Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Stoots on May 09, 2022, 06:39:55 pm
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I ran out of 650l today :o and this is the 2nd or 3rd time ive done so in the last few weeks.
Granted theres probably 50l or more that i cant get out below the tap level but still thats some water useage!
Been working less days but longer ones lately , started at 8 and ran out at 3 and i only ever have my flow on full crack so i know why im using so much but still...
I know of cleaners that are only using 350l in a day to me thats nuts id be home by 12 :D
I bought a new van a couple of months ago planning to fit a 500l tank but cant use it because payload is only 750kg and ive no chance if im using that much water daily. Funny though because last thursday day i did more jobs, similar value of work but only used about 500l...Today was bigger houses......
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Pump on around 75, one shot, so water off between windows (front to back and upstairs to downstairs I turn it off)
750l tank, can last me a week. Then again I am home by 12-1pm, and I only do around 10 houses a day if its not commercial.
I’ve no idea how I use so little water, it’s plenty of flow for me at 75 on the controller.
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I have a 650 tank and never run out, having your flow on full is a waste of water, i have mine set on 40 and that's plenty imo.
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At the mo we are on 35 slightly higher than normal cos of the dust. Go to 50 max for very dirty cleans. Two of us use approx 500-600 litres a day.
We used to clean on 28-30 when there where 3 of use. 650 litres a day. Never had any problems. Also as I use a booster pump in this property we rent it uses electricity so don’t want to go mad on water useage
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I’m a flat out pumper too. I’ve tried a few times to turn it down, but find I can’t work at the speed I like to.
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450 litres. Usually empty after 5-6 hours of cleaning depending on the work, pump on number 34.
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650 Atleast for me.
When there is two of us it’s about 1000 a day.
We run pumps flat out also. Can’t work with flow any less.
Power to you, but I don’t see how you can throughly flush and clean windows with a few hundred litres a day while maintaining a good speed.
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Sounds like your over rinsing a bit? Are you doing this on or off the glass?
If you are running low on water, kerb the van on the opposite side of your tank valve, so the water will drain the right way.
I have my V16 controller on 85 using the higher flow rate 8mm minibore, and i would struggle to use that amount? Do you have a on/off on your pole like the univalve?
But thinking on about it 600l in 7 hrs if you are working like a nutter flat out without breaks, it is possible given the high flow rate you are using.
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I have a 650 tank and never run out, having your flow on full is a waste of water, i have mine set on 40 and that's plenty imo.
Disagree, I've turned mine down loads of times to see if its worth it and it isn't it definitely slows me down a lot i feel like im stood there ages rinsing with a low flow. Notice it most on phobic glass I could go to sleep with such a low flow.
If anything at times I feel like 99 isn't enough, if I could get more flow I would.
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There is your answer mate, hydrophobic glass.
I rinse off the glass, and that type of glass takes twice as much rinsing.
Side to side downwards having to cover every bit of glass slowly with the jet flow, to make sure.
I even looked into if there was something like a rainex type of coating that could be applied to the surface of that type of glass, but some on here say that's what vision is for, and others say it wont do that properly?
If there was such a product, it would be worth spending a bit more time rubbing it over the glass on the first clean, if it meant faster future cleans until it wore off.
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Frequency of clean comes in to this as well, I clean once a month, if you’re cleaning 6-8weekly you’re going to need more water…
I agree, higher flow does make for faster work.
I’ve watched other window cleaners and seen how ridiculously wasteful they are, rinsing for ever and not turning water off between upstairs and downstairs windows etc.
It all comes down to personal ways of working.
Only way to save water is to turn water off when not at a window, rinse less and turn flow down a bit Adam…
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I usually work 8:15 - 2:45 and go through about 400 litres and have my controller set at 95. I switch off the water between windows, I also mostly have the water off when cleaning sills.
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When we first started wfp we didn't have controllers. I would get through 550 litres from 9am to 2pm and would end up going home early as I had no more water left.
We purchased one of the first Varistreams and by reducing the flow rate to about half I was able to accomplish more cleans a day working from 9 till 4/5pm using around 450 litres. (My trailer held 450 litres and I carried 4 x 25 litres drums in the van.)
