Tuff Tech Bags Flexible rain barrel with hand pump. Photo by Tuff Tech

 Fire resitant watering vest Photo by TUFF TECH Mobile solutions for moving water. Photo by TUFF TECH

TUFF TECH Bags: the way water Moves... logoAbout TUFF TECH, the company

TUFF TECH Bags: next level of technology to replace plastic tanks. 

The Beginning of TUFF TECH... about five years ago.

Association of Ontario Road Supervisiors logoThe concept of bladder in a truck body came about five years ago when Robert Roszell and a few road superintendents were sitting around at an AORS (Association of Ontario Road Supervisors) meeting. They discussed how they wanted to achieve better utilization of their equipment. This meant using their dump trucks for more winter applications. The TUFF TECH Bag idea was born.

The road superintendents all agreed that the bag would help eliminate many of the problems they had with the hard plastic tanks. Now they would have a tank for their dump trucks and large trailers:

  • with a low center of gravity and much less liquid surge, 

  • which was easy to install (no tailgate removable) and easy to remove, 

  • which was flexible and could be stored in a small space,

  • that was much cheaper to ship, and

  • that has maximum liquid capacity for hauling.

While our bags were first designed for anti-icing, (which is still its main use today) people are now using TUFF TECH bags to: haul water, wash bridge decking, haul sludge, fight fires, pre-wet surfaces, and irrigate and fertilize large areas. New applications crop up every day.

Watch this video posted on You Tube for more details.

     

Robert Rozell, the man behind TUFF TECHRobert Roszell, the man behind TUFF TECH, worked with road supervisors in Ontario, which why he was at the meeting described above.  Even though he runs TUFF TECH these days, he's stayed in the snow and ice industry to effect some changes for the good of the environment.  Here's his essay on the problems in this industry.

Robert feels everything we can do for the environment, the better!  One of the primary reasons he founded TUFF TECH Bags was to offer a viable alternative to hard plastic tanks.  Plastics have a much bigger carbon print than flexible nylon bags, not only from a manufacturing aspect but the shipping, storing, and disposal.  Plastic doesn't decay and will last in our landfills for hundreds of years. 10,000 Tress logo.

Robert is green in other ways as well.  He's planted thousands of trees over the past twenty years in the Rouge River watershed as a member of 10,000 Trees for the Rouge.

When not working Robert likes to canoe and enjoy the great outdoors.

 

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We are looking for a few good dealers for TUFF TECH products.  If our products would work to enhance your business, email us at robert@tufftechbags.com


© TUFF TECH Bags 2011

TUFF TECH Bags
508 Gardenview SquarePickering, 
ON., L1V 4R7

 

Website ideas by: www.Sky-Bolt.com

 

Essay on snow and ice removal practices by Robert Roszell

I have stayed in the snow & ice industry, while I was expecting to get out after starting TUFF TECH. A change is better than a rest they say.

For the past 2 years I have been trying to convince landscapers that liquids are better for the environment than salt.  My anti-ice (applying liquids to roads and parking lots) systems are controlled by a computer for accurate disbursement of liquid and data gathering for litigations.  My computerized system has now been modified to spread granular material on parking lots. This is the first of its kind.  

I have taken on a movement to get parking lot snow plow contractors to be aware of the amount of salt they are applying.  To accomplish this I have been sitting on a snow & ice committee for Landscape Ontario for the past 3 years. 

Each time I bring up the fact they are using too much salt they object.  Finally after many discussions they are listening, especially after the DOT joined the discussion through one of my contacts.  They discussed calibrating the equipment and compared notes on how much was used.  Six contractors agreed that they use 2,000 lbs per acre when the DOT uses 367 lbs per acre—13 times more salt! 

The insurance industry was looking for standards for the salt on parking lots. Belonging to a world wide chat group I sent out a request for any standard salt application rates out there. No one has ever produced standards. The chat group is made up of scientists, road directors and road superintendents.

Their comment was the parking lots were too small and they always contracted the work out. From recent findings private contractors in many areas make up 40% of salt consumption.  Plus parking lots are quite  different than roads for putting salt down.  What came out of all these discussions is that the contractor motto was, “More is better.”

Interesting? They felt that destroying the environment was O.K., if the amount of litigations dropped. 

There is a project underway for this coming winter season to set some standards for treating the parking lots.
The stake holders are Region of Waterloo (Their ground water has been contaminated with the salt.), Landscape Ontario, Road Equipment Links( my company and organizer), Insurance Bureau of Canada, BOMA (property management organization), and several contractors. We are investigating a range of settings that can be used on parking lots for maximum safety with the least amount of salt.

My gut feeling right now is that it will be some where between the two amounts 367 to 2,000 lbs per acre—hopefully much closer to the lower number.  A local university taken on the project using some cooperative students who need research projects.  This third party testing is important to ensure impartial results.

Here's to a greener planet,
Robert