Vacu-Boom 20ft Kit

The Vacu-Boom is a wastewater capture and spill containment system. A flexible boom is laid on the ground and connected to a vacuum. The vacuum pulls the boom down onto the surface so it seals like a suction cup, forming a liquid barrier that intercepts runoff and extracts it at the same time.

It is used where washing has to happen where the vehicle or plant already stands, and the wash water cannot be allowed to reach kerbs, gutters or stormwater drains. The manufacturer developed it for wastewater recovery from vehicle washing, and that remains its core application — along with plant washdown, hardstand and forecourt cleaning, and emergency spill containment.

What is in this kit

The 20 ft kit supplies a 6.1 m run:

• 4 x 1.52 m (5 ft) mid sections — 2 with port, 2 without
• 2 x end caps
• 5 x joiner clips

No vacuum, hoses or holding tank are included. Further sections can be added at any time to extend the run or form a partial perimeter.

How it works

The boom is a hollow flexible tube 127 mm (5 in) wide with a C-shaped cross-section, laid open side down on the surface. Small liquid inlet openings run along the bottom edge on one side. That side faces the water.

With the vacuum running, air is drawn in through those inlets. The pressure difference holds the boom down against the surface and forms the seal, and the same airflow carries the intercepted liquid along inside the boom, through the vacuum hose and into the recovery tank. Containment and recovery happen in a single action — there is no separate pump-down step.

The boom is not a dam and does not work by weight. It works by airflow. If the vacuum stops, the seal releases and the boom leaks. Anyone relying on it as an environmental control needs to understand that the barrier and the vacuum are one system, not two.

Vacuum requirements

A vacuum system is required and is not supplied with this kit. The manufacturer's stated minimum for a 20 ft boom and longer is:

• Airflow — 202 CFM (approximately 343 m³/h)
• Vacuum pressure — 6.5 in Hg (approximately 22 kPa, or about 2,245 mm water lift)
• Hose — 50 mm (2 in) internal diameter, with a cam-lever quick coupler

The manufacturer is explicit that airflow is the specification that matters most, and that any vacuum type — electric or air powered — is acceptable provided both minimums are met.

Two practical points carry more weight than the headline figure:

• Keep the full 50 mm bore through to the machine. The seal depends on airflow, and airflow is lost to restriction faster than it is lost to distance. A reducer at the inlet, or a run of undersized hose, costs more seal than a modest difference in motor rating.
• Automatic pump-out is not mandatory, but it changes how the system works. Without it the recovery tank fills, work stops, the vacuum is switched off — and the moment the vacuum stops, the boom releases. On a job where the barrier is the environmental control, that is the worst possible moment to lose it.

Sourcing a vacuum in Australia

The manufacturer's own vacuum unit is built only in 115 V / 60 Hz and is not supplied to Australia. The manufacturer's stated position for customers outside the United States is to buy the boom direct and pair it with a locally sourced vacuum meeting the airflow and vacuum pressure minimums above.

The vacuum connection socket on the boom is sized for a US-standard 2 in male hose cuff and cannot be modified. CCW has confirmed that a standard Australian 50 mm vacuum hose cuff mates with it correctly, so no adapter is needed.

The right Razorback for this boom

CCW's Razorback Floodmaxx Auto meets all three requirements:

It carries twin 1600 W two-stage motors, a 78 litre tank and a 195 LPM stainless submersible automatic pump-out, with 50 mm vacuum plumbing running from the hose connection port right through to the collection chamber.

Important — which Razorback portables will not work

Across the Razorback fibreglass portable range, airflow follows the vacuum motor size:

That rules out the Razorback Flood Mate Auto, Balboa 700, Balboa 700 Auto, Drago 1600 and Drago 1600 Auto. All are capable flood extraction machines, but at 185 CFM none reach the airflow this boom needs.

