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dickie dickenson

  • Posts: 13
Running out of water
« on: July 25, 2012, 04:25:17 pm »
got a question here hope to get lots of advice plz ,my hubby has a wfp round he has a 500 litre tank and is thinking of getting a part time helper but with just him on the van he is finding that he is running out of water towards the end of the day !!! so if he gets another man they will be out of water by lunch time .is there a way around this and is he using too much water anyway ? he said he has the water running constantly when is doing the clean ! should he be switching it off and on ? thanks for your advice  :)(on average how long should you get out of a 500 litre tank)

Simon@ Clearview contractors

  • Posts: 755
Re: running out of water
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2012, 04:29:41 pm »
There are many different ways of saving water, personally I've found fitting 10mm gas isolation taps to your pole at hand height helps massively.

And then there's the obvious...turn your water down and dont overscrub/rinse. :)

Simon

Banbury Window Cleaning

  • Posts: 236
Re: running out of water
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2012, 04:32:28 pm »
I use about 400 ltrs a day altho i do have the flow quite high
I have the gas tap type thingy too to help me save water as i am guessing you would waste loads if you kept it on whilst moving between windows??
How many houses is he averaging with 500ltrs?

Rich
In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment."

Re: running out of water
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2012, 04:43:40 pm »
you can use a push fit type connector tap  the gas type or an aquadapter, turn water off to wipe the sills, and between windows, 650 should do two guys a day

bobplum

  • Posts: 5602
Re: running out of water
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2012, 05:03:34 pm »
got a question here hope to get lots of advice plz ,my hubby has a wfp round he has a 500 litre tank and is thinking of getting a part time helper but with just him on the van he is finding that he is running out of water towards the end of the day !!! so if he gets another man they will be out of water by lunch time .is there a way around this and is he using too much water anyway ? he said he has the water running constantly when is doing the clean ! should he be switching it off and on ? thanks for your advice  :)(on average how long should you get out of a 500 litre tank)


whats his flow rate

andyM

  • Posts: 6100
Re: running out of water
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2012, 05:25:32 pm »
Tell him to buy one of these if he doesn't already use one:
 http://www.gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/acatalog/info_FIT_FLOW_VLV_PUSH.html

Then he can turn water off when moving from window to window.
One of the Plebs

supernova77

  • Posts: 3547
Re: running out of water
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2012, 09:02:05 pm »
I have a 650L tank for my Toyota Hiace 2 man setup...

We have on / off taps on the end of each hose reel.

We run the Varistream controllers on 3 in the morning, and 4 in the afternoon if we know we won't run out of water... I also carry x4 25L water canisters with me just in case!

Andy

mikecam

Re: running out of water
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2012, 09:05:52 pm »
I find as a very rough guide that i would expect to take/clean/earn  £0.50 for every litre used. So if i used 500litres i would expect to have cleaned/earned approx £250.

Spruce

  • Posts: 8466
Re: running out of water
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2012, 09:09:45 pm »
got a question here hope to get lots of advice plz ,my hubby has a wfp round he has a 500 litre tank and is thinking of getting a part time helper but with just him on the van he is finding that he is running out of water towards the end of the day !!! so if he gets another man they will be out of water by lunch time .is there a way around this and is he using too much water anyway ? he said he has the water running constantly when is doing the clean ! should he be switching it off and on ? thanks for your advice  :)(on average how long should you get out of a 500 litre tank)


I agree with the others who have said that reducing waste water will make his water go further. I also found that having a controller also helps as I can regulate the max water flow I can work with. So if the flow is too slow, time is wasted rinsing, but if the flow is too high then rinsing is faster but I am wasting water whilst washing the window. I get to a point when I don't complete any more work, but use more water.

7 years ago I started with a trailer with 375 litres plus I carried 4 x 25 litre plastic containers in the van. The pump wasn't regulated and the brush jets were 3mm each. By 3 pm all the water was usually finished. As I didn't have a IBC tank at home to replenish my empty tanks, when the water ran out, that was my day finished. Once we fitted Varistreams and 2mm jets, I could work to 5 pm with maybe using 1 plastic container.

Also 2 guys working off the same van mostly will never do twice the work unless its a really big job and one can start at one end and the other at the other end.
So chances are they won't run out at lunch time anyway. Mid afternoon is a bad time though, because even if they could fill up with water from home, the chances are they wouldn't be motivated to go back out. When I first started numerous people offered their tap to use - they didn't understand deioniosed water, so depending on the TDS of your water (under 100), he may be able to top up his tank from a prearranged customer's tap using a DI vessel. Great if a customer is not on a meter, but paying a customer for the water they use won't break the bank.

