Nova Scotia Wastewater Contractor Networks To Success

Whether it’s sharing restrooms with strapped, smaller operators or logging long hours working for industry trade groups, Nova Scotia’s Allan Baird believes in friendly networking.
Nova Scotia Wastewater Contractor Networks To Success
The team at Baird’s Septic Tank Pumping Ltd./ Go-Johns includes (from left) Virginia Blondon, James Baxter, Allan Baird, Doris Baird, Glen Rossiter, Paul MacLean and Deanna Baird. They are shown in front of an Ameri-Can Engineering restroom trailer.

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Take more than three decades of septic service, add a thriving portable sanitation component, then stir in a helping of equipment sales and you’d wind up with a business that looks a lot like Baird’s Septic Tank Pumping Ltd. and Go-Johns, of Truro, Nova Scotia.

At age 67, company owner Allan Baird is slowly stepping back from day-to-day operations, but his philosophy continues to guide the business: develop opportunities in your own backyard, invest in state-of-the-art equipment and techniques, and extend a helping hand to everyone. James Baxter, his operations manager, maintains those company traditions.

“I got the idea of entering the business in 1980 when I still had two children in diapers and the toilet wouldn’t flush one day,” says Baird. “A local guy was in the septic tank business but he did it as a sideline on evenings and weekends. He told me it would be a week to 10 days before I could get service.”

Sensing an opportunity, Baird offered to buy the business, its equipment and the telephone number to take advantage of existing customers and advertising.

“He was using a mud pump for septic pumping, so I bought an agricultural vacuum tank and pump from Badger Farm Equipment to replace it,” says Baird. “I painted the truck in two colors: green because I was new at the game, and yellow because I was scared to start a new business.”

MINING THE HOME TURF

Baird has always operated in a roughly 35-mile radius from Truro, preferring to develop new business opportunities on his home turf over spreading the company thin. Truro’s central location has earned it the nickname the “hub of Nova Scotia” and offers plenty of opportunities within that service area.

He entered the portable sanitation business in his first year, supplying restrooms and providing service under a new name, Go-Johns. By his second year, he had acquired two dozen units, most of them from a company that is now PolyJohn Canada.

By the third year, Baird had hired his first seasonal employee. Today, he employs as many as eight workers during the busy season, dividing the business almost evenly between portable sanitation and septic service.

“As we expanded our portable restroom offerings, we also assisted other area operators by offering an inventory of 250 gray unbranded standard units, because we didn’t want to force other companies to accept our advertising,” he says. “We began to assist other operators with concerts and events as far away as Halifax, or in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.”

EQUIPMENT UP TO THE TASK

The generic gray units were sold to other operators seven years ago so Baird could concentrate on local customers and events. “It was simply becoming too labor-intensive to deliver and service restroom units so far afield,” he says. “We would be working regular contracts while sending three or four of our people to Moncton [two hours away], for example, sometimes for days.”

Go-Johns currently has 239 Five Peaks K2s. From PolyJohn: three PJ3s, four Comfort XL models and two Fleet flushing units. Rounding out the rentals are 14 Armal Inc. units, 10 Global 1.5s by Satellite Industries, two Explorer Single Stations from McKee Technologies and a 612 Royale restroom trailer from Ameri-Can Engineering.

“We’ve also added one Stump from Nature Calls,” says Baxter. “It looks exactly like a redwood tree stump and is designed to fit into natural surroundings – it even has moss on it. We’re determining if there’s a market for it at our forest parks.”

Go-Johns also fields 22 PolyPortables Tag Along hand-wash stations and a mobile hand-wash station from T.S.F. Company. Hand soaps are supplied by Chandler. Deodorizers are supplied by Surco Portable Sanitation Products or Johnny’s Choice by Chemcorp Industries.

The units are hauled on several trailers manufactured by Wayneco, a Truro-based manufacturing company.

IN THE GARAGE

Baird’s vehicle fleet has also expanded significantly, all featuring hot-dip galvanized carbon steel tanks built and assembled by Vacutrux Limited.

On the septic side, Baird’s fields three Internationals. A 2012 7500 offers a 3,800-gallon tank and Wallenstein pump. A 2005 7400 and 2009 7500 are each outfitted with 4,100-gallon waste and 110-gallon freshwater tanks and pumps from Fruitland Manufacturing.

The restroom service fleet, fitted with Wallenstein pumps, includes a 2011 Dodge 5500 featuring a 620-gallon waste/215-gallon freshwater/240-gallon deodorant tank, and a snowplow from Fisher Engineering for tough winter service. A 2012 International Terra Star features a 725-gallon waste/360-gallon freshwater/240-gallon deodorant tank.