This matters more than a small shortfall normally would. The seal is created by airflow, so an undersized vacuum does not simply work a little less well — it may not hold the boom down reliably at all, and the failure shows up as a barrier that leaks rather than as an obviously underpowered machine. If you already own a standard portable, talk to us before assuming it will drive a boom.

Surface requirements

The manufacturer's requirement is a relatively smooth, hard, non-porous surface. Sound concrete, sound bitumen, sealed timber and steel are suitable. The boom will not seal on gravel, soil, grass or any porous or loose surface.

No numerical tolerance is published — there is no stated maximum surface roughness, crack or joint width, or maximum fall. This matters more than it might appear, because a vacuum seal is exactly the kind of barrier that broken pavement defeats. Air drawn in through a void under the boom is air that is no longer holding the seal down anywhere along the run.

Where the surface is aged, cracked, spalled, heavily jointed or visibly uneven, treat the seal as something to prove on site rather than assume. If you work across multiple client sites with varying pavement, that variability is the main risk to the system working for you — not the equipment. Talk to us before ordering rather than after.

Chemical compatibility

The manufacturer's position, set out in its own technical bulletin on chemical compatibility, is worth reading carefully because it is more useful than a blanket assurance would be.

Pressure Power Systems does not guarantee the system to be chemically compatible with every possible use situation, on the grounds that waste water contains too wide a range of compounds and concentrations. What it does state is that the system tolerates most chemicals used, and contaminants removed, in normal cleaning processes — including alkalines, acids, petrochemicals, solvents and heavy metals — when diluted in water at the concentrations normally found in aqueous cleaning effluent.

The system is intended for capturing aqueous solutions containing diluted chemicals and contaminants. It is not intended to handle undiluted or highly concentrated aggressive chemicals, flammables, or hazardous materials such as toxic, bio-hazardous or radioactive fluids.

Two points from the manufacturer that matter in daily use:

• Chemical attack, where it occurs, happens mostly during storage — not during the wash. Residue left on the boom has hours or days of undiluted contact time. Runoff has seconds.
• Acidic chemicals require extreme dilution.

The practical consequence is that rinsing is not housekeeping, it is the compatibility control. See Cleaning and storage below.

Materials of construction

The boom is built in two bonded layers, and the reason matters when you are assessing chemical exposure or service life.

The body is a closed-cell elastomer foam, which is the part that conforms to the surface and forms the seal. Bonded to it is a hard ribbed plastic outer arch — the manufacturer's technical bulletin identifies this as ABS — whose job is to hold the boom's arched shape so it cannot collapse inward under the vacuum it is generating. Without the rigid arch the boom would pull itself flat and stop working.

Elsewhere in a complete system: the vacuum unit is PVC and stainless steel, suction and discharge hoses are PVC and glass-reinforced polypropylene, the pump-out unit is ABS and stainless steel, and filter bags are polyester as standard with polypropylene optional.

If your process involves a specific chemistry and you need a compatibility position in writing, note that the manufacturer does not issue product-specific compatibility statements. Contact us and we will put your question to them directly.

Specifications

Airflow and vacuum pressure figures are the manufacturer's stated minimums. The 202 CFM requirement covers boom lengths up to 40 ft, and the manufacturer confirms the 37.9 L/min (10 GPM) capture rate is constant regardless of boom length.

How a Vacu-Boom is assembled

A Vacu-Boom is built from 1.52 m (5 ft) sections into whatever configuration the job needs, rather than supplied as one fixed length.

The manufacturer's range comprises six basic parts. CCW stocks four of them:

• 5 ft mid section without port — extends the run
• 5 ft mid section with port — extends the run and provides a take-off point
• Cap end — closes the run and provides a vacuum connection
• Centre tap — T-shaped fitting placed near the centre of a layout so suction is distributed evenly in both directions
• Joiner clip — holds sections together

Two further parts are made by the manufacturer but not currently held by CCW, and both are needed for closed-loop or long multi-vacuum layouts — square corner fittings for squares and rectangles, and divider plates, thin flat plates fitted between sections to isolate internal airflow. We can order both. Ask us before specifying a perimeter or a run over 40 ft.

