Service Pumping & Drain Co., Inc.

Service Pumping & Drain Co., Inc. is a North Reading business that's been running trucks since well before most contractors in the area existed. The company says it was founded in 1927 in Wakefield by the Hewitt family, serving the town by horse and wagon, then bought in 1972 by Dick Mottolo, who grew it from two employees and two pump trucks. His daughter, Lara Mottolo, took over as President in 2021, and the state's Supplier Diversity Office now certifies it as a Woman Business Enterprise through 2028. The work people actually hire them for is septic pumping and grease-trap service, and both come through clearly across reviews spanning 2022 to 2026. Commercial clients keep coming back: a March 2026 review from a customer running three school locations calls grease-trap scheduling and cleanup "very easy" and "quick, clean and professional." Older reviews show the same pattern — in 2022, one client said a monthly grease-trap contract left them "couldn't be happier," and in 2023, two different homeowners described technicians who explained how their septic systems actually worked rather than just pumping and leaving. The one sour note is a June 2024 one-star review, and it wasn't about the work itself — a customer was surprised that after-hours emergency pump-outs are reserved for commercial accounts only, not residential. Worth knowing before calling: the BBB has accredited the company since August 2024 with an A+ grade, and its trucking safety record (DOT #472074) shows a clean roadside inspection with no violations. A stub listing on Procore auto-tags it as a concrete contractor — its own profile note flags that label as wrong; the actual work is septic and drain services, not concrete. For grease-trap maintenance or septic pumping in the North Reading area — especially a recurring commercial contract — the long operating history and consistently positive reviews back it up; just confirm after-hours coverage upfront if that matters for your situation.