Hey, newbie here seeking some advice!

[Jango]

well my hubby IS  and ive helped him time to time. I only mentioned the bullploppers to see which one would take the bait !

You won’t find any of that in my posts. Read them all. Mine are all about the help I’ve received and helped others. So I value the forum it’s a good helpful place. Let’s hope you can add some input that would be nice. 

 

[cleaniac]

I got some advice for you. 

Just go out and do it..

 

[Crystalalan]

Don`t worry about your boss. Its your life, your career. Just don`t poach his custys. Like cleaniac says just go out and do it.

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

Quick update, still working full time at the moment but have set the wheels in motion! My friend has a degree in marketing and is currently building me a website, I have purchased a van. I am looking into what tank to get and weighing up my options whether I will produce water in the back of the van or do an 80+ mile round trip to a spotless station.

Is producing pure water in the back of a van efficient? I live in a very hard water area so would need an RO system. Debating whether or not it is worth getting, or just doing the miles. 

As far as growing my customer base, I've spoken to a few local window cleaners who have told me they aren't having much luck enquiry wise at the moment. Anyone taken on a canvasser recently? Is now a good time? My boss has had a lot of cancellations following the 3rd national lockdown, but I do have a reasonably large budget put aside for the purpose of growing my customer base so I'm wondering which route would be best to take!

 

[Part Timer]

s producing pure water in the back of a van efficient? I live in a very hard water area so would need an RO system. Debating whether or not it is worth getting, or just doing the miles

My tap TDS is usually 320ish but has been 400 for the last 6 months. I produce pure through an onboard filtration, R/O with booster pump at around 250 litres an hour. I have a tap in the garage and can park my van on the drive.

It is more efficient to produce water in the garage / shed then in the van but doing it in the van is far better then  an 80 mile round trip.

 

[Neil.. Lancashire]

Because you are a window cleaner and have that experience you should be setting your self up so you don't after up grade later on.  Think were you want to be in 2 years and buy the equipment from the start, it will help you get there quicker! You could approach your boss and see if he might want to sell you some work. And you know how he's set his van up.

Best of luck.

 

[Skxawng]

Sit down and work out the costs. You'll find that despite the initial setup cost, producing your own water is cheaper long run even in a hard water area. I personally wouldn't consider driving 80 round trip for an hour or two to then purchase water a very sustainable solution. 

The absolute cheapest way, is a small RO 300gpd+ filtering slowly into a 1000 L IBC tank and transferring the water to the van as needed. 

The running costs once you've set up are replacing prefilters every 6 months (cheap) and replacing membranes occasionally (more pricy), maybe every few years depending on how well you treat them. 

There is the resin cost but my product water is 1-2ppm so I haven't bothered for a while. 

 

[Martyn]

Sit down and work out the costs. You'll find that despite the initial setup cost, producing your own water is cheaper long run even in a hard water area. I personally wouldn't consider driving 80 round trip for an hour or two to then purchase water a very sustainable solution. 

The absolute cheapest way, is a small RO 300gpd+ filtering slowly into a 1000 L IBC tank and transferring the water to the van as needed. The smaller 10" membranes are more efficient and will remove 95% of the dissolved solids (with a good brand membrane like Axeon). The larger 4040 RO membranes are much faster and allow to to produce water on demand but are less efficient i think (90%ish?) so you'll spend more on resin to get the water to 0ppm.

The running costs once you've set up are replacing prefilters every 6 months (cheap) and replacing membranes occasionally (more pricy), maybe every few years depending on how well you treat them. 

There is the resin cost but my product water is 1-2ppm so I haven't bothered for a while. 

What makes you think the 4040 is less efficient?

 

[Skxawng]

What makes you think the 4040 is less efficient?

I could have mis-remembered. I thought they had a lower rejection rate but could be getting mixed up.. 

I've edited it to save people getting the wrong info. 

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

Gone with a brand new Fiat Talento kitted out with a 500L RO/DI system from GrippaTank.

Feel like I'm part of the all the gear no idea brigade but here goes! Time to get started.

 

[TruWFP]

Gone with a brand new Fiat Talento kitted out with a 500L RO/DI system from GrippaTank.

Feel like I'm part of the all the gear no idea brigade but here goes! Time to get started.

A wise choice mate sod doing a 80 mile plus trip to spotless plus if they're ever down for maintenance you aren't working that day. I only half filled my tank last night & the lads turned up to spotless this morning and had to sit around for 45 minutes whilst a guy filled his IBC. 

I haven't read through the thread but you're already a step ahead of everyone else if you know how to interact with customers, price and clean windows, all you need to do now is put the graft in to get your customers. Oh check your tap pressure and get a booster pump if needed my tap pressure is **** and it currently takes me 6+ hours to fill my 700ltr tank. 

Finally, if your current employer has looked after you make sure you give him plenty of notice and let him know your intentions. 

Good luck with it all