The wider Vacu-Boom range

CCW stocks the 20 ft and 25 ft kits. The manufacturer builds a fuller range, all of which we can order:

Two things worth noting from that table. Every system from VB20 upwards ships with exactly two ported sections regardless of length — extra length is added as plain sections. And the CL systems are closed loops: they carry no end caps at all, using a divider plate and a centre tap instead. If you need full perimeter containment rather than a downslope barrier, a CL system is the manufacturer's answer and is a cleaner solution than building a loop from square corners. Talk to us about lead time.

Cap ends and centre taps carry adjustable air vents, which prevent excessive vacuum pressure when the boom is connected to a large vacuum system.

Every joint is part of a vacuum manifold. A joint that is not properly seated is an air leak, and an air leak anywhere weakens the seal along the whole run, not just at that joint. Seat every clip and walk the line before switching on.

Setup and crew

Setup and pack-down is under five minutes for one person once the layout is understood. A two-person crew is worth having on live roadside or yard work — not because the boom needs it, but because someone should be watching the barrier while someone else is washing.

Cleaning and storage

Where any detergent or chemical has been used, rinse the boom thoroughly after use and flush the system out. Do not allow chemical to dry and harden on the boom sections.

This is the single maintenance instruction that determines service life. The manufacturer reports customers still running booms after more than ten years with proper care, and identifies storage — not use — as when chemical attack occurs.

Where the boom has been exposed to hydrocarbons or hazardous material, the rinsate is itself a waste stream and needs to be captured and disposed of accordingly.

The system breaks down into 1.52 m (5 ft) lengths for storage and transport, which is what makes it practical to carry on a mobile rig.

Containment without extraction

The system can also be used as a static containment barrier for liquids that should not be drawn through a vacuum. Used this way the boom is positioned with the inlet openings facing away from the liquid, so it holds the liquid rather than extracting it.

Assess the liquid first. The manufacturer excludes flammables and hazardous materials from the system's intended use, and nothing should be drawn into a vacuum recovery unit without checking the safety data sheet and the ratings of the vacuum.

Applications

• Mobile truck, fleet and plant washing where the vehicle cannot be moved to a bunded bay
• In-plant equipment washdown
• Hardstand, forecourt, car park and footpath washing
• Aircraft and marine washing, including deck and marina runoff interception
• Emergency stormwater and spill containment
• Wastewater capture from pressure washing on a hard surface

Configurations and sizing a longer run

There is no upper limit to boom length provided the vacuum system supplies enough airflow. Booms can be built as straight lines, semi-circles, full circles, ellipses, squares and rectangles.

• Minimum lateral bend radius — 1.83 m (6 ft). The smallest closed circle is 3.66 m (12 ft) in diameter and needs eight 5 ft sections.
• Any open-ended boom of 12.2 m (40 ft) or longer can be closed into a circle or ellipse by omitting the end caps and adding a divider plate.
• Runs over 12.2 m (40 ft) use either one 200 CFM portable vacuum per 40 ft of boom, or a single large-capacity vacuum such as a vacuum truck with the hoses joined at a distribution manifold. Either way the boom is sectioned internally with divider plates to equalise airflow.

Active and passive mode

In active mode the port openings along the bottom edge are in use, so the boom seals and extracts at the same time. In passive mode no port openings are used — the boom seals to the surface as a barrier only. Large systems are sometimes a combination of both.

The number of port openings in use is the main factor setting the airflow requirement, which is why the two modes differ so sharply:

Vacuum pressure requirement is 87 in of water (approximately 6.4 in Hg, or 22 kPa) and stays constant regardless of boom length. Only airflow scales.

What this product does not do

• It does not treat, filter or clean the recovered water. It captures it. Treatment and lawful disposal are separate steps.
• It does not work without a vacuum running. It is not a passive bund.
• It does not seal on porous, loose or unbound surfaces, or on badly broken pavement.
• It does not include a vacuum, hoses or holding tank in this kit.

