When Brock Peel and Brad Corey put their heads and expertise together in 2022, they realized their area was underserved for septic system installation, service and pumping.

Sure, these systems were being installed and pumped, but no single company was focused on the septic business full time. Launched in Midland, Ontario in 2023, Canadian Sanitation has already carved out a healthy market niche by concentrating on professionalism and top-notch service.

Peel, now 29, was a licensed heavy equipment mechanic with an equipment dealer. His background includes residential construction. He launched his own excavation company in 2021. When septic system installation became the primary focus of the business, he passed the provincial exam to become a licensed septic system installer. That certificate also allows him to design systems his company installs.

Corey, 28, met Peel working in the parts department of the same equipment dealer. In 2020 a pump truck owner dropped off a truck for repairs, but COVID delayed a parts shipment. The owner decided he would order a new truck instead.

“I always had a business plan to open a pumping company,” Corey says. “I was mechanically inclined, so I bought the truck and refurbished it over two months. I worked my shift from 6 a.m. to 2:30 each day, and pumped from 2:30 p.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. It took off like crazy. After an insane six months I left my job and started Corey’s Pumping Service full time.”

To go along with pumping, he bought a mini-excavator and began to offer septic system repairs and small installs. He worked with Peel on a few installations and the pair soon decided that working together made a lot of sense. While Corey would bring his on-the-ground installation, repair, inspection and pumping expertise, Peel would bring his experience in excavation, residential construction, design, permitting, sales and marketing.

“There are no septic industry specialists in our area,” says Peel. “Most other excavators dig basements, build decks and do landscaping. Septic is a sideline. At the same time, regulations around these systems are becoming tighter and the systems are becoming more complex. You need to do this on a regular basis to become proficient.”

A New Start

Both companies merged into Canadian Sanitation in early 2023 with a mission to offer full service, from pumping, design and installation to repairs and inspections. They started off in Peel’s excavation yard, but eventually the partners bought a new facility in Midland, a town of about 20,000 people, located 80 miles north of Toronto.

Part of the area’s cottage country region, the population grows to 100,000 during summer months. Most of the area surrounding the town is served by septic systems.

The company’s service area ranges about a 50-mile radius from Midland. For installations, the company is willing to go further — about 80 miles from home.

Though pumping is a big asset to the company, the current majority of their work is septic system installation, maintenance and repair. Canadian Sanitation is one of the few companies in the region to answer its phone 24/7 and to take emergency service calls at night and on weekends.

The company continues to operate the pump truck Corey refurbished, a 2004 M21 Freightliner with a 3,600-gallon carbon steel tank and a Moro pump built out by CUSCO Fabricators (now Hi-Vac). Canadian Sanitation also brokers a second pump truck provided by a third-party owner-operator.

“It’s a problem finding good drivers,” Corey says. “You can drive a dump truck in the area with no physical labor required and get paid the same. Our contracted pumper has the owner-operator mentality. His equipment’s nice and he’s got his name on the side of the truck. The level of customer care and quality is obvious.”

Challenges

The owners note, however, that the competitive landscape in the area is currently lopsided. That’s because newer pumping companies must dispose of their septic waste at waste treatment facilities, while older companies — some in business for as many as 40 years — have a grandfathered right to land-apply septic waste.

At the same time, the Midland treatment facility recently stopped accepting waste from pumpers, so the nearest facility is now located in Aurora, more than an hour’s drive south.

“For nongrandfathered pumping companies, this means costs will rise,” says Corey.

Canadian Sanitation’s construction fleet includes a 2022 Hyundai HX130 LCR crawler excavator and a 2017 Bobcat E50 mini-excavator, in addition to a 2022 and 2024 Bobcat T66 compact track loader. The company’s dump truck is a 1999 Western Star 5864SS.

Equipment maintenance is outsourced, although the yard includes a mobile pressure washer to keep vehicles spotless.

The company’s septic suppliers include Waterloo Biofilter Systems and Eljen Corporation. Newmarket Pre-Cast Concrete Products is Canadian Sanitation’s exclusive tank provider. Additional products are purchased through North Supply Inc. 

The Ontario Building Code determines septic system design for the province, but local municipalities can specify additional requirements. Some municipalities allow balanced systems that average out daily flow rates while others don’t. Waterfront properties in surrounding Simcoe County require nitrogen-reducing systems. Negotiating these differences requires a thorough knowledge of local codes.

ATUs Dominate

About 65% of the company’s installs use Waterloo Biofilter advanced treatment units. 

Since the COVID pandemic, many new residents have sold their city homes and moved to their cottages full time, adding bathrooms and bedrooms in the process. Following the additions, some properties no longer have room for a traditional drainage bed. New homes are also going up on smaller waterfront lots.

“That’s where we’ve found our niche as Waterloo Biofilter experts,” Peel says. “If you’re building a 4,000-square-foot house on a quarter-acre lot on high-density clay soil, your septic bed can easily be half the size of the property. With a Waterloo Biofilter system, we can bring that bed down to one-fifth the size.”

While all ATUs come with maintenance contracts, Peel says he likes Waterloo Biofilter because it offers an in-house service department, instead of contracting with third-party maintenance providers.

And of course, installing more septic systems means more pumping business.

The company has also experienced temporary local shortages of filter sand in nearby quarries, requiring trucks to make four-hour round trips to the closest reliable source. The costs of transportation and material are also major considerations when the company travels by barge to serve customers on nearby islands.

The business currently employs three additional people: a heavy equipment operator with septic system installation experience carried over from Peel’s original excavation business, plus a second operator. An administrative employee who handles dispatch also pinch-hits as a dump truck driver and can perform septic system inspections.

Top Honors

After just one year in business, Canadian Sanitation was voted the 2023-24 Septic Business of the Year by the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association.

“We were doing well with clients, but there are some big and serious players in Ontario that are doing septic systems,” Peel says. “We were definitely surprised that we had developed that much of a reach and reputation in a short amount of time.”

Plans for the future include building out the team and expanding service offerings.

“We’re installing some of the largest residential systems out there,” Peel says. “Our goal is to start getting into more commercial systems down the road. We may launch a separate division that can handle some of these larger $1-2 million systems.” 

The partners continue to stress that they operate a service business and that every team member must offer a high level of professionalism. 

“We need to be respectful of the money that people are investing in us,” Peel says. “We want customers to understand quality is as important as price. We stand behind our work and if there are any issues, we’re not going to leave them in the dark.”