As per Richard, when the 2 of us work together we find a 650 litre tank just lasts the full day and I very really use more than 300 litres a day these days on my own. We fitted Aquadapters to each brush about 2 years ago and that has reduced our water useage. We find that we can switch the water off immediatley we have finished on the window, rather than leaving the water to run whilst moving to the next window. We had taps before Aquadapters.

Is his van able to take a bigger tank, or could he fit a second tank of say 250 litres onto a trailer and use that as a backup?

Could you follow them around one day and note any times they waste water, discuss it and try to find a solution. You can't solve a problem until you know what the problem is.

Spruce.
Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration and 2% attention to detail!

The older I get, the better I was ;)

Spruce

  • Posts: 8466
Re: running out of water
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2012, 09:23:18 pm »
I have a 650L tank for my Toyota Hiace 2 man setup...

We have on / off taps on the end of each hose reel.

We run the Varistream controllers on 3 in the morning, and 4 in the afternoon if we know we won't run out of water... I also carry x4 25L water canisters with me just in case!

Andy

When we work together we use 3 all day on our Varistreams. For us its the most efficient use of water, although a little slow for rinsing.

My son uses a back pack during the day, and really uses more than 250 litres. Rinsing is painfully slow but he makes it up by not having to mess around with his hose reel. He uses the pump to fill his 25 litre container whilst he is way from the van using his backpack. When his backpack is empty a quick fill from the 25 litre container gets him off again.

Spruce
Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration and 2% attention to detail!

The older I get, the better I was ;)

king marko

Re: running out of water
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2012, 10:52:47 pm »
^^^ as above tap wise

Has he also thought of setting up a static system? This way, if/when he runs out, he can just fill up again  :)


dotty

  • Posts: 371
Re: running out of water
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2012, 11:21:27 pm »
can you buy them flow valve from b&q
p doherty

dazmond

  • Posts: 23989
Re: running out of water
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2012, 02:16:20 am »
i use between 300-400L A DAY most days using an aqua-daptor,6mm hose and a digital flowcontroller which is set high on 60.

i do trad some ground floor windows and doors if the space is tight for using my pole though.

if he s got no flow controller and running the pump on full then he s bound to waste a lot of water!! ;D ;D
price higher/work harder!

paul parker

  • Posts: 9
Re: running out of water
« Reply #13 on: July 26, 2012, 12:52:44 pm »
Well I think you can consult a plumber.

IDEAL50

  • Posts: 39
Re: running out of water
« Reply #14 on: July 26, 2012, 10:27:17 pm »
I find as a very rough guide that i would expect to take/clean/earn  £0.50 for every litre used. So if i used 500litres i would expect to have cleaned/earned approx £250.

I never use more than 300lts a day 250lt tank and 3 25lt tubs plus back pack. never run out.
but then i don't need to earn that much.
A one man operation and have been for the last 7 yrs
I work on £1 per lt if I get less than that I know i've under charged.
I use a varystream set on 2 (others vary) and I've been thinking of getting a aquadapter(nice) at the present i have a small cut off at top of pole, and another where the two pipes join. (it works quite well.

Spruce

  • Posts: 8466
Re: Running out of water
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2012, 07:37:14 am »
My son uses a backpack as he finds it more convenient. He had a tap to hand to switch off water flow when he had finished the window.

I then bought 2 Aquadapters, 1 for him and the other for myself. He thought he had to pay for it so he opted not to fit it to his pole.

One day we were working together and he grabbed my pole with the Aquadapter to start at the back of the house, leaving me with another pole to clean the conservatory.

When he saw me round the front of the house his first question was when was I going to put the other Aquadapter on his pole.

Says it all really.

Now he wets the window, switches the flow off, scrubs and then switches the water on to rinse. He saves a fair bit of water every day.



Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration and 2% attention to detail!

The older I get, the better I was ;)

andyM

  • Posts: 6100
Re: Running out of water
« Reply #16 on: July 27, 2012, 07:40:48 am »
My son uses a backpack as he finds it more convenient. He had a tap to hand to switch off water flow when he had finished the window.

I then bought 2 Aquadapters, 1 for him and the other for myself. He thought he had to pay for it so he opted not to fit it to his pole.

One day we were working together and he grabbed my pole with the Aquadapter to start at the back of the house, leaving me with another pole to clean the conservatory.

When he saw me round the front of the house his first question was when was I going to put the other Aquadapter on his pole.

Says it all really.

Now he wets the window, switches the flow off, scrubs and then switches the water on to rinse. He saves a fair bit of water every day.



I have found that method is a really good way of saving water.
I cut my water usage by about 40% by working that way.
One of the Plebs