Vacuum Truck Built To Exact Specifications

Vacuum Truck Built To Exact Specifications
Vacuum truck built to exact specifications

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Vacuum truck built to exact specifications

Problem: When the City of Troy, Alabama, implemented advanced metering infrastructure, city leaders researched ways to clean the water meter boxes of its several thousand customers to prep them for replacement. “We have 7,000 to 8,000 meter boxes, and we have not had a complete meter change-out in over 20 years, so the majority of boxes are full of dirt and other debris,” says Mike Davis, assistant general manager of Troy Utilities.

Solution: The company that makes the smart meters told city officials about a Texas municipality doing the same work with a Vermeer by McLaughlin vacuum excavator that included a sewer jetter. A team from Troy went to Texas. “When they demonstrated it, we knew it was exactly what we wanted,” Davis says. “We thought we’d found a solution that would reduce the time spent on the job by half.” His department purchased a Vermeer VX80 vacuum excavator with sewer jetter. The machine will suck up dirt and other debris inside residential water meter boxes and the larger commercial vaults, and also clean them with the sewer jetter.

Result: The meter work should start by the end of this year and be finished a year or two later. Already, though, the city is using its VX80 to clean blocked storm drains. It will also be used to locate utilities. “I don’t think we’ve reached the full potential of this equipment yet,” Davis says. 800/435-9341; www.mclaughlinunderground.com.
 



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