Warranty

The manufacturer's limited warranty covers the boom system against defects in materials or workmanship for three months from date of purchase, and the vacuum recovery unit with pump-out system for twelve months, provided the equipment is used in accordance with the written operating and maintenance instructions. It is a factory return warranty and excludes field labour, freight, ordinary wear, and damage from misuse or lack of maintenance.

These manufacturer terms are in addition to, and do not limit or exclude, your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the ACL. Talk to us about your situation — a three-month factory warranty on an imported product is not the whole picture, and we would rather discuss it before you order than after.

Manufacturer documents

• Technical specifications — VB20-VR1B system (PDF)
• Technical Bulletin 1174 — special applications and configurations (PDF)
• Technical Bulletin 1176 — chemical compatibility (PDF)
• Technical Bulletin 1186 — use outside the USA (PDF)
• Component identification drawing (PDF)
• Example layout — 30 ft x 10 ft configuration (PDF)
• Example layout — 40 ft x 60 ft wash pad runoff extraction (PDF)
• Manufacturer limited warranty (PDF)

These are the manufacturer's own documents, hosted by CCW. Word originals have been converted to PDF without alteration to their content.

Regulatory responsibility

Capturing wash water is one part of an environmental obligation; what happens to it afterwards is the other. Trade waste discharge, holding, transport and disposal are governed by state environment protection legislation and by the local water authority's trade waste conditions, and those requirements differ between jurisdictions and between sites.

CCW supplies equipment. We do not certify regulatory compliance, and nothing on this page should be treated as approval to discharge. Confirm your obligations with your water authority and environmental regulator before relying on any capture system as a compliance control.

Frequently asked questions

Can sections be joined to make a longer run?

Yes. The system is built from 1.52 m (5 ft) sections joined by clips, and runs are assembled to whatever length and shape the job needs. The 202 CFM airflow minimum applies from 20 ft upwards.

Can it form a closed perimeter rather than a downslope barrier?

Yes, using square corner fittings. CCW does not hold these in stock but can order them, so discuss the layout with us before ordering.

Does it include a vacuum?

No. Boom and fittings only. The manufacturer's own vacuum is 115 V and is not supplied to Australia — source one locally to the 202 CFM and 6.5 in Hg minimums.

Will it seal on old cracked bitumen?

The manufacturer's requirement is a relatively smooth surface, and no crack tolerance is published. Cracked pavement lets air in under the boom, which is the same air that holds the seal down. Treat a marginal surface as something to prove on site.

Is it compatible with my wash chemicals?

Diluted cleaning chemicals in normal wash runoff are within the manufacturer's stated tolerance. Concentrates are not, acids need extreme dilution, and the real risk is residue drying on the boom in storage. Rinse thoroughly after every use.

How much water can it recover continuously?

The manufacturer's figure for the 20 ft system is 37.9 L/min (10 GPM). For context, a single commercial pressure washer typically delivers 12 to 20 L/min.

Will an Australian vacuum hose fit?

Yes. The boom's socket is sized for a US-standard 2 in male cuff and cannot be modified, but CCW has confirmed that a standard Australian 50 mm cuff mates with it correctly.

Should I choose this kit or the 25 ft?

Match the run to the widest downslope edge you need to protect, allowing for spread. The manufacturer's engineering advice is that buyers commonly overestimate the length required, and that assessing runoff direction, drain positions and natural fall usually allows a smaller system. The 7.6 m (25 ft) kit is the alternative, and either extends later with individual sections.

From the workshop

[Technician's Note — replace before publishing: two to four sentences of first-hand CCW field experience relevant to this product. A pattern you see, a mistake customers make, or something learned from servicing or selling it. Not spec repetition, not a sales pitch, not invented.]

Related products

• Razorback Floodmaxx Auto — 275 CFM at 11 in Hg with 50 mm plumbing; meets the boom's vacuum requirements
• Complete Vacu-Boom component range