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Vac & Jet Drainage Cleaning

Drainage systems in South Florida fill up with sand, silt, leaves, and construction debris over time. When a drainage system stops flowing, the fix is usually not replacement — it's a proper cleaning. Vac and jet cleaning uses two machines working together: a high-pressure water jetter that scours the inside of the pipe and pushes debris to the nearest structure, and a vacuum truck that sucks the loosened material out of the catch basins and manholes. The result is a drainage system restored to its original flow capacity without digging anything up.

Jetting alone just moves the problem down the pipe. Vacuuming alone only empties the structures. It's the combination that actually cleans the system — which is why municipalities and engineers specify "vac and jet" when they want a drainage system or sewer main brought back to like-new condition.

vac truck with jetter reel and vacuum tube cleaning out a drainage catch basin
Vac truck pulling debris out of a catch basin while the jetter reel stands ready

When you need vac & jet cleaning

  1. Drainage that overflows or drains slowly during storms
  2. Cleaning newly installed or existing drainage before a camera inspection
  3. Drainage certifications — the Town of Palm Beach requires drainage systems to be cleaned and inspected for certification
  4. Sewer main cleaning ahead of video inspection or sewer lining
  5. Removing construction sediment from drainage at the end of a project, before turnover
  6. Exfiltration trenches and dry wells that have silted up and stopped percolating

Vac & jet, inspect, certify

Most of our vac and jet work is the first step of a bigger sequence: clean the system, run the camera through it to document its condition, and repair anything the video reveals. For Town of Palm Beach projects we handle the full drainage certification process, including the cleaning, the inspection footage, and the paperwork.

When the work is in the road or swale, we also pull the right of way permit and set up maintenance of traffic (M.O.T.) so the cleaning can be done safely and legally.

Things you may not know about vac & jet cleaning

  • The jetter nozzle pulls itself up the pipe — rear-facing water jets propel it forward while blasting debris back toward the truck
  • Different nozzles do different jobs: penetrating nozzles for blockages, root-cutting nozzles for root intrusion, and finishing nozzles for wall cleaning
  • Everything vacuumed out of the system has to be disposed of properly — the slurry is hauled to an approved disposal site, not dumped on site
  • Jetting is safe for PVC, HDPE, concrete, and metal pipe when the pressure is matched to the pipe condition
  • A system should be cleaned before it's camera inspected — a camera can't see through standing debris

If your drainage is backing up, or you need a system cleaned and certified, give us a call at 561-689-8848.