Should I be using so much water?

Hi guys. 
 

I’ve got a 500L tank, most days it just about lasts me when I’m doing on average 15 houses, (around £150) in 6 hours. I know it’s not a lot compared to most of you guys, as I’ve not been doing it long and built it up from scratch.
 

When I’m doing more compact work on new estates I’m running out of water after about 18 houses (average house £10). So I’ve been taking a few 25L drums with me to top me up.. 

Is it normal that I’m using so much water? 
 

I’m pretty sure I’m not over cleaning, I’m cleaning the frames quickly, then I go over the glass once or twice and give it a quick rinse. Since using them 3mm pencil jets on my brush, I usually have my flow on 37. Them jets seem to slow the flow of the water, as I used to have it on 32.
 

I’m on the verge of looking for a bigger van so I can fit a 1000L tank in, so I’ll have enough water for 2 people to work all day. I’ve got someone canvassing for me to try and compact my work and build it up enough to have someone else on the windows with me.

Can anyone that’s used a 1000L tank recommend any van that’s suitable for the weight? 
 

Many thanks, Luke. 

A big transit.

I do 2 average houses with a 22l backpack with my own 5lpm pump fitted on about 60-70% flow.

It does seem you use a lot of water. 

I think you should be using a lot less water than that. I'd ditch the 3mm jets if I were you. Set to run at 2 litres per minute and see how you go.

I average 25 houses a day using 325 litres tank. 

I think you need to change to 2 mm jets this will save a lot of water , if you are new to wfp then you will be slower than an experience user and doing a lot of first cleans will use a lot more water , when I was on my own a 650 ltr would last me from 8:0 to about 4:30 with half an hour for lunch on very compact work .

That seems like a lot of water to me. You might not be over cleaning but maybe you’re rinsing too much??

I have a 350ltr tank that lasts me 2 days with a bit to spare.
6 hour days at £150-£200

Dave B said:

A big transit.

I do 2 average houses with a 22l backpack with my own 5lpm pump fitted on about 60-70% flow.

It does seem you use a lot of water. 

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Cheers bud. Mines not like that it’s 1-99 and I keep it on around 37. If I had it on the max 99 would that be 5 litres per minute? I really don’t understand why I use so much.. ?? 

Kurtis said:

That seems like a lot of water to me. You might not be over cleaning but maybe you’re rinsing too much??

I have a 350ltr tank that lasts me 2 days with a bit to spare.
6 hour days at £150-£200

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  That works out to 0.48 ltr per hour that’s impossible ,?..unless you are driving huge distances between jobs 

Kurtis said:

That seems like a lot of water to me. You might not be over cleaning but maybe you’re rinsing too much??

I have a 350ltr tank that lasts me 2 days with a bit to spare.
6 hour days at £150-£200

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I don’t think I’m over rinsing... I can’t believe that amount lasts you so much! ?? God knows why I use so much! ?

Pjj said:

I think you need to change to 2 mm jets this will save a lot of water , if you are new to wfp then you will be slower than an experience user and doing a lot of first cleans will use a lot more water , when I was on my own a 650 ltr would last me from 8:0 to about 4:30 with half an hour for lunch on very compact work .

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Pjj said:

I think you need to change to 2 mm jets this will save a lot of water , if you are new to wfp then you will be slower than an experience user and doing a lot of first cleans will use a lot more water , when I was on my own a 650 ltr would last me from 8:0 to about 4:30 with half an hour for lunch on very compact work .

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I’ve only recently put them jets on my brush, wasn’t sure what the difference was meant to be. I just saw ppl on here say they’re really good, so I ordered some.
 

The difference for me is the water comes out further down the brush which makes it easier to catch the drips around the top of the window/ frame and it comes out slower.. 
 

What would the 2mm jets do please? 

Martyn said:

I think you should be using a lot less water than that. I'd ditch the 3mm jets if I were you. Set to run at 2 litres per minute and see how you go.

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I don’t know how to set it to 2 litres per minute? I’m a beginner lol. I’ve just got a flow from 1-99, which I keep at around 37. 

Aim your water into a bucket or similar so that you can measure how much comes out in a minute, we all like slightly different but 2L per min is a starting point. 2mm will save you a lot of water. Personally I use 50 degree fan jets.

Luke Macclesfield said:

I’ve only recently put them jets on my brush, wasn’t sure what the difference was meant to be. I just saw ppl on here say they’re really good, so I ordered some.
 

The difference for me is the water comes out further down the brush which makes it easier to catch the drips around the top of the window/ frame and it comes out slower.. 
 

What would the 2mm jets do please? 

I don’t know how to set it to 2 litres per minute? I’m a beginner lol. I’ve just got a flow from 1-99, which I keep at around 37. 

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2mm jets will use less water and it will look like its coming out of the jets under more pressure on 2mm than 3mm I would change them first it will make a big difference, as for flow rate that’s a very personal thing we are all different I have my controllers set on 64 that’s using hot water ,when using cold you will need to have the controller on a higher number in winter as the water will be thicker in the summer a lower number as the water will be warmer and thinner . 

