Advice on water fed pole systems please

[SJB]

Hi all,

After over 20 years of traditional window cleaning we are buying a WFP system for our 3rd story/some commercial work. The bulk of the business will remain traditional so while we want a good, professional system with room to expand future use, we don't want to over invest or get upsold into more than we need. We have a transit custom (with a cab so rear space is around 6ft x 4ft5') and would go for a tank in the back. 

Any advice on what to go for and what to avoid would be much appreciated. We are in a hard water area.

Many thanks.

 

[Part Timer]

We really need more information as what you've said is rather vague. Pure Freedom are in Grimsby so only an hour or so from you. Have a look at their site for an idea about costs.

 

[dazmond]

Hi all,

After over 20 years of traditional window cleaning we are buying a WFP system for our 3rd story/some commercial work. The bulk of the business will remain traditional so while we want a good, professional system with room to expand future use, we don't want to over invest or get upsold into more than we need. We have a transit custom (with a cab so rear space is around 6ft x 4ft5') and would go for a tank in the back. 

Any advice on what to go for and what to avoid would be much appreciated. We are in a hard water area.

Many thanks.

we all said that when we swapped over. to wfp.....you ll be using it on most work after 6 months 

if you live in a hard water area you will need an RO system at home and a 1000l IBC for starters unless you plan to buy your pure water

 

[SJB]

We really need more information as what you've said is rather vague. Pure Freedom are in Grimsby so only an hour or so from you. Have a look at their site for an idea about costs.

We're going to Pure Freedom shortly but just doing some research first, thanks.

we all said that when we swapped over. to wfp.....you ll be using it on most work after 6 months 

if you live in a hard water area you will need an RO system at home and a 1000l IBC for starters unless you plan to buy your pure water

Thank you, that's helpful.

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

There are different routes you could take. If it is solely for 3 storey buildings and commercial work you could start off with a trolley system. PureFreedom do a few of these, different sizes etc although the one I would go for is the 25l nano trolley (the 50l trolley just holds an extra drum, but it's awkward to lug around.) Depending on how many 3 storey and commercial jobs you have, I wouldn't expect you to use more than say 250l in a day?? So 10 drums would be ample. 

In terms of purifying the water you have a number of options and it depends on hardness of water in your area. Get a TDS meter (they're about 12 quid) and test the hardness of your water. General rule of thumb, below 100 you'll need a DI only system, anything above that and you'll want an RO/DI system. 

You can get van mounted systems, but these are pricey. These will filter the water for you on board the van. Alternatively, you can get a static RO/Di system -- to produce 250l a day, you wouldn't need that expensive of a system. Or finally, you could just buy water if you have a supplier nearby. 

If you wanted to do it really cheap you could buy a decent trolley from ScrewFix say, probably run you around 30 quid. Gardiner backpack (think these are around 100?), strap it on there. Fill a few drums with pure water and have them in the back of the van and simply fill the gardiner backpack as and when it runs out. Cost you a couple of hundred pounds and will do the same job as any van mounted system

 

[spruce]

we all said that when we swapped over. to wfp.....you ll be using it on most work after 6 months 

if you live in a hard water area you will need an RO system at home and a 1000l IBC for starters unless you plan to buy your pure water

I agree. @SJB sounds like a professional business, so having a backpack on a trolley cleaning commercial won't portray a professional image.

He already has a Ford Custom and refers to their (not his) business as a collective 'we'. Again, Daz is right. He says you won't be doing much trad work in 6 months, especially when you see how much quicker the pole is at height than a traditional window cleaner from a ladder. (You will be amazed at how quickly you will change over to wfp when/if one of your staff member falls from his ladder at height. When you employ you can't do trad without taking a real risk. Having personally fallen from my ladder I can tell you how quickly you can be convinced to change cleaning methods.)

I started wfp thinking that I would do top windows wfp and the bottom trad. It took me all of half and hour to start questioning the logic of my decision.

I would consider a 650 litre now and change over to wfp. Remove Purefreedom's poles from the order and replace them with Gardiner poles.

Spend once wisely. 

 

[SJB]

There are different routes you could take. If it is solely for 3 storey buildings and commercial work you could start off with a trolley system. PureFreedom do a few of these, different sizes etc although the one I would go for is the 25l nano trolley (the 50l trolley just holds an extra drum, but it's awkward to lug around.) Depending on how many 3 storey and commercial jobs you have, I wouldn't expect you to use more than say 250l in a day?? So 10 drums would be ample. 

In terms of purifying the water you have a number of options and it depends on hardness of water in your area. Get a TDS meter (they're about 12 quid) and test the hardness of your water. General rule of thumb, below 100 you'll need a DI only system, anything above that and you'll want an RO/DI system. 

You can get van mounted systems, but these are pricey. These will filter the water for you on board the van. Alternatively, you can get a static RO/Di system -- to produce 250l a day, you wouldn't need that expensive of a system. Or finally, you could just buy water if you have a supplier nearby. 

If you wanted to do it really cheap you could buy a decent trolley from ScrewFix say, probably run you around 30 quid. Gardiner backpack (think these are around 100?), strap it on there. Fill a few drums with pure water and have them in the back of the van and simply fill the gardiner backpack as and when it runs out. Cost you a couple of hundred pounds and will do the same job as any van mounted system

Thank you, that's really helpful.

 

[SJB]

I agree. @SJB sounds like a professional business, so having a backpack on a trolley cleaning commercial won't portray a professional image.

He already has a Ford Custom and refers to their (not his) business as a collective 'we'. Again, Daz is right. He says you won't be doing much trad work in 6 months, especially when you see how much quicker the pole is at height than a traditional window cleaner from a ladder. (You will be amazed at how quickly you will change over to wfp when/if one of your staff member falls from his ladder at height. When you employ you can't do trad without taking a real risk. Having personally fallen from my ladder I can tell you how quickly you can be convinced to change cleaning methods.)

I started wfp thinking that I would do top windows wfp and the bottom trad. It took me all of half and hour to start questioning the logic of my decision.

I would consider a 650 litre now and change over to wfp. Remove Purefreedom's poles from the order and replace them with Gardiner poles.

Spend once wisely. 

Thank you for your advice, yes we're already getting the impression that once we take the step we will use it for more work than originally planned. As you say, certainly better from a H&S point of view/for employees etc.

Will take a look at the Gardiner poles as an option. 

Thanks for your input and advice on this everyone, much appreciated and some useful points to consider.