[captain lard]

If I wanted to acquire a backpack what would be the best way to do it on a small budget and what would I need?

Would be grateful for any idea. Some jobs I currently do would be a lot safer without having to use the ladder and if I did try wfp I could try for jobs that currently would be impossible purely trad.

If someone could explain what i would need to set one up I would really appreciate it.

[captain lard]

I have begun searching the archives and the main thing that is worrying me is the equipment I will need for purifying the water, that means I will need an RO unit thingie I think? Where do you wfp - users house your RO units? This might be a problem for me as I dont have a garage or a shed even, never mind a water supply going into the non existent shed/garage?

My thinking is that I would use a backpack on some awkward jobs. I fell off my ladder a couple of weeks ago and it shook me up a bit and from now on would rather avoid any 'problem' climbs on the ladder but I am thinking the combined cost of setting a abck pack up could spiral beyond my means.
Having said that having a wfp option would really open up the customer base because the amount of houses in my area that have awkward or impossible windows due to conservatories and housing design could make it well worth the investment.
At the minute I just use a little Punto to carry my ladder and gear, would I need to be thinking of ecven a small van with a backpack and a supply of water?

[jeff1]

I have begun searching the archives and the main thing that is worrying me is the equipment I will need for purifying the water, that means I will need an RO unit thingie I think? Where do you wfp - users house your RO units? This might be a problem for me as I dont have a garage or a shed even, never mind a water supply going into the non existent shed/garage?

My thinking is that I would use a backpack on some awkward jobs. I fell off my ladder a couple of weeks ago and it shook me up a bit and from now on would rather avoid any 'problem' climbs on the ladder but I am thinking the combined cost of setting a abck pack up could spiral beyond my means.
Having said that having a wfp option would really open up the customer base because the amount of houses in my area that have awkward or impossible windows due to conservatories and housing design could make it well worth the investment.
At the minute I just use a little Punto to carry my ladder and gear, would I need to be thinking of ecven a small van with a backpack and a supply of water?

You could install a small ro system under your sink, and feed it to a storage tank, ie 200ltr rain water butt from B&Q around £30,
failing that you could see if any of the guy's on here live near you, I'm sure they would sell you some of there pure water.

After the fall from your ladder I would bite the bullet and buy a new backpack, (there hard to pick up second hand) You can may-be buy a second hand pole from of the forum, there is sometimes a few for sale.

There are guy's who use there cars for wfp and put 25ltr containers in there, but don't forget you have to have room to store your pole. on a roof rack for instance.

If money is tight pop onto Matts Diy site and you can build your own system with there help for less than £500.

[Biscute]

Iv just this morning got my backpack delivery, try www.purereflection.co.uk they have a very easy to use site wich gives you exactly what you need. They are also very good on price and give a good delivery service. If you are first starting off you will also need a DI and RO system wich may add up.

[matt]

i started off using a "hand pumped backpack" , i still use it for houses that have access issues ( loads of steps for example )

a handpumped backpack is about 30 quid, its ok for hard to reach windows, but i wouldnt use it for them all, you will need a battery powered backpack then

a cheap RO / DI unit for RO-MAN will set you back about 60 quid

thats a 36 Gallon Per Day 2 Stage RO SYSTEM and a 250 ml DI cylinder

then run that into a Rain water butt -- 30 quid from B&Q

cheap pole and brush and some micro pipe -- 30 quid

that will be enough to be able to do the hard to reach windows that you dont fancy on the ladder

total spend 150 quid



But as Jeff said. pop over to the DIY WFP forum

< ---------------- E./mail me for a link

[captain lard]

Thanks for the advice lads.

[captain lard]

But as Jeff said. pop over to the DIY WFP forum

< ---------------- E./mail me for a link

Hi Matt, I cant seem to manage to get an e mail over to you , could you e mail me or put a link onto the thread mate?
Cheers.

[Bazzy1999]

Captain.......  http://d.co.uk

[captain lard]

Thanks mate -appreciate the help!!

[captain lard]

Just a thought - how quickly have people set up a back pack and begun to use one?

[macmac]

first thing, i would check your tap water TDS. If you have soft water you wont even need an RO, just a DI vessel filled with resin. this will set you back about 100 quid (filled with resin) & that'll be you purifying water. If you have hard water on the other hand then you will be better with an RO. My tap water is 105 tds, i run a 400ltr van mount with 2 x DI vessels & use approx 2 to 3 bags of resin per year.

tony

[captain lard]

I had some bother with our boiler and had to get British Gas out last week to fix it, they told me that usually our water is soft but recently the water company has done something and now its hard. having said that the two different engineers who dealt with it were both trying to sell me a £140 limescale solution to save my boiler from bother from the hard water problem.
how do I check the water just to make sure? Can water change like this. i wasnt sure if they werent just giving me the hard sell, it was pointless as I couldnt afford it anyway.

[macmac]

sounds dodgy to me captain, buy a hand-held tds meter from one of the suppliers (cleantech have them cheap, about 11 quid). maybe your water supplier can tell you, make enquiries. It will save you lots of hassle if you dont need an RO.

tony

[captain lard]

I know a lad who works for the water board up here so can try him but the meter sounds a good idea anyway.
Yeah these engineers were really giving it the big sell, they said they both had them fitted to their systems, but the second one let it slip that they had an incentive to sell these units as with the first one sold by them meant they got a free unit for themselves, so they werent actually buying them and then you wonder well what are you going to get if I buy one.

[macmac]

you will need the tds meter anyway if you go wfp, so you'll not be wasting the money buying one.

tony

[captain lard]

Exactly, thats what I was thinking.