What Is Hydro Excavation & When Do You Need It?

Plumbing problems and installing or repairing underground utilities is a tricky business, to say the least. That’s why professionals, like Art Rooter, Sewer & Drain Cleaning, use hydro excavation. If you have a plumbing issue, are building contractors or land developers, or work with underground utilities that may require hydro excavation, it’s important to learn more about this excavation method, its benefits, and its applications.
What Is Hydro Excavation?
It’s an excavation method that employs water under pressure to create the earth turbulently and to produce a vacuum that is strong enough to omit debris and uncover things like underground utilities, sewer drains, and pipelines in a safe environment.
Hydro excavation isn’t only useful for plumbing issues, but it’s also useful in installing a variety of underground utilities like cables. This excavation method is particularly useful when dealing with delicate foundations.
The high-pressured water shovels the soil, while the air vacuum system transports the softened soil to a debris tank. Usually, this tank is attached to a vacuum truck, so it’s transportable and makes little-to-no cleanup. Hydro excavation is comparable to other excavation methods and is increasingly popular in the construction business.
Nondestructive, Safe, And Less Labor
Because hydro excavation does not require lots of big equipment and machinery this causes less destruction at the job site. It also uses a minimal number of technicians to use the equipment so creating less labor needed. Using this method of excavation is safer, non-destructive, faster, and more effective.
When To Utilize Hydro Excavation
There are five main applications of hydro excavation:
Potholing/Daylighting
- A process where underground utilities are revealed or excavated utilizing hydro excavation.
- It can be used for digging holes to accommodate fences and poles.
Slot Trenching
- A process that involves digging tight trenches with hydro excavation to lay cables or pipes.
- This is good for the installation of sprinkler systems while bypassing the chance to damage prior installed systems or lines.
Debris Removal
- Debris can easily and efficiently be eliminated, as well as structures getting cleaned while avoiding “injury” to neighboring areas.
Excavation of Piling Hole
- It makes the process of excavating piling holes with varying depths and diameter of the holes safer and faster.
Remote Digging
- Equipment can be placed at a distance from the excavation location.
- This is useful when there are narrow spaces and locations that are busy with traffic.
Is It The Best Choice?
When investigating plumbing issues that may involve excavation, Art Rooter, Sewer & Drain Cleaning recommends this cost-effective excavating method. It’s a method that can get the job done faster and avoids intrusive digging, which makes it the best choice compared to other excavation methods.
There are different applications of hydro excavation that can be used by plumbers to tackle plumbing issues or by contractors wanting to install cables or pipelines. Regardless of what underground utilities need to be installed or repaired, it is the best excavation method that’s consistently effective and environmentally friendly.
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