Vacuum truck service in St. Louis.

What is vacuum truck service?

Vacuum truck service removes loose, wet, or heavy material through a wide suction hose into a sealed tank on the truck. The J1S truck is self-contained and carries 1,500 gallons of water on board, so it can wash a basin or a pit down while it vacuums.

It is the same truck we use for hydro excavation. For vacuum-only work the water wand is used for rinsing, or not at all, and the hose does the job.

What we vacuum out

• Catch basins and storm inlets. Silt, leaves, gravel, and trash that keep a parking lot or a street from draining.
• Sump pits and window wells. Mud and debris a pump cannot move.
• Valve boxes and vaults. Sediment cleared from the surface, so the valve or the meter can be reached.
• Drilling mud and slurry. Removed from bore pits while a directional boring crew works.
• Flooded trenches and footings. Water and muck taken out so the pour or the pipe work can go on.
• Gravel, rock, and spoil in tight spots. Material lifted out from behind a wall, under a deck, or inside a structure where no machine fits.

What we do not take

We do not haul hazardous or regulated waste. Fuel, solvents, and chemical spills need a licensed hazardous waste hauler. If you are not sure what the material is, tell us what you know and where it came from.

For septic tanks and grease traps, ask us before you plan around this truck. See septic systems for the septic work J1S installs.

How far the truck can reach

The truck needs firm ground to park on, which usually means the street, a driveway, or a paved lot. From there the boom reaches 26 feet and swings through 320 degrees, so the hose can go over a fence or a curb.

With added hose we can work up to 300 feet from the truck. Suction falls off with distance and with heavy material, so a long run of wet gravel goes slower than a short run of water. Tell us the distance and what is in the way.

Where the material goes

That depends on what it is. Clean soil and gravel can often stay on site or go back in the hole. Mud, silt, and slurry are hauled away in the debris tank. Tell us the material and whether you have a place for it, and the disposal goes into the quote.

Vacuum work on a digging job

Most of our vacuum work happens alongside other work on the same site. A crew that needs lines exposed often needs a pit kept dry too.

• Utility potholing before a bore, with the bore pits kept clean while the drill runs.
• Exposing a broken water or sewer line, then keeping the hole dry for the repair.
• Cleaning out a trench after rain so pipe or conduit can go in.

Where we run the truck

J1S is based in Festus and runs vacuum truck service across the St. Louis metro and Jefferson County, for contractors, property managers, municipalities, and homeowners. Send the address and what needs to come out.