[Big D]

Hi all ,much appreciate some advice on wfp.I currently work 3 days a week window cleaning & 2 days checking my office cleaning contracts (stores etc).Was going to buy wfp van system then got thinking about trailer system which i can leave at home when not using it for 2 days.My wc is 70% commercial 30% domestic . What do you think my best option would be       Thanks

[JM123]

both have advantages - in a van system everything is kept in the van (apart from ro and storage tank if kept at base), makes it a little easier when reversing etc as no trailer on and also saves a little time putting everything into the van as opposed to puuting it in the boot of a car.

trailers mean you can keep your car as a car when not working, also means you don't need an additional insuraance policy for a van (although you need to inform your insurers that you are using the car for business etc), also saves money as you don't need to buy a van seperate for work.

It all depends on your circumstances, if you already have a van I'd have a system fitted into it - if not I think I'd go for a trailer system.

[Tim Morton]

Hi Big D, I'm sorta in a similar situation, I only use wfp max 3 days a week, so I went for a trailer mount as I couldnt justify spending out on a van for just 2-3 days a week. Here's a link to some pics of my diy trailer mount, http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=19436.0

I figure that if I was to get a van in the future it'd be a very easy job to transfer all the bits into a van and then I'd still have a very usable trailer.

My reversing-with-a-trailer has drastically improved. However, a van would be far far more easily manouvered, especially in a busy street, but most of my wfp work is in private estates that have easy parking.

Tim

[Big D]

thanks jm123 .Ment to mention i drive vw transporter ,must admit dont like the idea of reversing trailer

[JM123]

transporter is perfect for the job, fitted one out 3 weeks ago with a 650 tank, set up for one operator.

great van

[Big D]

Thx tim.Heres another question my friend has a static tank in his unit and says if  i pay him £50 per month i can fill my tank (which will b around 500l i think)up every day if i want ,so i will not need an ro unit would i ,maybe just a di unit for final polish would this be worthwhile doing? thx

[Tim Morton]

Thx tim.Heres another question my friend has a static tank in his unit and says if  i pay him £50 per month i can fill my tank (which will b around 500l i think)up every day if i want ,so i will not need an ro unit would i ,maybe just a di unit for final polish would this be worthwhile doing? thx

A RO will cost you about £140-160 a year, and that includes the buying/replacing the Ro/membranes every 3 yrs, and includes 3 pre-filter changes per year.

Compare that to £600 per year from your friend.

Tim

[Big D]

how long does it take to fill 500l tank through ro as i use van at night wife has the car heard it was a long time but from static its a lot quicker isnt it

[surecleansystems]

If you use a static tank you can make pure water while out working and depending on what sub pump you use you could have your van filled in 5mins, our pump transfers 100lit per min.

It depends on what ro unit you go for , for how long it takes to make 500lits of pure water, we use a merlin and it takes 4hrs approx to make 500lit.

I,m sure other ro users will tell you their fill times.
Arthur

[paul mather]

If you use a static tank you can make pure water while out working and depending on what sub pump you use you could have your van filled in 5mins, our pump transfers 100lit per min.

It depends on what ro unit you go for , for how long it takes to make 500lits of pure water, we use a merlin and it takes 4hrs approx to make 500lit.

I,m sure other ro users will tell you their fill times.
Arthur

I don't have the greatest water pressure, it only runs at 35-40psi. It takes me 24 hours to produce 400 litres but as I rarely use that much in a day & I don't work weekends by Monday morning I have a nice surplus of water

[eddie d]

van

[Andrew McCann]

Have to agree with JM123..  you already have a van and a great one for having a tank fitted in.

I would get a 2nd hand IBC container (Cost approx £30 ish) and either a merlin RO (great for producing water fast) or one of the larger Ro-Man type Ros' (Not as fast but usually very good TDS reduction) and produce into the IBC. Then as sureclean says just use a submersible pump to transer the water overy quickly.

That way you dont have to tie your van up whilst filling and you wont have the hassle of using a trailer mounted system.

Cheers

Andrew

[JM123]

one final pointer, always over spec what you need - it allows room to increase workload, eg - you only need to produce 400ltrs a day - what happens if you forget to switch ro on when you come home from work etc

we use a merlin and it takes 4hrs approx to make 500lit.

Arthur

this way you'd only lose half a day

[JM123]

ps Andrew is correct that the merlin will not reduce the tds as much as an ro-man unit will, my merlin takes the water from 300/350 to around 5/6, I know from experience the ro-man stuff will bring it down to around 1/2 but we use approx 550ltrs each per day (3 of us) all working from one merlin, it produces around 2000/2200 ltrs per day (48psi/300ppm)

[Alex Gardiner]

Hi Big D,

we use both;

We have an RO unit running into a static 1000litre IBC 'out the back' which we can then feed into our vehicle tanks for standard days, or if we have a heavier work day lined up we hitch up the trailer and fill it up as well. Simple and flexible.

On the subject of reversing trailers, do not go for these small metal trailer units that some of the big firms are selling as they are complete pigs to manoeuvre, the reason is that they have too short a wheelbase, so they react too quickly.

We had a local chap make us a steel framed marine ply 6' x 4' trailer (£420), this is an easy to manoeuvre trailer. Into this you can easily drop a 400litre flat baffled tank and there is then plenty of extra room to fit a battery/pump/spare wheel/etc. You could even have enough room to store a couple of reels and even a merlin system if you wanted.

However I would not want the trailer as my only system, it was for a while when we started as we also had a trolley which was very restrictive so we switched to using the trailer until we had a vehicle fitted out.

It is good for us to have the option.

Alex

[Big D]

Thanks people, think i will get a static system set up in garage and use my van that seems the best option .Right now the minefield of which one ,anyone tried streampole systems.Dont fancy a major company purely based on prices or going the diy route .Any pointers ? thanx

[paul mather]

I would try Gardiners first, then second, try Gardiners & if all else fails try Gardiners.

What can I say there system is the bees knees.