From “We Squeeze the Poop” to Space Shuttle Parts: Inside Charter Machine’s Municipal Empire

From “We Squeeze the Poop” to Space Shuttle Parts: Inside Charter Machine’s Municipal Empire

“What do you make?”
“We squeeze the poop.”

In this episode of Manufacturing Runs The World, Justin sits down with Christopher Boyd, Sales Director at Charter Machine (Metuchen, NJ) — a 100,000-sq-ft manufacturer that builds the belt filter presses and dewatering systems keeping America’s water clean. If you’ve ever flushed and not thought twice, this is the hidden industrial story behind that modern miracle.

Charter Machine is 99% municipal. Their equipment thickens and presses sludge (aka the “bugs” that clean wastewater) so cities can safely dispose of biosolids and send clean water back to rivers and lakes. They’ve even supplied 24 presses for Milwaukee’s Jones Island plant—where those biosolids become the garden-famous fertilizer sold at home improvement stores. And yes, your tomatoes love it.

But Charter’s story goes way beyond sludge. The company also machines trunnions for the crawler-transporters that moved the Space Shuttle to the launch pad. This is a classic American manufacturing tale: family ownership, deep precision chops, and a wild twist of fate that reshaped the business.

The plot twist: Hurricane → Acquisition → Reinvention

In the early 2000s, Hurricane Ivan flooded Roediger’s Pittsburgh facility. Charter, already machining critical components, stepped in to build entire machines from muddy drawings and salvaged parts—power-washing stainless frames in the parking lot and keeping customers running. When the dust settled, Charter acquired the tech, IP, and team, and folded that capability into New Jersey, becoming a top U.S. builder of municipal dewatering systems. It’s the kind of “do the hard thing, then own the outcome” move that defines resilient manufacturers.

Real applications beyond cities
While municipal is the core, Charter’s presses also show up in:

• Poultry & hog processing: capturing solids from plant effluent (yes, beaks/eyeballs do come up).
• Dairy & livestock: cow waste management for cleaner operations.
• Green energy: squeezing biomass to increase feedstock efficiency for digesters that produce methane → electricity.
• Food processing: thickening streams like green bell pepper waste before disposal or reuse.

If you run a plant (or a city), here’s what you’ll learn:
• How belt filter presses work and where they sit in the treatment train (final “bug pressing” step).
• Spec’ing for uptime: materials, rollers, belts, and alignment that make 30-year service realistic.
• Total lifecycle economics: why dewatering reliability beats cheap capex.
• Staffing reality: training operators/techs, the role of reps across all 50 states, and how small teams cover huge territories.
• Startup advice on a $50K budget: keep overhead ruthless, make your books lendable, balance sales vs. fixed costs, and grow deliberately.

Chapters

0:00 Cold open — “We squeeze the poop” (and Space Shuttle trunnions)
0:47 Welcome & what Charter Machine actually builds
1:50 The Metuchen, NJ plant: 100,000 sq ft, steel in → machines out
3:15 From graphic/printing rewinders to precision rollers
5:02 The Hurricane Ivan story: cleaning parts in the parking lot → full machines
7:05 Acquisition of technology/IP and a 20-year run in municipal dewatering
8:40 U.S. footprint: reps in all 50 states (+ Canada & Mexico)
9:35 Milwaukee’s Jones Island: 24 presses and biosolids into garden gold
11:10 Non-municipal wins: poultry, hogs, food waste, digesters
12:20 The skills gap: 25+ retirements, $50–$70/hr trades, real career ladders
14:02 Wastewater careers: $25–$35/hr entry, benefits, 25-year pension paths
15:35 Reliability vs. throwaway culture: build for 24/7/365 longevity
17:00 Starting a shop with $50K: overhead discipline, cash-flow-first thinking
19:10 Winery side-quest: what running a product business teaches a sales director
20:05 Final takeaways & how to connect

Key takeaways
• Municipal dewatering is mission-critical: it’s the last mile of clean water. Failure isn’t an option.
• Design for decades: presses must be aligned, balanced, and overbuilt to survive continuous duty.
• Trades are the new fast track: earn while you learn, avoid six-figure debt, grow into leadership.
• Cash flow beats vanity metrics: if the P&L won’t get you financed, you’re stuck.
• Manufacturing is everywhere: from sludge to shuttles — precision machining underpins it all.

Who should watch
• Municipal leaders & plant managers evaluating dewatering upgrades.
• Industrial/environmental engineers working on WWTP projects.
• OEMs & integrators in process equipment.
• Students, parents, and career-changers weighing college debt vs. skilled trades.
• Manufacturing pros who love a good “flood, rebuild, acquire, scale” story.

Thanks to our friends who help makers make:
Ellison Technologies: https://ellisontechnologies.com
GSC 3D: https://gsc-3d.com

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