A backup fleet includes a 1988 Ford L8000 and a 1995 International 4300, each with Vacutrux Supertrux III tanks and Wallenstein pumps. Delivery vehicles include a 2008 Dodge Dakota and a 2012 Chevrolet 2500. A 1957 GMC half-ton is taken out for parades and special occasions.

WORK SITES TO EVENTS

The backbone of the Go-Johns business is construction rentals. Stringent provincial occupational health and safety regulations have extended requirements for portable restrooms to most construction sites.

“At one point you could have told construction workers to use the service station down the road,” Baird says. “Now portable restrooms are required for everything from road work to single-home construction.”

Major concerts and events typically punctuate the year. Go-Johns has serviced large events, including the 2000 Tall Ships convention in Halifax, and the 2001 “CJ 01” Canadian Scouting Jamboree, an order to supply half of the 370 restrooms required for 19,000 attendees. The company also helped with supply and service at two Rolling Stones concerts – one in Moncton in 2005 and another in Halifax in 2007.

“In addition to weddings and weekend barbecues, we tend to win bids on the same events and fairs year after year, typically about a dozen annually,” says Baird. “We work the Halifax County Exhibition in Middle Musquodoboit, and the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition in Truro with up to 5,000 attendees per event. We also work the annual Dutch Mason Blues Festival in Truro with up to 30,000. Between helping other operators and servicing our own events, we try to keep an inventory of 110 portables in the yard.”

PIONEERING LAGOONS

The company pioneered development of lagoon treatment for waste in 1987 when the Nova Scotia government began to limit land application. “It was quite a task finding the right piece of land and digging test holes,” recalls Baird. “We finally found a site in nearby Green Oaks that had just the right heavy clays.”

However, provincial guidelines on waste lagoons toughened in 2005. Operators faced an average upgrade cost of $300,000 to $400,000 per operation, driving some of them out of business. A provincial government program soon emerged offering to match operator upgrades to a total of $50,000 per year.

“We spent $400,000 over four years and again became fully compliant in 2009,” says Baxter. “We also increased lagoon capacity from 600,000 gallons to 1.8 million gallons and transformed it into a man-made wetland, employing bulrushes and other natural features.”

MARKETING SAVVY

Baird’s maintains an informative website, advertises in the phone book and sponsors a community event feature on local radio – the business has even experimented with television ads. However, an active direct mail program best sells its septic services.

“We don’t use flyer delivery services because they tend to batch up the deliveries which often get thrown straight into the fire pit,” says Baxter. “Postal delivery is more expensive, but we get better results. We concentrate on flyers in the fall, first covering one half of the territory and then the other the following month. The first flyer brings in a lot of work and staggering delivery evens out the workload.”

Baxter says he enjoys working for the business. “Allan is even-handed and treats everyone like family,” he says. “He’s very innovative and is always exploring new options in our sales territory. He’s also very traditional in some ways. A handshake is his contract and he’s quick to help others start up and succeed in the business.”

Baxter has also contributed his own modernizing touch, upgrading the business to a computerized accounting package, Sage 50 by Sage Accounting.

Over the long run, Baxter hopes to build a business Baird will continue to be proud of.

“Allan is in here almost every day, but in his time off he likes to grow things and enjoy life in a different way,” says Baxter. “After 34 years, he’s earned it.”

MORE INFORMATION

Ameri-Can Engineering - 574/892-5151 - www.ameri-can.com

Armal, Inc. - 866/873-7796 - www.armal.biz

Chandler - 800/363-9611 - www.chandlersales.com

Elmira Machine Industries/Wallenstein Vacuum - 800/801-6663 - www.wallenstein.com

Five Peaks - 866/293-1502 - www.fivepeaks.net

Fruitland Manufacturing - 800/663-9003 - www.fruitlandmanufacturing.com

Johnny’s Choice by Chemcorp Industries, Inc. - 888/729-6478 - www.johnnyschoice.com

McKee Technologies - Explorer Trailers - 866/457-5425 - www.explorertrailers.com

Nature Calls - 415/505-4318 - www.naturecalls.com

PolyJohn Canada - 800/465-9590 - www.polyjohncanada.ca

PolyPortables, LLC - 800/241-7951 - www.polyportables.com

Satellite Industries - 800/328-3332 - www.satelliteindustries.com

Surco Products - 800/556-0111 - www.surcopt.com

T.S.F. Company, Inc. - 800/843-9286 - www.tuff-jon.com

Vacutrux Limited - 800/305-4305 - www.vacutrux.com



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