VTS has done some testing suction hose sizing on load times and would like to share them with you.
Some time back we decided to run load time testing with one of our 24,000 litre TriVac trailers. Here is the results for you to review and consider.
One 100mm 15m suction hose – 15 minutes to fill completely
Two 100mm 15m suction hoses in parallel – 7.5 minutes to fill completely
We did do a similar test with a single 75mm suction hose 15m in length. The load time ended up being around 25 minutes.
If you consider the load time for one versus two suction hoses its exactly half the time. Say at 3 full loads a day, using two 100mm hoses that’s a saving of 22 minutes, and over a 5 day working week that is nearly 2 hours, then lets make that a full year…95 hours. The 22 minute a day might seem insignificant however when you add that time saving up in weeks/months and years the savings is huge.
Back in the day when I used to run my own septic business, Henry The Third, I would always use 100mm hose for the first two hoses. Each hose was 9m in length. There was a nearby time share resort and they had over 50 1,800lt septic tanks to be pumped out. Being able to get right up to each tank made the job a breeze and using a single 100mm hose 9m in length I was able to pump each septic in just under two minutes! Luckily the maintenance crew went ahead and uncovered each tank for me. The top sludge crust was around 200-300mm thick, so each septic was a cinch to pump. My vacuum tank size was 11,000lts and I had a 350cfm Wallenstein vacuum pump.
What size hose are you using?
Article by Rod Glue
