A recently established Bonnyville company aims to make life more comfortable for the oil patch. King Kans started producing luxury portable washrooms that are going over well in a market ready to change the way of handling waste.
“The product has been exciting to develop and we're excited where it can go,” co-developer Bob Jack explains.
“We realize that this oil field is going to be energetic for some time and we want to be part of that.”
The units are equipped with air conditioning for hot summer months and electric heating capable of enduring temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius.
The company sold five units to an oil company operating in the region recently. Several oil companies participated in consultations with developers Jack and Bryan Kopala.
“They want something unique. They want something cleaner. We're coming to a part of our lives where we need to be more efficient for the workers,” says Kopala. “The oil patch is asking for them.”
Demand for the units has come from more than the oil industry. John Mysyk, who runs Mystyk Productions Inc. in Winnipeg, has worked with Kopala for six years, but says the King Kans is the best he's seen.
He is particularly impressed with the portability and compactness of the new units, as well as with the heating, which helps with filming outdoors.
“It's a lot tighter of a unit. It's far more efficient, every inch counts. There's no point in hauling stuff around that's dead weight.”
Mysyk plans to provide King Kans for four feature movies, three stadium shows, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and one television series this year.
King Kans will also rent several of its units to the Ponoka Stampede and the Camrose Big Valley Jamboree this summer. Terry Jones has been a director of the Ponoka Stampede for 25 years.
“It seems like people want nicer facilities,” he says. “We like to look after people the best we can, so that's why we've gone with them. Bryan's very good to deal with. He believes in giving very good service.”
Prior to King Kans, Kopala experimented with finding the perfect design for the product he had in mind.
Maria Mella, office manager for the Camrose Big Valley Jamboree, rented the predecessor to the King Kans. She says the new product is ideal for VIPs at the festival.
“The woman just love it because it's clean. It's not your traditional porta-potty.”
The King Kans feature running water and flushing toilets. Kopala dreamed of the idea 15 years ago and in August he and Jack started work on a prototype. Now the company is seeking out franchisers to spread the success of the product.
Recently the local company demonstrated its product at Rivard's Auctioneering in Bonnyville. Paulette Rivard says the product, which was reserved for women only, “was awesome to have, especially when it's cool out.”
“To keep a plant or keep a construction site or an oilfield site operational, washrooms are equally as important as the generator and every other thing that's out there," says Jack.
The units feature a double back door for safety and security reasons: the main door locks to protect the unit's electronics from weather. A small door along the bottom of the unit provides easy access to the holding tank.
All doors are air tight to make the heating and cooling systems optimally efficient. King Kans is also exploring the possibility of making solar powered units.
A network of Albertan businesses, including Stettler, Lacombe, Lloydminister, Blackfoot, Ponoka, Edmonton, and Bonnyville provide components for the King Kans.
Bruce Harvine Welding assembles the shell of the unit in Ponoka.
“I think they've got a pretty good item there,” Harvine says. “There's a big market there. We're hoping to be part of that.”
Hobblestone Enterprises in Blackfoot cast a new tank for the product. Geordie's Wood Working in Lloydminister makes the vanities.
Jack says buying close to home might cost more, but that “our whole thought was to be Canadian made, and as much from Alberta as possible.”
King Kans Mobile Solutions manufactures the units while King Kans Rentals Inc. manages and rents out the units.
Kopala is no stranger to waste management. His grandfather established Kopala Septic Tank Service, where he started working when he was nine.
Jack designed the Nelson Truss bracket and also worked on designing tank boxes for Husky.
The team kept quiet on the project until recently when patents for the design were secured. So far they've built 16 units, but they see potential for hiring assembly staff in the future to meet market demand.