Watex Airfield / Runway Marking Removal Vehicle (UHP, supplied by Watex)

The Watex Airfield Runway Marking Removal Vehicle is a UHP water-jetting truck adapted specifically for removing painted surface markings — threshold bars, centreline stripes, hold-short lines, taxiway guidance markings, and displaced-threshold hatching — from concrete and asphalt airfield pavements. While the underlying platform shares the same UHP pump and vacuum-recovery architecture as Watex's rubber removal vehicles, the cleaning-panel geometry and nozzle configuration are tuned for the narrower, defined-width work of paint removal rather than the broad-area rubber ablation pass. The system operates at pressures up to 2,000 bar for standard thermoplastic and epoxy airfield markings, with capability to 3,000 bar for aged or multi-layer markings that have penetrated the surface texture. A jetting panel with 24–42 orifices produces a concentrated, high-velocity water curtain across a swath matched to common marking widths — typically 150 mm to 900 mm — using adjustable metal guide plates to precisely register the panel over the stripe being removed. This prevents blast overspill that could damage adjacent friction-texture zones. Water consumption runs at approximately 22 litres per minute, and the onboard vacuum skirt collects paint chips and wastewater simultaneously, leaving a dry, ready-to-remark surface. The vehicle is mounted on a 26-tonne truck chassis, driven by a Cummins or Weichai diesel with a Cummins-rated IP 65 control system. Fault self-diagnostics monitor more than twelve operating parameters. Critically, the method uses no chemical strippers, so there is no residue to neutralise before new marking paint is applied, and the pavement macro-texture required for friction and drainage is preserved — a primary differentiator from mechanical grinding or milling for airfield use.