Tank-Cleaning Pros Dive Right In

Using commercial divers, Ron Perrin Water Technologies inspects and cleans potable water tanks. Robert Perrin describes the process and the benefits to Water Online Radio.

Todd Schnick: We are coming to you live from Dallas, Texas. This is day four of AWWA ACE 2012 and Water Online Radio. I am your host, Todd Schnick, joined by my colleague, Todd Youngblood. Todd, we have a great finale coming.

Todd Youngblood: I can feel it already. I can just feel the brainwaves radiating out of this guy.

Todd Schnick: I am really excited to welcome Robert Perrin, who is a Sales Rep with Ron Perrin Water Technologies. Welcome to the show Robert.

Robert: Thank you.

Todd Schnick: Before we get into it, Robert, take a second to tell us about you and your background.

Robert: I am Robert Perrin with Ron Perrin Water Technologies, and we inspect and clean water storage tanks and towers using an underwater camera so that there is no disruption in your service. And we also do underwater cleanings using scuba divers.

I have been with the company for about three years now and working for my father. Eventually, I will inherit the company and try to do as good a job as he does.

Todd Youngblood: That is probably going to be tough shoes to fill. I worked for my father for a number of years. Somehow he was more demanding of me than most other humans.

Todd Schnick: I worked for my father and, frankly, that is why I am in radio. Talk about your customer base and the kind of folks that you are focusing on – your market.

Robert: We usually work for a lot of cities and municipalities and do mostly Texas and the surrounding states. We have done a few odd jobs in California and Pennsylvania. We like to travel.

Todd Schnick: We have done quite a few shows at water and water-related businesses, and this is the first time that I’ve heard reference to a scuba diver. Is that unusual, or is it just the fact that we haven’t heard about it?

Robert: I think that there are a few guys here with scuba divers, or line air commercial divers, is what I should have said. There are a couple of guys doing that. If you don’t get out and talk to them it is hard to find them.

Todd Schnick: Help me understand…describe a scenario by which you would need a commercial diver. I can’t envision how that works or even why you would need to do that.

Robert: For instance, say you have a water pump system and somebody somehow drops a rake in that system and they just can’t fish it out with the line, they would have to hire some commercial divers to go in and fish it out for them.

We also clean the sediment inside the tanks. If you have a lot of sediment buildup in your water storage tanks, we can go in and vacuum it out. It is pretty much situations like that.

Todd Youngblood: How do you help your customers figure out when they need your services? I would think it cannot be some set schedule for everyone. It has to be dependent on the physical location, the age of the infrastructure, and all kinds of things like that?

Robert: In the state of Texas, the TCQA/TCQ requires that you inspect your tank once a year. They have no policies on the removal of the sediment, but it is best for the quality of the water to remove that as well. That is what we like to push for. We definitely meet all of the requirements for the inspections.

Todd Schnick: ACE 2012 – how has the show been going for you? What were your goals and objectives coming into this show, and how has that panned out?

Robert: We were basically here trying to talk to clients and getting jobs. We have been talking to a lot of sales reps and trying to make connections with them so that we can do business in the future. On a personal level, I really enjoyed it just for the amount of free beer and swag.

Todd Schnick: The swag rocks with the button that you are about to get.

Todd Youngblood: Talk a little about the financial implications of what you do. Obviously, your customers are required by state regulations, for example, to have inspections done. What impact can you have on the financial performance of your customers?

Robert: In a financial sense, the inspections are going to cost a little money for us to do it, but it is going to save them time when we do it instead of them doing it because they probably don’t want to climb up on tanks. That is really what we get paid for, the climbing and the danger.

Todd Schnick: Let’s shift focus for a minute and go up to 10,000 feet and look down on the water industry as a whole. What does the Ron Perrin Water Technology see as the really big important trends coming down the pike in the next 3 to 5 years?

Robert: Getting clean water for everyone is the main focus.

Todd Youngblood: Robert, I am a little bit curious of the technologies and the tools – the physical tools that you use to clean a tank. I picture a scuba diver with a scrub brush. I am sure that it is a little more sophisticated than that.

Robert: It’s not that sophisticated. We just use a giant pump connected to a long hose and we make our own wide tips and funnel tips. We just suck the sediment off of the bottom of the tank.

Todd Schnick: Robert, we are about out of time. Before we let you go, how can people get in touch with you and, more importantly, where can they learn about all of the good works that Ron Perrin Technologies is doing?

Robert: Visit our website at www.ronperrin.com and visit our blog at www.ronperrin.us.

Todd Schnick: Oustanding. Robert Perrin, Sales Rep at Ron Perrin Water Technologies, it was great to have you. Thank you for joining us.

Robert: Thank you, guys.

Todd Schnick: That wraps this segment. On behalf of our guest, Robert Perrin, my co-host, Todd Youngblood, and all of us here at Water Online Radio, I am Todd Schnick. We will be right back with our next guest.