On full flow, rinsing was quick, but I believe that we wasted a lot of water during the scrubbing phase of the clean, especially if we had to work on a bird's strike for example.
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My pump works at full bore, I reckon 450 -500 litres in a 5 hour on the glass working day.
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What jets do you guys use with such high flow rate?
My pump would cut in and out on 50+.
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What jets do you guys use with such high flow rate?
My pump would cut in and out on 50+.
I use standard pencils.
What do you mean cut in and out ? Sounds like a calibration issue that
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What jets do you guys use with such high flow rate?
My pump would cut in and out on 50+.
Flow rate shouldn’t make your pump start and stop, You just need to increase calibration on your controller.
Usually it involves holding the plus and minus together, then it will open up the cal function.
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Should be earning £ for every liter you use I’ve gaged this over a period for years and it’s very accurate flat out pump.
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Should be earning £ for every liter you use I’ve gaged this over a period for years and it’s very accurate flat out pump.
Yeah right. 😁
I’d be on a grand a day with that logic.
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Pump controller on 50 and 400-450l per day(5-6 hour on the glass)so around 80-85 litres an hour...
TBH I find having the controller on 99 is too much (splashback)which can actually increase the risk of spotting IME
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I have done some testing on my own windows. Some are older ones with external seals also a mixed between hydrophobic and hydrophilic.
Ive tried what I class as over rinsing and hardly rinsed at all, not seen any difference so ive cut my rinsing down.
I think a lot of people who are using too much water might be over rinsing also try fitting a univlave. I work from 8 to 3/3.30pm and use 400ltrs.
Dazzler
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My opinion would be who cares you need to flood the window I always use the pump flat out to work quickly and more effectively you want to use plenty of water,I see many people using a dribble or 18” out the brush no where near enough imo I have mine landing 14-15ft away even on 6 weekly cleans.
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Pump controller on 50 and 400-450l per day(5-6 hour on the glass)so around 80-85 litres an hour...
TBH I find having the controller on 99 is too much (splashback)which can actually increase the risk of spotting IME
That’s why I use 3mm jets, less splash back and more efficient rinse due to more of the water staying on the glass and not bouncing off all over the shop. No pun intended!
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Should be earning £ for every liter you use I’ve gaged this over a period for years and it’s very accurate flat out pump.
Yeah right. 😁
I’d be on a grand a day with that logic.
NWH is right.
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If it’s priced right each liter as I say should earn you a £ even flat out at the pump,1000ltrs is loads of water if you can’t get a 1000 out of that amount of water I’d be looking at something.
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We can do over £300 with 250 litres of water.
1 Pump 2 reels seems to work OK.
Control valve on the pole, switch off easily and control the flow between scrubbing (low flow) and rinsing (high flow).
I see windies even moving between houses spraying water everywhere!
I even saw one switched on the pump then started to walk about 30 metres to the house spraying pure water everywhere.
Mad waste.
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About the same here two of us 350 litres lasts the morning.
We don't scrimp on the water but don't waste any either ;D
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I’m probably quite wasteful with water and can hit £1 to 1 litre used on about 50% of my work.
For once NWH isn’t completely wrong on this.
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Anyone north of the border that hits £1 per litre? ;D
It’s a different game up here.
Water is no issue to me, it’s cheap as chips to make, so i use a high flow to work fast. I’m not really interested in maximising/minimising my water use.
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Anyone north of the border that hits £1 per litre? ;D
It’s a different game up here.
Water is no issue to me, it’s cheap as chips to make, so i use a high flow to work fast. I’m not really interested in maximising/minimising my water use.
I’m northern England so certainly not working in areas like those down south. I’m pretty wasteful with water too as I rarely run out and as you say it’s so cheap to make.
I won’t average £1 per litre over the week but won’t be that far off.
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Anyone north of the border that hits £1 per litre? ;D
It’s a different game up here.
Water is no issue to me, it’s cheap as chips to make, so i use a high flow to work fast. I’m not really interested in maximising/minimising my water use.
It's daft logic don't listen to nwh ;D
If you can do £300 of work a day running flat out using 600l thats 50p per litre.
