Sewer-cleaning and vacuum trucks: combination units, ADR vacuum tanks, chassis and body builders

A vacuum tanker sucks liquid waste and sludge into a tank with a vacuum pump. A combination sewer cleaner adds a high-pressure water pump and a hose reel to jet sewers clean, and a recycling unit filters the sewage water on board and reuses it for jetting. The chassis comes from a truck maker; the tank, pumps and booms come from a body builder, which drives the pumps from the truck’s power take-off (PTO) or a transfer gearbox, or sometimes from a separate engine. This page sets out which standards and dangerous-goods rules apply, what truck makers and body builders publish, and which electric units are running. It does not rank or recommend any of them.

Standards: none for the vehicle

We found no European standard for sewer-cleaning, combination or vacuum trucks in the catalogues of the Swedish, British and German standards bodies or in searches. Germany had one: DIN SPEC 30755:2017, a pre-standard setting requirements for suction and high-pressure flushing vehicles, has been withdrawn, as have the older DIN 30702-5 terms for such vehicles.

The jetting equipment has its own standards. EN 1829-1:2021 sets safety requirements for mobile and fixed high-pressure water jet machines whose maximum working pressure is above the upper limit of EN 60335-2-79, currently 35 MPa, and EN 1829-2:2008 covers their hoses, hose lines and connectors; neither scope text we read mentions sewers or vehicles. EN 14654-3:2021 covers the cleaning of drains and sewers as an activity — work programmes and the choice of technique — not the vehicle.

Dangerous waste: ADR vacuum-operated waste tanks

When the waste is dangerous goods, ADR applies. It defines a vacuum-operated waste tank as a fixed or demountable tank, tank-container or tank swap body used mainly for dangerous waste and built and equipped for filling and discharging as chapter 6.10 requires; a tank that fully meets chapter 6.7 or 6.8 is not one. Under chapter 4.5, wastes of classes 3, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2, 8 and 9 may be carried in such tanks where chapter 4.3 permits carriage in tanks, and wastes of substances assigned tank code L4BH, or a code permitted by the hierarchy of tank codes, may go in vacuum-operated waste tanks with “A” or “B” in the third part of their tank code, as entered in the approval certificate.

Chapter 6.10 asks for a calculation pressure of 1.3 times the filling or discharge pressure but at least 4 bar, a design for a negative internal pressure of 1 bar, a safety valve preceded by a bursting disc, a pressure or vacuum gauge, a level indicator for each compartment, a flame arrester on vacuum-pump openings when flammable wastes are carried, and an internal inspection at least every three years for fixed or demountable tanks and every two and a half years for tank-containers and tank swap bodies. The approval certificate of the vehicle must name it a vacuum-operated waste tank-vehicle. We read these provisions in the official Turkish edition of ADR 2025 because the UNECE files could not be downloaded; the wording here is our translation.

Body builders state their side. KOKS designs its EcoVac combination units for tank codes S4AH and L4AH, and DISAB gives the same codes for its ADR vacuum loaders; Kaiser, Rivard and KROLL offer ADR versions. None of the Turkish builders whose pages we read states an ADR approval. Vehicle classes, plates and tunnel codes are explained in ADR explained.

Type approval

In EU type approval, Regulation (EU) 2018/858, as published in 2018, has no special purpose category for these vehicles. Its list of two-digit bodywork supplements includes “11 Tank”, “12 Tank intended for transport of dangerous goods” and “19 Street sweeper, cleansing and drain clearing”; which of them a given sewer truck carries is settled in its type approval. The same list has tippers under 10 and refuse collection vehicles under 18; see tipper trucks and refuse collection vehicles. Street sweepers also come under 19; see road sweepers and water tankers.

Chassis the makers offer

In alphabetical order, as each maker presents it; for BMC we found no page, and the Turkish builder Teknik Tanker lists a BMC Pro 935 among its chassis:

• DAF. DAF names sewer cleaning among the applications of its four-axle XD and XF with single drive, next to heavy container transport and heavy waste collection, and offers engine PTOs, a front-of-engine PTO and a range of gearbox PTOs.
• Ford Trucks. Ford’s Turkish pages offer vacuum tankers and combination sewer cleaners as 4x2, 6x2, 8x2, 6x4 and 8x4 with tanks of 8,000 to 18,000 l. The vacuum tanker cards run from 8,000 l on the 18-tonne 1833 DC 4x2 to 18,000 l on 8x2 and 8x4 chassis, and the combination cards from 8,000 to 16,000 l.
• Iveco. Iveco names gully cleaning among the specialised missions for the 50 kW electric PTO of its eDaily; we found no Iveco page dedicated to sewer trucks.
• MAN. MAN lists sewer cleaning among the tasks of its municipal vehicles, which it equips ex works with PTO, body and interface provisions; Wiedemann offers MAN TGS 6x2-4 chassis with an OMSI PTO for its bodies.
• Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz names rinsing channels among municipal tasks but has no page for sewer trucks; Wiedemann builds its POWER VAC e-tec gully emptier on the eEconic, and Müller Umwelttechnik a CANALMASTER on an Actros 2543 L 6x2.
• Renault Trucks. Renault Trucks France presents the C range for sewer-cleaning and suction-excavator bodies with up to 22.8 t of payload and a C 8x4 tare of 9,200 kg that it calls the lightest on the market, the DTI 11 engine of up to 460 hp with engine or gearbox PTOs, and rear overhangs configurable in 50 mm steps.
• Scania. Scania’s body builder booklet for vacuum sewer trucks shows a G 410 B6x2*4NB with engine and gearbox PTO preparations, rear overhangs in 10 mm steps and a 50 mm row of frame holes. Scania France has signed a contract to convert sewer-cleaning trucks of the Ortec group, which runs 700 high-pressure units of all makes, to electric drive.
• Volvo. Volvo UK announced in July 2024 four FMX Electric 6x2 vacuum tankers with six batteries and 540 kWh, using a gearbox-driven PTO, and three FE Electric 4x2 combination units for gully, sewer and drain work with three batteries, 270 kWh and an electric PTO, all bodied by Whale Tankers.

Wheel formulae such as 6x2*4 are explained in axle configurations.

Bodies and body builders

Kaiser’s ROTOMAX recycling system cleans the water with an oscillating rotary filter drum, and Wiedemann dates its first sewer cleaner with water recycling to 1977. Rivard says it uses the truck’s energy for all body components, while KROLL drives its pumps from the chassis PTO or a separate engine.

Electric sewer trucks

Kaiser calls its AquaStar EV the world’s first electric sewer cleaning vehicle with water recycling, Wiedemann calls the SUPER 1000 e-tec the first fully electric sewer cleaner with water recycling built as a one-tank system, and Renault Trucks and Rivard call theirs the first fully electric unit in France; we report these claims as the makers state them. Gross and usable battery capacity are explained in installed vs usable battery capacity.