Hydrovac Excavation & Daylighting Services
Lower Mainland BC

Hydrovac excavation (also called hydro excavation or hydrovacing) is a non-destructive, highly precise digging method that uses pressurized water and a powerful vacuum system to safely remove soil. It’s one of the best ways to expose underground utilities—including gas lines, electrical cables, water pipes, sewer lines, and fibre—while greatly reducing the risk of damage.

Industrial hydrovac trucks carry a water tank, high-pressure pump, and an industrial vacuum. The water loosens or cuts through the ground, creating a controlled slurry. The vacuum then removes the slurry through a hose and stores it in a sealed debris tank for safe transport and disposal at approved facilities.

Our hydrovac units are also equipped with heated water (boiler systems), allowing us to work year-round—including winter conditions with frozen ground. Heated water is also useful for tasks like thawing frozen lines and site clean-up when needed.

When digging near critical infrastructure, precision matters. Hydrovac excavation is frequently used around gas lines, water mains, electrical conduits, and fibre optic cables because it offers greater control than traditional excavation methods. Reducing the risk of accidental strikes helps avoid costly repairs, service interruptions, and serious safety hazards.

Hydrovac excavation can also improve jobsite safety by:

• Reducing the need for manual hand digging and heavy equipment close to utilities
• Keeping excavations more controlled and targeted
• Helping limit the spread of contaminated materials when present
• Minimizing disruption to surrounding ground and surfaces
• For sensitive areas or high-risk zones, hydrovac is often the safest and most efficient option.

Daylighting – also known as utility potholing – is a non-destructive excavation method that uses hydrovac equipment to safely expose underground utilities like pipes, cables, and gas lines. Rather than guessing and digging with a backhoe or shovel, our team uses a hydro excavation machine (hydrovac truck) that blasts soil with high-pressure water and immediately vacuums up the slurry. This process lets us dig small test holes (or “potholes”) to expose buried infrastructure without damaging it. In fact, the combination of high-pressure water and powerful vacuum makes potholing one of the safest and most efficient ways to locate utilities, saving time and money over traditional digging.

This hydrovac daylighting technique is extremely precise and versatile. We can target exactly where a utility is located and even work in tight or sensitive areas that regular excavation machines can’t reach. By extending our water and vacuum hoses, our crew can perform daylighting hydro excavation on Coquitlam sites that are inaccessible to heavy machinery – all with minimal risk and disturbance. Clearset proudly offers professional potholing services in Coquitlam and surrounding areas as part of our hydrovac excavation solutions. Whether you need to verify the location of a gas line or expose a water main for repairs, our daylighting services will get the job done quickly and safely. Contact us today to schedule your hydrovac daylighting service in Coquitlam and ensure your project proceeds safely and on time!

Slot trenching is a specialized form of hydrovac excavation used to dig narrow trenches for installing underground utilities like pipes, cables, and grounding wires. Unlike traditional backhoes that remove large amounts of earth, our hydrovac trucks cut a precise, thin trench—often as narrow as a few inches—without disturbing the surrounding soil. This method is significantly faster and safer than manual digging, especially in areas with frozen ground or congested underground infrastructure. Because the soil is removed neatly and the trench width is minimized, backfilling and site restoration are quicker and more cost-effective.