Hydrovac Trucks → Catch Basin & Culvert Cleaning 30 Years Strong

Catch Basin & Culvert Cleaning

Clear the Blockage. Keep It Flowing.

We clear sediment, debris, and standing water from catch basins and culverts — then vacuum, haul, and dispose of the material compliantly. Storm systems that drain the way they were designed to, year-round.

OE Utility Services hydrovac truck cleaning a municipal catch basin in Ontario.
Clear · Compliant · Year-Round
Catch basin cleanout on a municipal maintenance route
The Process

What Catch Basin & Culvert Cleaning Is

A catch basin is the sumped inlet that takes runoff off a road, parking lot, or yard and carries it into the storm system. Over time it fills with sediment, road grit, leaves, trash, and an oil-and-water mix. Once the sump fills, the basin stops doing its job — water backs up, ponds, and in winter freezes. Culverts collect the same material at a larger scale, and a blocked culvert can flood a road or wash out a shoulder.

Cleaning the structure means removing that accumulated material and getting the slurry off site. OE does this with high-pressure water to break up compacted sediment and a high-capacity vacuum to lift the slurry into the debris tank — the same non-destructive method we use for utility work, applied to drainage maintenance. There is no mechanical digging in the structure and no material pushed deeper into the system to resettle downstream.

Locates first: Catch basins and culverts sit in road allowances and corridors crowded with buried utilities. Before any excavation around a structure, we work to confirmed locates. Hydrovac is the non-destructive method here — but safer than the alternative is not the same as safe. The locate comes first.

Cleaning a basin is only half the job — the material has to go somewhere. Sediment removed from Ontario storm structures is generally not hazardous waste, but it still has to be transported by a licensed hauler and taken to an approved facility. OE handles the cleanout, the haul, and compliant disposal as one scope, so the documentation lines up with your maintenance and reporting obligations.

Applications

Catch Basin & Culvert Cleaning Applications

🛣️

Municipal Catch Basin Programs

Scheduled cleanout of road and right-of-way catch basins across a municipality's maintenance cycle.

🌊

Culvert & Outfall Clearing

Removing sediment, vegetation, and debris that block culverts and restrict flow under roads and driveways.

🅿️

Parking Lot & Plaza Drains

Clearing the catch basins and trench drains that keep commercial lots from ponding after a storm.

🏢

Underground Parkade Drains

Low-clearance vacuum work on the sump pits and trench drains that keep condo and commercial garages dry.

🛢️

Oil/Grit Separator & Interceptor Cleanout

Pumping out the sediment and oil-water layer from separators so they keep capturing pollutants.

🚨

Storm System Emergency Response

Fast clearing of a backed-up basin or culvert after heavy rain, snowmelt, or a blockage.

❄️

Frozen Structure Cleaning

Heated water to clear basins and culverts that have frozen over in winter, when conventional methods stall.

🎥

Pre-Inspection Cleanout

Clearing a structure so it can be camera-inspected or assessed, with the material hauled away in the same visit.

Why OE

The Integrated Difference

Most drainage maintenance is a one-truck, one-task call. OE runs it as part of a full-service utility operation — which changes what you can do in a single visit.

Typical competitor
Clean handoff · new contract Haul handoff · new crew Inspect handoff · delay Restore
Clean
handoff · new contract
Haul
handoff · new crew
Inspect
handoff · delay
Restore
The same project with OE
The only end-to-end solution in Canada
Mobilize 6 Ontario locations,24/7 Access structure locatedand opened Vacuum debris and sedimentremoved Flush high-pressure lineflushing Inspect conditionverified Haul debris removedoff site Dispose handled atapproved facilities
Mobilize — 6 Ontario locations, 24/7
Access — structure located and opened
Vacuum — debris and sediment removed
Flush — high-pressure line flushing
Inspect — condition verified
Haul — debris removed off site
Dispose — handled at approved facilities
ONE
crew
ONE
company
30
Years Strong

GET MORE OUT with OE Utility Services

drawing on 70+ trucks and 6 Ontario locations

One call, one team.

The crew that cleans your basins can also daylight a utility, slot-trench a repair, or expose a line in the same corridor on the same mobilization. One call. One team. Get more out.

The slurry is handled, not left with you.

Cleanout, licensed haul, and compliant disposal at an approved facility are one scope — not a problem handed back to the Customer.

Six yards across Ontario.

Vaughan, Hamilton, Durham, Barrie, London, and Ottawa crews mean response without long-haul mobilization charges.

Year-round capability.

Heated-water units keep basins and culverts clearable through an Ontario winter.

Bundling the cleanout with the haul and disposal — and with any other work in the same corridor — is where OE's LEAN approach pays off: up to 10% cost savings and 50% productivity gains, plus a $40/hr discount when services are booked together. Material is hauled by OE to an approved facility, cutting travel costs and emissions by 30%, and our NextGen hydrovacs run 10dB quieter for residential and noise-sensitive sites.

10% cost savings
50% productivity gains
$40/hr bundle discount
30% travel & emissions cut
Project Example

Representative Work

OE hydrovac crew clearing sediment from a culvert outfall in Ontario.
Stormwater Maintenance

Keeping a storm system draining through the season

On a recurring maintenance route, an OE crew works through a property's catch basins in sequence — breaking up compacted sediment, vacuuming each sump clear, and confirming flow before moving on. The collected slurry is hauled off in the same visit and taken to an approved disposal facility, with volumes recorded so the work supports the property's stormwater maintenance records. The result is a storm system that handles the next heavy rain the way it was designed to.

Certified & Compliant Meeting Ontario's strictest safety and environmental standards

Ready to get your catch basins and culverts flowing?

Get a Quote