Water trucks are a staple of many industries including agriculture, construction, and, especially, mining. In some parts of the United States their presence on construction and mine sites is required by dust control regulations.
Dust is an inescapable by-product of the industries we serve. Earth movers are in the dirt all day every day and not keeping the dust under control can be a dangerous and expensive oversight both for the workers nearby and the equipment on site. It can also open contractors up to regulatory fines for non-compliance with local and federal laws. In fact, the EPA has been known to shut down job sites that are contaminating the air with high levels of dust particles.
For example, much of the road construction done in America is being done in metropolitan areas where houses, retail businesses, or schools are nearby. Without a proper control plan, the dust kicked up during the beginning phases of construction will spread and the people in the area will, understandably, grow concerned over the possible health hazards and economic consequences of the project. This negative attention from the project’s neighbors will inevitably attract attention from regulators who can stop the project in its tracks until a proper dust control plan is in place. But it is not just the neighbors that need to be concerned.If dust particles begin to build up in your machine’s engine or undercarriage, the cost of maintenance will far exceed the cost of keeping a water truck on site. This is especially true in mining applications where the machines are bigger and more expensive to maintain.
Dust control is not, however, the only use for water trucks. Other uses include soil compaction, fire prevention, mine hydration, street wet downs, and even motion media where they are often used to create “rain” for movies and television.
Ron Brown, ACTP’s go-to-guy when it comes to water trucks after having worked on every size and type of them for years before joining our team, said, “You don’t hear people talking about how tough a water truck is like you do with bulldozers or excavators, but the fact is they are one of the most versatile and, in some places, crucial machines you can have on all types of different job sites.”
No matter what application they are being used for, the parts that make a water truck so effective are, in a general sense, the same. Starting with the water pump, water is brought in through a hose where it meets a valve that will disperse it to either a sprayhead, nozzle, or water cannon. Each part of the process is controlled remotely by a well-trained operator in the truck’s cab.
Click the button below to view sample listings of the water truck parts we sell at ACTP or get more information from Ron about the major brands we have available to our customers.
