Have you ever come across videos like this? On rainy days, water sprinkler trucks continue operating on the roads, leaving many people wondering: If the roads are already wet, why do these trucks still spray water? Isn't it just a waste of water?
Water sprinkler truck operating on a rainy day. Image source: Chengdu Municipal Administration Commission
Many people find this puzzling at first, worrying that the combination of rainwater and water spraying may splash muddy water onto pedestrians and dirty their clothes. However, water spraying on rainy days is far from unnecessary. It is actually an efficient road maintenance practice in the sanitation industry, with several practical benefits behind it.
1. Why Wash Roads on Rainy Days?
Using Rainwater to Remove Stubborn Dirt
On dry days, mud, sand, fallen leaves and oil stains can cling tightly to road surfaces, making them difficult to remove. Rainwater softens and loosens the dirt, allowing water trucks to wash it away more effectively with high-pressure water jets and flush debris toward drainage inlets.
Waiting until the roads dry can make dirt harder to remove and cause dust to build up again.
Clearing Drains to Reduce Urban Flooding
During the rainy season, mud, sand and fallen leaves can accumulate around storm drains, blocking water flow. Washing roads during rainfall helps move debris toward drainage inlets, where sanitation workers can remove it quickly, keeping rainwater flowing and reducing the risk of urban flooding.
Reducing Dust and Road Pollution
Rain helps suppress dust, but vehicle traffic can still stir up accumulated particles and cause muddy splashes. By working alongside rainfall, water trucks wash away road pollutants more effectively, helping roads dry faster and reducing dust after the rain stops.
Key takeaway: Water spraying on rainy days is not the same as widespread watering on dry days. It mainly involves high-pressure road washing, using rainfall to improve cleaning efficiency rather than wasting water.
2. Sanitation Is About More Than Cleanliness—It's About People
Keeping roads clean is important, but protecting the comfort and safety of pedestrians and cyclists is equally essential to sanitation operations.
Traditional water trucks rely on drivers' visual judgment. On rainy days, fogged windows and poor visibility make it harder to spot pedestrians, e-bikes and bicycles in time, increasing the risk of splashing water onto passersby. Even with adjusted schedules and lower water pressure, human visibility has its limits, making this challenge difficult to avoid completely.
To address this issue, Yiwei Auto's AI Smart Water Sprinkler Truck offers a smarter solution.
3. Yiwei Auto's AI Smart Water Truck: Bringing Care to Urban Streets
Yiwei Auto is committed to in-house R&D of integrated chassis and superstructure solutions. With a strong focus on new energy sanitation vehicles, we developed the AI Smart Water Truck to address real-world sanitation challenges and bring greater care and intelligence to everyday road cleaning operations.
With an integrated vehicle design, the sensing hardware, control system and water-spraying superstructure work seamlessly together. Equipped with a self-developed intelligent perception system, the truck can automatically detect pedestrians, e-bikes and bicycles on urban roads.
When road users are detected nearby, the system automatically shuts off the spray nozzles on the corresponding side, preventing water from spraying in their direction. With millisecond-level response and no manual operation required, it helps prevent water splashes and ensures more considerate road cleaning, even in rainy conditions with limited visibility.
Traditional sanitation relies on people to keep cities clean. Modern sanitation uses smart technology to make urban services more considerate. Keeping a city clean is about more than washing roads. It means maintaining clean streets and clear drainage while looking out for every pedestrian along the way.
With its AI Smart Water Truck, Yiwei Auto brings intelligent technology to new energy sanitation vehicles, making road cleaning more efficient and urban services safer and more people-friendly.
Post time: Nov-03-2026
