Pandemic or no pandemic, Yellowknife's sanitation workers keep working

It doesn't take long for a house to fill up with sewage.

"If we look at a typical household, we'll do sewage removal pump outs twice a week," said Peter Houweling, the general manager and owner of Kavanaugh Brothers Ltd., which handles garbage and sewage collection for the City of Yellowknife.

"So in a matter of three, four days, a sewage tank could potentially be full. That means you couldn't run any water, couldn't use your toilets."

That makes the work Houweling and his staff do "100 per cent essential," he said — which means going to work even in the middle of a global pandemic.

But Houweling's not complaining.

"We feel lucky and blessed to have work right now," said Houweling. "My heart goes out to the small business owners or any people that might not have a job right now."

"We're just happy to be working."

Fans along the route

With kids stuck at home, Houweling's trucks have never been more popular — they've become a welcome distraction.

That's one reason Houweling has decked out one of his bright red garbage trucks with kids' messages for essential workers.

"It was my wife's amazing idea," he said. "She wanted to just spread some love and positive feelings across town, and give kids something to look at on the truck."

"My favourite is probably Godzilla eating the coronavirus," he said.

There's even one giving thanks to the garbage trucks.

Surge in household waste

The pandemic has also meant a surge in household waste and fewer places to dump it — Yellowknife's city dump has been closed since April 3, and is only offering limited services when it reopens May 4.

All that means lots of work for the city's trash collectors.

"If you have something that can wait and it doesn't need to go into the city landfill or be recycled right at that moment, it'd be a favour to everybody just to hold off on that," Houweling said.

Like other essential businesses, Houweling has had to figure out how to keep operating while preventing possible spread of COVID-19.

"The one big change, obviously, is trying to [physically] distance our workers," said Houweling. "Everyone has different starting times, [and] use different access points. The same guy will drive the same truck, [and] we disinfect any equipment if it is touched by a mechanic."

"We've all been reacting to the situation as best we can. None of us have had practice at a pandemic," he said.

"As long as we remember that, and work together, then we won't be shocking one another."