Jobs are few and far between in the rural northeast corner of Iowa. Chad Ness spent 17 years working a factory job he did not enjoy. He finally found a solution that not only helped him, but was a benefit to his town of 4,000 when he saw a need for septic services and portable sanitation. “There really wasn’t anyone around here doing it,” he says.

In January 2007, he started a business, Ness Pumping Service & Porta-Potty Rentals, with 15 portable restrooms (Satellite Industries), a 2000 Ford F‑350, a 315-gallon waste/135-gallon freshwater slide-in tank and Conde pump (Westmoor Ltd.) built out by Satellite, and a 1996 International 4900 vacuum truck built out by Imperial Industries with a 2,500-gallon steel tank and National Vacuum Equipment pump.

To get his new business off the ground he placed ads with the local newspaper, phone book and radio station. “My cousin Chris (Ness) lettered up the trucks really nice and we made them look the best we could,” he says.

Having had no experience in the industry, Ness had to rely on the trial-and-error approach for figuring out how to do everything. He had the full support of his family, including wife, Diana and their children Colin, Evan, Leslie and Carter, then ages 9 to 16. He worked the night shift at the factory, Colin drove a truck and the other kids rode along with Diana to clean units on the weekends. By summer, they were up to 56 restrooms. 

“And then it got really busy really fast,” Ness says. A few years later, when he saw another needed service in town, he added party rental equipment.

Today, the company has 750 units and everyone in the family is working full time for the business. Ness quit his factory job in 2009, and in 2022 Diana and Leslie gave up their daycare business. Colin’s wife Kayla and Carter’s wife Rachel are also on board. And it’s now Colin’s kids who are riding along in the trucks — Liam (6), Clayton (4) and Waylon (1). Other family and friends help out as needed.

THE WORKSHOP

The Ness family 12-acre property outside Waukon, Iowa is headquarters for the business. In 2017 they built a 60-by-180-foot shop, then added a wing in 2022. The building has space for equipment storage, an office, a wash bay and a storeroom.

A unique feature of the shop is six concrete storage tanks from Al’s Concrete Products underneath the floor with a combined capacity of 20,000 gallons.

“We collect all the rainwater off the roof,” Ness explains. “It goes into the gutters then to the tanks. That is what we use to wash our equipment, the trucks, tents. It’s also used for cleaning the inside of the toilets and for charging them up.” He thought it seemed wasteful to use good well water for these purposes. Even before they built the shop, they were collecting and storing rainwater in outdoor tanks.

Ness says it doesn’t take much moisture before it starts to accumulate. It could be anything from a fine mist to snow melt. “Every morning, when there’s a heavy dew, as the sun comes out, you can hear that water running in the tanks. If you figured up your square footage, it’s crazy how many gallons of water you can get off a roof. You’d be really surprised. A one-inch rain would fill all our tanks.” Only twice over the years have they had to haul in water.

The company can also store septage on the property before a hauler takes it for land application at Iowa Department of Natural Resources-approved sites. Nearby municipal treatment plants take portable restroom but not septic waste.

THREE SERVICE LINES

The company works within an 80-mile radius of Waukon, which also covers the southeast corner of Minnesota where they limit their services to portable sanitation and party supplies.

Septic work includes pumping tanks, time-of-transfer inspections and minor repairs. Ness and his sons are certified inspectors. They use risers from Al’s Concrete Products and Swales Precast. Equipment includes a RIDGID SeeSnake camera and SeekTech locator. Ness says they service a few advanced/alternative systems but there are not a lot in the area.

The party rental business began in 2011 when an opportunity came their way. “Nobody here was doing tables and chairs but there was an older couple doing tents,” Ness says. “They came to us and wanted to know if we would buy them out.” Ness started with seven tents but quickly bought more and soon added tables and chairs. They now have 30 tents in varying sizes, 400 tables (round and rectangular) and 4,000 chairs.

On the portable restroom side, Ness says there is a lot of construction going on in their area. They also provide equipment for family gatherings such as weddings, funerals, mitzvahs and graduations, as well as town fairs, festivals and other activities in Waukon and neighboring communities. Event season starts with the St. Patrick’s Day parade in March and ends in December with the Christmas parade. And they not only service the parades but participate in them. Last Christmas they won the “best float” award for their National Lampoon-themed float featuring their septic truck and trailer.

A fun event they service when it runs through their area is the annual bike race across Iowa known as RAGBRAI sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. And they provide units for agricultural plot days during which farmers gather to learn about new products and techniques in their industry and talk to vendors.

In addition to their 750 standard units, the company has 40 wheelchair-accessible units and 50 hand-wash stations. Inventory is from Satellite and J&J Portable Sanitation Products. All are pressure-washed and disinfected weekly. Deodorant products are from J&J. Their seven hauling trailers in various sizes were company built.

Work continues in the winter for construction projects. They use calcium chloride in the restroom tanks and wash with methanol. “We also do a lot of jetting for frozen lines and plugged sewers,” Ness says. And, of course, they use that time to perform maintenance on equipment and vehicles.

THE FLEET

The portable sanitation fleet includes six 2018-2021 Dodge 4500 and 5500s with Masport HXL4 pumps. Two are from Imperial with 600-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater steel tanks, one is from Advance Pump & Equipment with a 900-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater aluminum tank, and three were built out by Advance with 540-gallon waste/260-gallon freshwater stainless steel tanks and have a third compartment (150 gallons) for carrying methanol in the winter and water in the summer.

Three older vacuum trucks are used for backup — a 2001 Dodge 3500 from Imperial with a 600-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and Masport pump, a 2001 Ford F‑350 from Satellite with a 600-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater slide-in steel tank and Conde pump, and a 1996 International 4700 from Imperial with a 600-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater slide-in steel tank and Masport pump.

A custom-built 2023 addition to the fleet serves double duty, Ness says. It’s a 2022 Dodge 5500 built out by Advance with a 650-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater stainless steel tank, Masport HXL4 pump and an Aarcomm remote control system. “But this truck will also double as our jetter truck and can haul our camera,” he says. “So we can clean units or use it in the winter for jetting frozen or plugged sewers.”

The company’s three septic trucks were built by Advance Pump & Equipment and are outfitted with National Vacuum Equipment 4307 and 4310 blowers and cabinet jetters — a 2021 Western Star 4700SF with a 4,000-gallon aluminum tank, a 2014 Kenworth T400 with a 3,500-gallon steel tank, and a 2014 Peterbilt 337 with a 2,500-gallon aluminum tank. Trucks have recently been outfitted with remote control systems from Aarcomm Systems. “You can open the gate on the truck, start the pump, pull the hose out and run everything,” Ness says.

A FAMILY BUSINESS

Challenges are a part of any business and Ness has had his share. Some were in his control (learning the industry, finding customers, keeping up with demand), some were not (COVID). But he’s been resilient and determined. The current challenge is the rising costs of fuel, disposal and insurance. “Everything has doubled,” Ness says. “But we’re not able to double our prices.”

But being able to work with his family and not having to punch a clock any more is well worth any difficulties. “There’s something to be said for being your own boss,” he says. “And we offer a very good service. We’re well known in a lot of areas because of that and the cleanliness of our toilets.”

Ness is proud he now has a business that provides a good livelihood for everyone in his family, and he gives them credit for its success. “If it wasn’t for the family, it wouldn’t be what it is,” he says. “We’d be a lot smaller if it was just me and Diana. When I started this, it was just a dream and then we all worked together and made it happen.”