# Vacuum cleaner for earth and sand
In the street where I live, the city is replacing water pipes. This is a standard digging operation, no surprises expected.
Now this morning they brought in a huge vacuum cleaner [like this](https://youtu.be/6872V30F12M) using which they sucked out the earth around roots of trees - instead of using shovels, or maybe just carelessly going in with an excavator.
Technology advances never stop to surprise me. I find the idea quite cool, yet so obvious to every child.
@FailForward Huh, didn't know about this. That's pretty neat! According to the description of that video, it's a very good way to preserve old trees. Nifty!