Water seems to be going fast!

[Smurf]

The type of brush you use and how it's jetted does play a part too when cleaning & rinsing down be it on or off the glass.

 

[Shiny]

The type of brush you use and how it's jetted does play a part too when cleaning & rinsing down be it on or off the glass.

Probably technique plays a big part as well Smurf

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[Smurf]

Yep it does indeed and this vid may help some

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[Smurf]

This is the first thing you should know

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[keir]

Neil, you say you use setting 55 on your varistream? Mine must be different cause i have settings for pause pressure i.e. 1-9 then a,b,c,d,e

And then i have settings for flow rate 1-9

So i have mine set on 9 for pause pressure and 3 for flow but prefer 4 for flow but it chews through my water

 

[spruce]

Hi people me again.I have a 650ltr tank and only using a pressure of 35 but the water seems to be disappearing fast!

I have checked for leaks there are none I'm at a loss as i thought it would last a lot longer with only myself using it and not doing big jobs.

Any ideas?

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We presume by 35 you mean flow and not pressure as there is a difference. You haven't said over what time period this water loss occurs, but if it was substantial, then you will have no problem identifying where the leak is.

I don't know what the LPM flow would be on your controller, but reading the other replies consider this;

If your are using 1 LPM of water then it will take you 10.5 hours to use 650 litres with the pump continously running. 1.5 LPH with take 7 hours and 2 LPM will take you 5.5 hours roughly.

As you will never be working on the glass 100% of your time, then I would suggest you need to consider some sort of water management. (Whilst actual working time on the glass will vary from job to job, I doubt that we spent more than 50% of our time actually cleaning, probably for me a lot less.) We found that using Aquadaptors was an efficient way of reducing water usage by switching the water flow off between windows and when moving around the house.

You may find that increasing your flow will reduce the amount of time you spending rinsing the window and save water, but there will be a time when you waste water in the scrubbing phase with a too higher flow. It is all about striking the right balance. My preference is a flow of around 2 LPM.

On my own I really use more than half a tank of water (650l). A while back the 2 of us did a large farm house with a very big conservatory (the job takes me an hour and a half on my own), a three bedroom bungalow with medium size conservatory, then off to do 2 blocks of 2 bedroom flats with juliet balconies (27 flats over 3 floors) as well as stairway windows and entrance doors, and finally a large 5 bedroom house which used to be a bed and breakfast at one time. We came back home with about 150 litres in the tank.

There is another example of a window cleaner who bought a round from a retiring window cleaner about 15 miles away. He also has a 650 litre tank and both of them (him and his son) emptied that before they had finished cleaning all the houses in the area. They also have flow controllers fitted as they have a PureFreedom 2 man setup. This meant that he had to go back the next day to finish cleaning the last few houses. He fitted Aquadaptors to both poles and found that they were able to finish the area in one day and still had water left in the tank. He estimated that his water saving was around 25% for that job and as he didn't have to go back, the Aquadaptors paid for themselves that day. (That round used to take the retiring window cleaner 2 full days trad when he 'put his back into it', but toward the end was taking him closer to 3 days to complete.)

 

[spruce]

What controller are you lads using? I dont understand the figures your using.
I have a digi varistream, i use setting No 3 for nearly all my work, but i would prefer to use No 4 as i feel it rinses better and a hell of a lot faster but i can get through 350 litres in 5 hours at 4, whereas at 3 it will last 7 or more hours

I would love it if i could set it at 3.5 but aint possible lol

I've said exactly the same thing. They can give us a large range of pressure settings but can't do the same same on flow is a bit confusing. 3 is too slow for me with rinsing but great with washing, 4 is better for rinsing and not quite so good for washing, but I love 5 for rinsing but waste too much water in the washing phase.

I got hold of a second hand Frostat controller which also is a flow controller and am tempted to change that to see how that goes with its 99 speed settings.

