In many water and sewer pipe systems there is sediment at the bottom of the pipelines. The sediment may consist of sludge or a semi-dry, viscous mass which is very difficult to handle. It also frequently contains toxic substances. The sediment hinders normal operation of the system and therefore has to be removed. One commonly used method is to flush the sludge further into the pipes using water at high pressure. This puts a strain on the filtering unit in the system and it requires large volumes of water. Moreover, if there is no filter unit, the environment will be polluted when the sludge is discharged from the pipe system.

Vacuum technology and a vacuum loader with large quantities of air deal with the sludge more efficiently than a traditional sludge sucker or a combined unit. Sucking the sludge as dry as possible reduces both the handling and the dumping costs, especially if the sludge is environmentally hazardous. Vacuum technology thus also contributes towards a better environment