Good Fish Lake, located on the White Fish Lake Reservation about 200 kilometers northeast of Edmonton, is among several commercial laundries to serve a ballooning oil industry in what is known as the oil sands of Alberta. This year, the oil sands are expected to produce 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, roughly equal to the production of Texas, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Oil production in Alberta has leaped 61 percent in just four years – creating a huge demand for workers, and subsequently, a method for cleaning their laundry.

Residing in temporary trailer housing in the wilderness of Alberta’s oil sands country, thousands of oil workers rely on Good Fish Lake to clean soiled coveralls, sheets and towels. On their own, workers launder personal items at small laundries located at their camps.

BOOSTING LAUNDRY PRODUCTION
To keep pace with the volume of laundry generated by workers in the oil sands, Good Fish Lake recently doubled in size and production, thanks to help from Coronet Equipment (Coronet). A laundry equipment distributorship in Edmonton, Alberta, Coronet outfitted Good Fish Lake’s new 17,000-square-foot facility with Continental soft-mount laundry equipment and a water-saving reuse system. The laundry also features three drycleaning machines, specifically in place to remove tar, gas and oil from coveralls.

“Good Fish Lake is under the gun all the time with production,” says Coronet Sales Manager Brad Rosin, who has served the commercial laundry for more than a decade. Each week, 10,000 to 15,000 pairs of coveralls are retrieved from the bush and returned to oil workers at Fort McMurray. Similarly, the laundry washes, finishes and folds tons of sheets. Altogether, Good Fish Lake processes 300,000 pounds of laundry per week – all in the name of oil and gas.
Equipment Mix

To get the job done, the laundry relies on advanced cleaning equipment, including: one 250-, four 90-, and two 130-pound capacity Continental Washer-Extractors; two 175- and four 125-pound capacity Continental Drying Tumblers with Energenics lint filtration; a single roll, 32-inch Continental Flatwork Ironer with a Braun folder and stacker; and three 135- and one 165-pound capacity Multimatic drycleaning machines. The facility also relies on a Cissell laundry press, utility press and Suzie Form Finisher.