 

[spruce]

Neil, you say you use setting 55 on your varistream? Mine must be different cause i have settings for pause pressure i.e. 1-9 then a,b,c,d,eAnd then i have settings for flow rate 1-9

So i have mine set on 9 for pause pressure and 3 for flow but prefer 4 for flow but it chews through my water

Varistream have become the Hoover of controllers.

I gave a whole lot of advise on one thread with regard to a window cleaner have an issue with a Varistream and how to set it up. Fortunately, Ian Sheppard from Spring Controllers worked out at it was a Variflow and so gave him the correct set up procedure.

We use pressure setting C in the summer and kick it up to D in the winter which both controllers were religiously set at. The other day I found an issue with cycling on the second controller when the 2nd hose reel was connected up and found the pressure setting was at 6. How it got there is anybody's guess.

 

[Geoff Szita Cross]

Best thing i ever brought was an Aquadapter cutt my water usage by Half just a brill product.

 

[Smurf]

Even using a simple tap would save water too but the loops on the pole did my head in. Another one ppl could try is Peter foggy's aquatap as instead of keep tugging yer hose you just can just twist the pole a wee bit to turn the water on/off.

I like to run my pole hose externally and find just kinking the hose whilst working works just as well for me.

 

[cheapncheerful]

Yep it does indeed and this vid may help some
bugger the bbc i want smurf tv.../emoticons/smile.png

 

[Richard]

Hi people me again.I have a 650ltr tank and only using a pressure of 35 but the water seems to be disappearing fast!

I have checked for leaks there are none I'm at a loss as i thought it would last a lot longer with only myself using it and not doing big jobs.

Any ideas?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don’t worry water is cheap, if you haven’t got any leaks you might be slow.

Measure the amount of water coming out of the brush into a bucket for 1 minute. Depending on the brush you are using and pole i.e. pole stiffness, scrutinise you’re cleaning method and look for time saving improvements.

Ideally you want at least 2.2 litres a minute other wise you will be losing time & money. For example every window cleaning I have spoken too using 1 litre per minute earns no more than £18 - £20 per hour.

Sort your equipment out, refine your cleaning method and if you need to, turn your water flow up. Gauge your performance with money, that’s why you window clean, not to conserve pure water.

Richard

 

[SMC CLEANING]

Thanks for the tip!

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[koopmaster]

I keep my flow on 28, after trying different pressures over the last 2 years this seems to be the perfect for rinsing on the glass. But not first cleans.

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[windowsurfer]

Hi people me again.I have a 650ltr tank and only using a pressure of 35 but the water seems to be disappearing fast!

I have checked for leaks there are none I'm at a loss as i thought it would last a lot longer with only myself using it and not doing big jobs.

Any ideas?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was talking to a husband and wife that used to have a trolley system, they said you do use more pure water in warmer weather. Dont know how much more though compared to winter. Not exactly roasting yet though.

 

[cheapncheerful]

but hey....petrol goes a lot further...no im not suggesting you use that to clean windows...but you can see the difference./emoticons/smile.png

 

[windowsurfer]

I have a trolley system, and carry a 100ltres of water for a days work, only do tops with pure and trad bottoms. I do think I rinse a lot and I think possibly too much, but I'm trying to do a good job and not get any bad feedback. Bought an aquatap which is absolutely fantastic for saving water, just a small twist of the pole water is on/off, as I was having to go back n forth to my trolley to switch the water off/on whilst washin walls and giving myself additional showers, which resulted in a an almost permanent middle pattern hairstyle. Aquatap is a cracker of an invention, love it, love it, love it. However it can switch off when you twist pole a bit when working away, nothings perfect tho, like any marriage you have to work at it. I use it with my back pack aswell as I dont carry it on my back, so stops the fumbling about for the switch, whilst losing water.

 

[Duncs]

the flow rate normally I run mine at 30 funny thing is had leaking tap for long enough changed the tap i,m now turned the flow rate down to 20 and I have still got gd flow rate.