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'''Motorized Emptying and Transport refers to a vacuum truck or another vehicle equipped with a motorized pump and a storage tank for emptying and transporting faecal sludge, septage and urine. Humans are required to operate the pump and manoeuvre the hose, but they do not lift or transport the sludge.'''

Maintenance is a crucial part of vacuum truck operation. Trucks are not usually brand new and they often require constant attention to prevent breakdowns. The lack of preventive maintenance is often the cause for major repairs. Most pump trucks are manufactured in North America or Europe. As such, it is difficult to locate spare truck parts and a local mechanic to repair broken pumps and trucks. New trucks are difficult to obtain, very expensive and thus rarely purchased. Local trucks are commonly adapted to serve as vacuum trucks by equipping them with holding tanks and vacuums. Maintenance accounts for at least one quarter of the costs incurred by the operator of a vacuum truck. Fuel and oil account for another quarter of the total operating costs. Owners/operators must be conscientious to save money for the purchase of expensive replacement parts, tires and equipment, whose replacement could be essential to the working of the vacuum truck.

* Brikké, F. and Bredero, M. (2003). Linking technology choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation: A reference document for planners and project staff. WHO and IRC Water and Sanitation Centre, Geneva. Available: http://www.who.int (Chapter 8 provides an assessment of vacuum emptying.)

* Issaias, I. (2007). UN-HABITAT Vacutug Development Project: Technical report of field trials 2003–2006. Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya.