and saw a homeowner’s worst nightmare; the ground was oozing and bubbling wastewater as a result of a failed septic system. He needed to replace part of his gravel and pipe leach field.

When the installation contractor came to replace his leach field he watched the process with a curious eye. When they finished up the leach field replacement Jim told to Sid Holbrook, the contractor, “We could probably come up with something better in plastic.” Sid agreed and told Jim when he was serious about it that he’d help him raise money to give it a try.

A few years later Jim approached Sid with the design for the Infiltrator chamber. Together, Jim and Sid sought out investors to finance manufacturing and testing of the Infiltrator chamber system and Infiltrator was born.

In 1987 Infiltrator Systems entered the market selling the Infiltrator chamber system as an alternative to the decades-old traditional gravel and pipe leach field. The key differentiator that the Infiltrator chamber system brought to the market was that contractors could install a complete system in half the time of a gravel and pipe leach field. Contractors quickly bought into the concept. For the first year in business they predicted a loss; instead Infiltrator Systems made an $80,000 profit, selling more than 30,000 Infiltrator chambers.

In 2015 Infiltrator Systems became Infiltrator Water Technologies to more accurately describe the company’s offerings beyond the onsite wastewater industry.

Today Infiltrator manufactures and sells multiple product lines for the onsite wastewater and water industry. With innovative products and service, ISO 9001 certified manufacturing facilities, leading creative recycling solutions and the development of new subsidiaries, Infiltrator is poised to offer a total approach to water quality. Our future lies in a global effort to identify and develop new technologies that improve water quality and wastewater management worldwide.