You wouldn't be able to clean anymore work in the day (likely less ) with a slower flow only using 300l even though it hits the magical £1 per litre.
Id be turning over 100k a year if i earned £1 for every litre of water I used.
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It’s not about what you can earn a year etc if you gauge what you charge on how much water is used over the course of the day you should be able to know roughly what you’ve done money wise,if a competent worker even flat out on my pump came back if I looked at the tank and looked at nothing else I’d know how much he should have taken over the day.
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I use between 400 /600 ish per day some times tad more on big day flow set to 64 on flow control
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I would say £1 to a litre used is what ou should be aiming for.
As pointed out a great fast flow is great for rinsing but very wasteful while on the scrubbing side of things - there is a balance to this - speaking as someone who has trained about 8 people over the last 6 years the most common thing that happens after a few months is the flow rte is turned up but the amount of time rinsing says the same so it leads to more wasted water - and in a strange way wasted time (as the increased flow would shorten the rinse time) its a bit like the yips in sport - you lose your nerve a bit to go over just enough and move on - you end up going over again "just in case" or putting more and more water on the glass to compensate for the not quite cleaned feeling
Darran
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I see it with one particular cleaner I know his flow is 18” or so out the brush head no where near enough water imo I’d get that on about 25 with the controller,he spends minutes per window chasing water from top to bottom.
With a decent flow of water you shouldn’t need to rinse down the glass at all I rarely lift of the glass the most I’ll do is tilt the brush to one side,you need to choose whether you want to work slowly or quickly and this should be determined by the flow rate I’ve found a brand new pump I’ll get the same flow on 85 odd after years of use it’ll be back to flat out I gauge it the distance I get out the brush as to where the water lands 12-15ft I’ve found is the best flow rate whatever it says on the controller,like I say if a brand new pump gets me that at 80 odd so be it as soon as the pressure dips I’ll turn it up accordingly.
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I've been using 400-450
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It’s not about what you can earn a year etc if you gauge what you charge on how much water is used over the course of the day you should be able to know roughly what you’ve done money wise,if a competent worker even flat out on my pump came back if I looked at the tank and looked at nothing else I’d know how much he should have taken over the day.
Yes to an extent you are right, I can gauge roughly how much money ive done by how much water ive used. But if you are charging £20 a semi that uses 20l and I'm charging £12 for the same semi that uses 20l then weve used the same amount of water but you've earned more money.
So the £1 litre is only relevant to you and how you work with your prices.
The amount per litre will be different for me how I work and with my prices.
It will also be different for the cleaner down the road who prices the same as me but uses half the flow.
Profit earned for time spent cleaning should be the only indicator of efficency not how much water has or hasnt been used.
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I see it with one particular cleaner I know his flow is 18” or so out the brush head no where near enough water imo I’d get that on about 25 with the controller,he spends minutes per window chasing water from top to bottom.
With a decent flow of water you shouldn’t need to rinse down the glass at all I rarely lift of the glass the most I’ll do is tilt the brush to one side,you need to choose whether you want to work slowly or quickly and this should be determined by the flow rate I’ve found a brand new pump I’ll get the same flow on 85 odd after years of use it’ll be back to flat out I gauge it the distance I get out the brush as to where the water lands 12-15ft I’ve found is the best flow rate whatever it says on the controller,like I say if a brand new pump gets me that at 80 odd so be it as soon as the pressure dips I’ll turn it up accordingly.
I think you forget that some people use 4 jets and some people use 2 jets, you also get different size jets, 1.4mm, 2mm and 3mm. So the distance the water lands from the brush isn’t the be all and end all.
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I use the 4 jet setup also on some jobs the smaller blue capsules flat out on the pump I still get a good distance from the brush.
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I use the 4 jet setup also on some jobs the smaller blue capsules flat out on the pump I still get a good distance from the brush.
Exactly my point….if you used 2mm jets it would reduce the distance the water would reach from the brush.
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Yeah I’m using that as a guide on a standard pencil jet brush I see people use small 2 jet brushes and the waters piddling out barely 2ft each to their own,these people usually complain about a sore neck.
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I have my pump on 85 (35cm brush , 4 50° fan jets) and use around 600ltrs a day working around 6hrs a day on the glass