30 Years Ago...
The first issue of Midwest Pumper is mailed from Three Lakes, Wis., in June 1979, with eight pages of tabloid-size newsprint. A front-page mission statement notes that 85 percent of pumpers surveyed said there was a need for a trade publication. Pete Lawonn pledges to provide small business and industry news, a question and answer column and pertinent industry advertising. Each one-year subscription to the new publication includes a free classified ad.
A small group of classified ads includes a new rotary vacuum pressure pump for $1,200 and an excavation business, including a furnished home, equipment, a repair shed and 2.5 acres in Lewiston, Mich., for $150,000.
25 Years Ago...
The headline in the Midwest Pumper for June 1984 touts the return of the International Liquid Waste Haulers Equipment & Trade Show (later renamed the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo) to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The 1985 show would include 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, and the hotel — less than a decade old — is a sight to see, housing all of the tradeshow visitors. Stories in the newspaper reflect the emerging concern about environmental issues, touching on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund legislation, hazardous waste spills and management, and the use of formaldehyde-based chemicals in portable restrooms.
Fiberglass Shops offers the Large Windsor restroom for $355 and the Slant Back Chesapeake model for $340. Baker Brothers offers a 2,000-gallon vacuum tank installed for $4,950. Williams Welding Co. lists four overhauled 1972 Ford trucks with 2,200- to 2,800-gallon tanks for $11,500 each. In the classified ads, one pumper wants to sell his business in Las Vegas — with a service van, vac truck, all equipment and accessories for $35,000. And he offered to train the buyer.
20 Years Ago...
Building up its editorial content to serve the pumping industry, the June 1989 cover story in The Pumper is a recap of a survey to gather information ahead of proposed EPA standards for disposal of sewage sludge. In the survey, pumpers report handling an average of 1.55 million gallons of septage annually. Based on survey results, nearly 74 percent of the septage is disposed of by land application.
About half the respondents say they weren’t allowed to take septage to a municipal treatment plant. Of those pumpers who used municipal plants, they paid from $4 to $105 per 1,000 gallons to dump. Other stories touch on quality customer service and how to explain septic system operation to homeowners.
Computers are beginning to play an important role in the industry. In an ad for the Pumpmaster Software System, contractor John Eggan Sr. first proclaims, “Computers? No way! For 30 years, we did just fine without them. I’m not going to change now.’’ Later, he changes his tune, “The Pumpmaster software system has improved the way we do business. It has become an important part of our company.’’
Mickey Bellman submits this bit of pumper prose:
Ode to a Septic Tank
I think that I shall never see
A septic tank that’s odor-free
A tank that can be easily found
Though for 30 years it’s been in the ground
A tank that’s buried in the dirt
Uncovered, my nose, it will not hurt
With an aroma that smells of orchids and flowers
And not a stench that overpowers.
But in Camelot I do not pump
So I’ll continue my search for the fragrant sump.
Vacumax Ltd. offers a 1982 International septic/portable sanitation combination vacuum truck, with a 1,625-gallon tank (1,200 waste/425 freshwater), a 150-cfm Wally Angle drive, jetter and reel, for $33,000. I.M. Marketing offers 4-inch EPDM all-weather suction hose in 25-foot lengths with cam-loc couplers for $131.50. PolyJohn Enterprises Corp. offers the PJ3 restroom, which is still a staple of the company today.
15 Years Ago...
In the July 1994 issue of Pumper, a few editorial features appear that become a staple of the magazine over the years. There is a contractor profile on Ruidoso Septic Tank Service and Plumbing in New Mexico. Owner Bruce Haynes reports that his septic pumping rates ranged from $90 to $120, and disposal at a municipal plant is getting expensive, going from a prior fee as low as $1.25 per load to $252 for dumping a 3,600-gallon tank.
The cover story explains how Northwest Cascade Inc. produces a nutrient-rich landscape compost from dewatered septage. And another regular feature starts by that time, the Septic System Answer Man column by Roger Machmeier. In the issue, Machmeier discusses alternative aggregate for septic system drainfield trenches, issues with dumping septage at municipal plants and septic tank baffles.
Ads by restroom manufacturers tout more modern, aerodynamic designs, units that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a variety of handy hand-wash systems. Guzzler offers a vacuum/ waterblasting rig with a 6,000-cfm blower powered by a Cat 3406, and a 21-cubic-yard body built on a 1988 Kenworth tractor with Cummins diesel engine for $145,000. A classified ad offers a 1985 CUES single conductor color TV and grout unit with two cameras, mounted in a 1983 GMC van for $39,500.
10 Years Ago...
By June 1999, Pumper has become a more colorful trade publication. Better printing and computer technology to produce the paper means readers can see trucks advertised for sale in crisp, living color. The same is true for the ever-expanding editorial content, as profile stories — like the cover feature on pumping company Frank’s of Vacaville, Calif. — are accompanied by color photography. Popular features that continue today, including the Reader Pipelines story and a rules and regulations column, have debuted, giving Pumper a broader educational appeal.
And a new way of communicating emerges. A story promotes the use of the Internet for business building, explaining to readers how to access government regulations and supplier Web sites with a few clicks of a computer mouse. It’s interesting to note, though, that the behemoth Google is absent from the list of early favored search engines. In the same issue, an ad promotes the Pumper Web site.
Northwestern Manufacturing & Sales offers a 2,500-gallon basic vacuum tank for $5,075. The Truck Stop classifieds feature a 1987 International vac truck with a 3,500-gallon tank, full rear open door, three-stage hoist and Moro pump for $34,000.
5 Years Ago...
Though it developed into the most trusted news source for the industry long before this, the June 2004 Pumper shows a new maturity as a publication dedicated to professional service providers. Refined graphic design, ever-better photography and a serious approach to its education mission has made Pumper an attractive must-read tool for the industry. At 136 pages, the issue is full of advertising and editorial content, including the first of a special series of articles profiling industry pioneers.
In the cover story, Idaho pumpers LaVar and Cathy Hunter of Parker’s Septic Tank Service and Portable Toilet Rental explain how they devised a cost-effective dewatering solution to combat rising septage and grease disposal costs. In a second contractor profile, Charles Perna Jr., owner of Perna Wastewater Management, explains how customer care and professional service helped his family company grow.
