Existing trucking companies within the County of Paintearth could have the opportunity to expand their business.
County council heard this news during their Nov. 16, 2021 council meeting where three members of Killick Leadership Group presented the findings of a water-hauling prospectus the county had commissioned.
The findings stem from a survey completed by Killick earlier in 2021, saying that ratepayers would support such a service. Unfortunately, only 11 surveys were completed resulting in insufficient data to truly establish what the demand would be.
However, with the county-operated truck-fill stations seeing high demand — higher than population growth would indicate — Kathy Goulet of Killick Leadership Group feels that a water hauling business in the county would be a good side line for an existing trucking company, for several reasons.
First, at least a few residents want the service, according to Goulet.
Second, in their research, the Killick Group was unable to find any current water-haulers within the confines of the county, though Chief Administrative Officer Michael Simpson subsequently confirmed that there are at least two that haul part-time.
Third, thanks to the Shirley McClellen Regional Water Services Commission waterline which runs through the county, there is an ample water supply for potential haulers.
A final point, according to Goulet, is “water is an absolute necessity.”
One thing that took Killick Group by surprise in the development of the prospectus was the ratepayer request for county subsidies for water hauling in the region.
“People feel very strongly about water,” said Bobbi-Sue Menard, another of the prospectus’s authors.
Due to the county not being densely populated, the report highlighted that a standalone water-hauling business likely would not be viable.
“Long story short, we learned that while (water) is a precious resource, there’s a pain point for consumers who don’t want to pay to have it hauled,” said Simpson in a follow-up email.
“We see that there are a pair of companies in Paintearth that haul (water ) part time … There could be room for their business to grow if they looked at the data, which we will also make available to them.”