Hydroexcavation enables damage-free digging around buried utilities, but traditionally, productivity has been limited by the periodic need to empty vacuumed soil slurry from the debris tank and refill the freshwater tank.

Non Stop Hydro Excavating of Red Deer, Alberta, has developed a Hydro Excavator Separator (HES) that can excavate continuously without the cost and delays of dumping and water refilling. The truck-mounted system separates water from the excavated material, rendering it dry enough to use as backfill. It also recycles the water, returning it clean enough to reuse in the unit’s high-pressure pump for jetting.

The system also can load the dewatered material onto a standby gravel truck or container, or drop it directly onto the ground. All these operations can go on without stopping the excavation procedure.

Solids separation and water recycling take place in a continuous process. Soil slurry is vacuumed into an air-lock mechanism that continuously removes the slurry out of the vacuuming process. The slurry flows into a separating process where water and soil are separated.

The HES includes a complete package of hydroexcavating, dewatering, and water-recycling systems. The system components include a suction boom, and a cyclone to separate air from the loosened soil and water.

Vibrating screens on a shaker body collect solids, and a fixed conveyor deposits them onto a swing conveyor. That conveyor deposits the solids debris in a holding tank, into a standby truck, or onto the ground. A 10-gallon catch basin receives fluid and fines that pass through the vibrating screens. From there, a pump delivers the water and fines to a centrifuge, which separates solids from the water.

A working water tank receives water from the centrifuge. Dirty water at the bottom of the working tank drains into a catch basin and recirculates to the centrifuge for further cleaning. For information: 403/346-0996; www.nonstophydroexcavating.com.