If there isn’t an off-the-shelf piece of equipment to address a challenge related to the services his company provides, Joe Schotthoefer will be in his shop at Doetsch Environmental Services in Warren, MI, working on it. Next thing you know, the vice president of operations has designed and fabricated something like the HyJector, used with the Grand Volumetric Recycler (GVR) to clean large-diameter and long-reach sewer pipes. Debris slurry is conveyed through the GVR vacuum. The debris is separated and the water sent to the HyJector, which provides final filtration and the ability to pressurize the water, sending it through the cleaning hose to the cleaning head to repeat the process. Coupling the two pieces enables the company to continuously clean sewers up to 6,000 feet long in all conditions, reclaiming and recycling sewer water, and vacuuming continuously to prevent blow-by. Schotthoefer represents the fifth generation of a family (who, with brother Sean, is the son of Diann Doetsch) that has been addressing industrial cleaning challenges since it began in 1898 as a plumbing and heating operation emphasizing sewer cleaning. Today, the company provides services in large-diameter sewer cleaning, pipeline inspection, catch basin cleaning, hydro-excavation, water main jetting, industrial vacuuming, liquid hauling, erosion control, pneumatic conveyance, and water blasting.
What He Does Day to Day
In a family business, one often wears many hats—or, as in Schotthoefer’s case, many uniforms. At trade shows and exhibitions, he’s dressed in a coat and an orange tie. On the jobsite, he’s dressed head to toe with a hard hat, a uniform with his name permanently sewn on, and steel-toed boots. Sometimes he’ll don waders and a safety harness. In the fabrication shop, he’s wearing a blue welding uniform.
“I have a passion and desire for what I do and will always remain hands-on,” notes Schotthoefer. These days, he’s responsible for cultivating the company’s newest dedicated service: large-diameter and long-reach sewer cleaning. It starts with making the sale, promoting Doetsch, getting the work, fabricating the necessary equipment, training with the crew, and performing the task toward the goal of gaining the client’s respect and satisfaction. He’ll use one project as a building block toward innovating and increasing efficiencies for the next project.
What Led Him to This Line of Work?
Schotthoefer entered the family business at a young age sweeping floors, washing trucks, and doing other general busy work. “I was always fascinated by the equipment and began to assist the mechanics,” he notes. “In those early years, quality wasn’t what it is today. The constant maintenance of these trucks was extreme. I received an early hands-on education on what made them work,” he says. He applied the principles of his mechanical engineering degree, witnessing instant results. At that point, he knew he wanted to be an applied engineer. His duties expanded from equipment maintenance and making small modifications to full-scale construction of cleaning equipment “that can accomplish what no one considered possible,” he says.
What He Likes Best About His Job
“My job is an adventure,” says Schotthoefer. “The race to differentiate and seek new markets has proven to be an exciting time. While we have a long, rich history and steadfast reputation, I’m fully aware we are service contractors and only as good as yesterday’s project.” He finds it immensely rewarding to “dream
a solution” to a problem, then build it (and paint it orange), especially when it was something that did not exist until he created it. Schotthoefer credits the help of his family members, managers, field crews, and shop staff for making it possible.
His Greatest Challenge
Time is his biggest challenge: The downside of being busy and successful is finding time to continue to explore ideas and dream the solutions necessary to meet industry needs, Schotthoefer says. “I’m still working on my time machine, but that won’t be complete for quite a few years, so I continue to work with staff and crews to encourage responsibility to take on tasks that allow me more time to work on ideas,” he says. “It is rewarding to see these individuals who once thought they were unqualified for a task to assume that role with fervor.”
Carol Brzozowski specializes in topics related to stormwater and technology.
