Can I please have some clarification on an issue I am facing. I would first like to preface this post by saying that I do not mean to take business or money away from anyone, especially the owners of the site.
I am new to the industry and I’ve been doing a lot of research, mainly here.
I want a $6000 RO/DI system from WCR as bad as anyone else that can’t afford one yet. I have high TDS source water and want to bring 0TDS water to job sites and not use customer tap water.
Will the pros please tell me why I can’t or shouldn’t by a RODI system designed for reef fish tanks to get me started until I can afford the big systems. They guarantee 0TDS.
For between $350-500 I can have a 180 GPD system fill up my tank with a $60 to $80 set of filters supposedly lasting 2 to 3 months. I only need approx 80 gal/day and not even that much to start. Why won’t this work, or will it, temporarily??
Here is a pic of one of many options.
Thanks for the input in advance.
i have looked at similar systems but already have a xero pure.
never saw any reason it wouldn’t work although it produces 2 times as much waste as pure so to get 80 gallons pure you use 240 gallons total. here water is cheap but that would still be about $10 per day or 200 per month.
i’d rather use the customers water, have an endless supply on the job and use the savings to pay for a real system.
Thanks for the reply.
I don’t pay for water since I live in the country outside of town and live on top of a lot of water.
It doesn’t have to last more than 5 or 6 months and I could upgrade. (By optimistic forecast)
This way I could be cleaning 2 and 3 story residential for about $1200. I’d buy fancy CF poles and stuff later. Just a good brush, cheap pole, tank, pump, and flow control with cheap filter system to start. I was really hoping people would say it would work great for short term.
That’s my apprehension. Not knowing if it would just be a big waste. TDS out here hangs around 500 from the city taps. I just don’t know enough to quantify what that will cost in portable setups. I can buy 0TDS water from a bottling company for .40 per gallon but they want $35 for shop time to fill a tank. That’s $75 per day for 100 gallons. That doesn’t sound smart either.
An aquarium will sell it for .60 flat rate. Still expensive.
It just sucks starting out. I like buying the best tools up front and letting it pay for itself. Just short on funds.
Thanks for your input. I’ll keep researching.
I wouldn’t want to be doing much cleaning at 20-30 feet with a cheap pole that wobbles like a fishing rod. I wouldn’t want my livelihood to depend on a cheap filtration unit, either.
If you’re going to spend $1200 on equipment that’s essentially disposable, why not just spend $2500 on a system that will last for years and make your life so much easier in the meantime?
If you can’t afford it now, so what? Stick to the trad tools and hustle your butt until you can afford something legit.
I just got a XERO system myself. It took me a year to scrape together the extra capital. But it’s been totally worth the money and the wait. It’s built like a little tank, and the CF pole works beautifully at height. It came with a fiberglass pole too, and that one wobbles like a wet noodle and is way more fatiguing to control and operate.
Matt
Many of the British window cleaners use this type of system They have a large holding tank where the water is stored then with the transfer pump they pump it to a tank in the vehicle You would need to let the system run 24 hours a day in order to have enough water to work with.
Sounds like you have already calculated your expenses to operate a system like this one thing you may want to consider is a lease
That would give you the opportunity to have the equipment and start making money with a low monthly payment
You may want to consider the zero pure that you could use to fill a tank to carry the water with you to the job.
Here are some different set ups were people are using this type of system now
You can apply for a lease here Apply for Financing
Please feel free to contact me 24 seven to discuss your system and set up
not positive, i think it’s about 50/50. i usually use customer water so it doesn’t matter to me and water is cheap here. doing a house once no one would notice on their bill but running all day everyday would really add up. @Matt.Clary where are you?
xero pure is a good unit and inexpensive.
You can certainly use a set up like this, but it will produce water very slowly.
The systems made for window cleaners are able to produce water much faster. This enables you to clean the windows with water you make on demand rather than putting it into a holding tank and pumping it out.
You might consider the EZ Pure caddy which is only $999 and during Feb includes a free water-fed pole.
I invested over 9k on my ipc rodi system along with poles and brushes. But we do 3 to 5 story commercial. My partner and I have paid off our system many many times over.
Don’t spend 6k if all you do is residential.
Unless your able to finance the machine at a good rate. There’s nothing wrong with credit. If used correctly and responsibly it can be a great tool to help build a biz.
By the way. Ipc rodi system with the Honda motor ran pump is an incredible machine. I’ve ran over 44,000 gallons so far. My last job TDS meter read 1!
That’s right, 1!
I’ve changed the RO filter once and changed out resin about 5 times as well as changing out the very inexpensive small sediment filters regularly. ( make sure your bidding filter cost in every job)
Our water runs so pure we can clean windows during the day in So Cal in the sun and walk away leaving spot free windows.
Also try to hook up to spigots when ever possible. Way better for your filters than reclaimed. But sometimes you have no choice.
My ipc still runs 3 on TDS even with reclaimed water.
Plus it sips gas.
Most bottled drinking water=15 to 23 on tds
Rain water= 6 on tds
Our water from ipc =1 to 3
Share this when you sell your jobs.
I’ve impressed many properties managers with this info.
I just bought a ph7 mini and a simpole katana super high mod pole. The system works great and very portable and compact and built extremely solid. The simpole is very light and stiff. I just used it on a couple residential job with some difficult high windows and didnt have to break out my ladder! Wish I would have bought years ago! I think whole setup is 2,000-2,400