In my opinion, you are using too much water.

If it were me, I would:

Fit 2mm pencil jets (very important) ditch the 3mm.

Get a Univalve.

Turn the flow up so your jet is about 5 - 6 foot across the ground. My controller is on 50.

To clean:

Once round the frame, twice over the glass and a very quick rinse (and I mean quick).

Turn the water off (using the univalve) as much as possible.

In an ideal world, you should be rinsing whilst you are agitating the dirt.

Pjj said:

2mm jets will use less water and it will look like its coming out of the jets under more pressure on 2mm than 3mm I would change them first it will make a big difference, as for flow rate that’s a very personal thing we are all different I have my controllers set on 64 that’s using hot water ,when using cold you will need to have the controller on a higher number in winter as the water will be thicker in the summer a lower number as the water will be warmer and thinner . 

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I appreciate your advice! ? If i had my flow on over 64 it would be gone by lunch time! Lol. I will change to 2mm jets, I’m sure it will help but it won’t solve the problem.. 

Turn your flow way up and you will be rinsing faster and not using as much water. That’s what I find with me

Luke Macclesfield said:

I appreciate your advice! ? If i had my flow on over 64 it would be gone by lunch time! Lol. I will change to 2mm jets, I’m sure it will help but it won’t solve the problem.. 

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Trust me you will be surprised how much water that will save you , I assume you are turning off the water between windows and not spraying it everywhere? 

Robbo said:

In my opinion, you are using too much water.

If it were me, I would:

Fit 2mm pencil jets (very important) ditch the 3mm.

Get a Univalve.

Turn the flow up so your jet is about 5 - 6 foot across the ground. My controller is on 50.

To clean:

Once round the frame, twice over the glass and a very quick rinse (and I mean quick).

Turn the water off (using the univalve) as much as possible.

In an ideal world, you should be rinsing whilst you are agitating the dirt.

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I appreciate your advice mate! ? 

I will fit 2mm jets. I have one of them valves and I do switch it off when I’m not using it. If I had my flow on 50 with or without them 3mm jets, I would run out of water after about 4 hours. 
 

I wonder if I’ve got a leak... ?? 

It really baffles me how everyone else using much less than me!   

Pjj said:

Trust me you will be surprised how much water that will save you , I assume you are turning off the water between windows and not spraying it everywhere? 

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Ok I will defo give it a try thanks! ? Yes I am turning my water off in between windows. What are them pencil jets designed to do? In comparison to not using them? 

I have a 650l tank and I usually find that I have around 20-30% of my water left after a day 7-8 hours. I use a univalve and 4x1.4mm pencil jets usually. Maybe I’m using a bit too much but I like to be able to rinse quickly. 

Rickadoo said:

I have a 650l tank and I usually find that I have around 20-30% of my water left after a day 7-8 hours. I use a univalve and 4x1.4mm pencil jets usually. Maybe I’m using a bit too much but I like to be able to rinse quickly. 

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What do you have your flow on? 

Luke Macclesfield said:

What do you have your flow on? 

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I have an analogue controller with numbers 1-10. I normally have it on 7-8 but I use a 6mm bore reel hose so I need it that high to get a decent flow rate. 

I watched a window cleaner this past week. I know him by name and he was one of the few trad guys left. He now has a PF trolley, a CLX22 with 2mm jets and runs his controller on 10. He says in summer he runs it on 9.

I was amazed at how little water he was using on a row of street houses as I could see the water level in his plastic container. I wandered down to speak to him and watched him wash and rinse an upstairs window, a downstairs window and a front door.

The flow was enough to give the windows a good scrub and a quick rinse. The flow was more than adequate for rinsing.

In our early wfp days we didn't have controllers as they weren't available. We used 3mm jets with 1/2" garden hose on a Hozelok hose reel daisy- chaining 2 together when needed for a longer run. The water gushed out of those jets using a 5.2lpm Shurflo pump and I got through all my 450 liters (350 on the trailer and 100 liters in containers) before 3pm.

When I purchased my first MK2 Varistream and reduced the jet size to 2mm I still had the 100 liters in containers when finishing at 5pm having completed another 4 houses in the same street.

Each house was taking fractionally longer as the rinse was slower but I was saving the water I wasted during the scrubbing phase. The way I see it is that it takes me around 30 seconds to clean a normal size single window. If I break that time down in washing and rinsing, I recon that 20 seconds is a scrubbing phase and 10 seconds is the rinsing and brushing along the sill phase.

We don't need a high flow during the scrubbing phase. If we have a high flow then we waste water. But rinsing is quicker if we have a high flow rate.

Spring controllers brought out a remote controlled dual speed controller. A slow flow for washing and a fast flow for rinsing. Trouble was that you need to press the button on the remote to activate the speed modes which didn't work. It would have been great if the remote had voice recognition. Shout slow and ...... you get the picture.