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Wastewater Takes Delivery on New Vac-Con TruckJuly 31-August 1, 2013
Back in November 2009, the Wastewater Department took delivery of a new 2010 Vac-Con truck. That truck replaced a 1988 model. The truck was purchased to powerwash, remove roots, and vacuum debris out of the sewer lines. The 1988 model did not have the vacuum feature so it took two trucks to accomplish was this one does within the one unit. Just for a little background, powerwashing cleans the lines of build up which, if left untended, could lead to clogs. Build up in our city lines is primarily due to grease. Wastewater asks that citizens do not dump grease down any drain. City of Prattville Wastewater technicians are out every day cleaning city sewer lines. Once the powerwashing is complete, they utilize the camera truck to view the conditions inside the lines. Depending on what they see, further action may be taken. The Vac-Con truck has a root saw attachment. Roots grow everywhere. If they have gotten into a section of the line and become overgrown, Wastewater would use the root saw attachment to cut them out. The vacuum feature of the truck is then used to suck all the debris from the line. If roots have not overtaken the line, RootX is used. RootX kills roots and makes them decompose quickly. Sadly, the 2010 model had issues. It only had one engine, which ran the truck, the vacuum and the water pump. The truck would overheat. More recently, it began popping a breaker when they tried to operate the truck and the manufacturer couldn't figure out how to fix it. The equipment company gave the City of Prattville $190,000 on trade-in, which allowed us to buy a 2014 Vac-Con truck for $80,000 (retail $270,000). This new truck is a Peterbilt, which our operators feel is a much better chassis. It also has two engines; a Deutz auxiliary, which runs the water pump, and a Paccar, Cummins-branded engine, which runs the vacuum and the truck itself. The beauty of two engines is that the load is balanced and it should never overheat. Wastewater crews were trained on the truck's operation on Thursday, August 1st. They ran the truck through it's paces while representatives from Vac-Con and Ingram Equipment evaluated operations and made small adjustments.
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