Hydro excavation is the process of digging holes and trenches with the power of pressurized water and vacuum, a non-invasive method that can be used for safely excavating on almost any terrain, including land under which there might be hidden, potentially dangerous utility lines, such as electricity cables and gas pipes. Hydrovac machines are composed of one or multiple water tanks, vacuum pumps and hoses on long arms to allow for precision digging from a distance. During the water excavation Denver project process, the machine delivers pulverized water onto the soil to break it down, then it extracts the slurry and deposits it in a special tank.

When the trucks are used among average exterior conditions, on land that is not frozen and in ambient temperatures above freezing, the water in the tanks is kept at the temperature of the ambient. However, one of the features of the hydrovac method that make it so efficient is the capability of some of the machines to perform excavation among extremely low temperatures and on frozen soil by heating the water. The trucks equipped with heaters warm the water in the tanks to a level suitable for the excavation conditions and practically thaws the soil during the excavation.