Waste and Water Logistics expands its services to grow

When Jesse and Margie McCourt started Waste and Water Logistics in 2003 they knew there was a need for the services they were providing, but they learned there were a lot other needs in the community that their original plan did not include. They expanded, and today they continue to look for new areas of service.
At the Castle Country Business Expansion and Retention general board meeting on August 17 Dominic Ibanez, from the company, gave a presentation that gave the history and the present day operations of Waste and Water Logistics.
“Before Jesse started this business he was working for Nelco,” said Ibanez. “At the time he requested of the company that was provided their Porta Potty service that they supply hand sanitizer and a little bit higher standards. That company basically refused. Jesse started looking into it, and he started researching at some of the conventions and shows that were out there. At that point they decided to start a business.”
The business began as a part time endeavor. McCourt continued to work for Nelco Construction, and he labored to do both jobs. In their original investment, they started with 26 toilets and a service truck that Jesse designed and built at his house. To do it they took out a mortgage on their house, and they cashed in Jesse’s 401k.
By the end of 2003, the company was up to about 75 units. It was at that time that Jesse backed down from Nelco to take on his business full time. But it still wasn’t quite enough revenue even though he was working more than full time, so he took an evening job working for Savage.
By 2005 the business was really taking off and he saw the need for equipment that was heavy duty, and more industrial to take care of the septic pumping and Porta Potty business. Suddenly being in the business of pumping out septic tanks and sumps, he found himself so busy that he hired his first employee.
Ibanez says that the company honors core family values.
By 2004, it was trademark time, and “I Got Poop” became the logo.
In 2007, they bought a trucking company in Roosevelt. That company was mainly a potable water hauling company. That added business and business contacts in Duchesne county. The company had contracts they served throughout the basin and he was able to up sell his other services such as the roll off dumpsters and, of course, the portable toilet service. At that point they were up to four employees.
From that time the business took off. In 2008, the company required hiring two crews running seven days a week. But the downturn in the energy fields in the Basin hurt the business eventually, going from servicing 32 drill rigs in 2008 to only four in 2009.
“In 2009 we had a rough year, but we always pull through,” said Ibanez. “Jesse is a resilient person. He had put together enough business lines that we were able to get through it. We had commercial, residential and industrial lines and they were strong enough to keep us going.”
In 2009-10 the company started to put together its shop in Helper.
. “But there was a problem. There was not sewer system in that part of Helper and he made the investment to pay for the installation of that to that area of town, ” said Ibanez.
The system now services all of that part of Helper and could handle up to 800 homes.
Up until that point all of the waste that was hauled had to go to the Price River Water Improvement District’s waste water treatment plant.
“We were putting on a lot of extra miles and extra hours hauling the loads there,” stated Ibanez. “The logistics made it tough. We had to deal with their schedule and times.”
With the system installed and the waste treatment facility inside the shop the firm does not have to worry about what times they can work or when they come back in from a job.
“We were able to cut our disposal costs by 85 percent by installing that treatment system in the building,” he said. “The cost of installing it was paid for very fast because of what we saved,” explained McCourt.
The building has its own service shop whereas before all the work was sent out.
Part of that project was funded through efforts with BEAR for a Fast Track grant. McCourt said that it was their first BEAR grant and the company got $50,000 to offset some of the costs.
“The dewatering equipment cost almost $200,000 and so the grant helped a great deal,” he stated. “It paid about 25 percent of the project.”
Ibanez said that Jesse is always looking for more ways to expand the company and for new technology to serve customers. People may know them for their porta potties, but many have found they are also there when they need them for sewer emergencies.
“In 2014 he got a phone call from some residents that they had sewer problems, and they had had plumbers come and that they couldn’t solve it,” said Ibanez. “The problem was old pipe and root intrusion.”
The traditional solution to the problem was to dig up the line and replace it clear out to the main. But Jesse had seen a new technology that he thought would be better, quicker and less costly for the owners of the property. It was basically a trench less line service. Waste and Water Logistics has a system that is called a pipe burster. The companies personnel dig a hole near where the line enters the main and then dig a hole either along the foundation of the house or in the basement where the line runs. Then they insert a device that looks like an arrowhead. It follows the track of the old pipe pushing it apart while a new sewer line is drawn behind it. The new pipe is heat welded together with no joints. That way tree roots, one of the most common problems that homeowners have when their lines become plugged, can’t get in.
“With that investment there was supposed to come some training, but it needed to be used right away, so Jesse and his crew watched some YouTube videos, did some internet research, spoke on the phone with the company and was able to complete the job,” said Ibanez.
The 126 feet of line was replaced with a larger pipe because the arrowhead cuts the old pipe and pushes it to the side. To dig the line up and replace it would have cost over $25,000 because it was covered by concrete and asphalt. Instead it cost the people under $10,000. They started at 9 a.m. and were gone by 6 p.m. All that was left to do was patch the concrete and the asphalt where the holes were dug. Since that first job, the company has done hundreds of jobs with that equipment.
The company provides other services including the demolition of septic systems and installation of new ones. They rent out Conex containers for storage and install temporary chain link fencing for construction sites and other venues. They provide camera inspections for sewer and septic systems.
Innovation has been the key to the business. For instance the company went from dedicated trucks for dumpsters, potable water tanks and septic tanks. Now the company uses skids with hook trucks so the truck itself can be changed out to serve several duties.
Another service the company recently started is to provide a cement washout service. Contractors used to wash out concrete trucks on site, but now it needs to be contained. Now the company takes it back and recycles the material washed out of those trucks.
Restoration and cleanup is a new service they offer. Recently they cleaned up a state institutional lands site where a lessee had left a mess, and the company contracted to clean up junk and hazardous materials. The company also did some of the restoration work on the Carbon Power Plant site when the building was taken down.
The company continues to grow.
“We have a poster hanging in our office that I like,” said Ibanez. “It says the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing and the love of work is success. I really believe that is the basis of Waste and Water Logistics.”