Waterfed Pole Idea

this is before i mounted machine in van. realized it was insane loading and unloading 157lb cart. so considered tank since i already have new generator but still went with hose.

The 165 gallon tank is pretty big, but the van it is mounted in was purchased to be a pure water van. We do pure water out of the back doors and have our traditional equipment in the middle, accessed by the sliding door. The space used was planned long in advance and I love working out of it.

Our other van is a smaller cargo-minivan and is mostly used for storefront routes. It has a much smaller 65 gallon tank mounted in it, which takes up much less space. When I worked with the 65 gallon tank, I could clean for 4-5 hours out of that tank if I was careful to avoid wasting water. For a big day, I would plan a 45-60 minute lunch at home when practical and top-off the tank over lunch to extend the day.

If you’re set-up to haul your filter in your van and you’re happy with your system, you should run with it and not change a thing.

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on your storefronts are you mostly able too park right in front? how do you like wfp those?

thats when i could definitely see tanks since they’re much smaller.

my bad didn’t mention im usually doing big commercial bldgs

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We don’t use WFP for storefronts. That smaller van used to be my van but now is driven by an employee, who does most of the storefront work. But, the storefront van still has the small tank in it if / when I need it. I use the full-size van with the big tank for residential and commercial work.

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You have convinced me to haul my own water.

Has anyone tested their rain water?
The rain water should be soft right??
Wouldn’t that be good to filter to a 0 TDS reading for those people whose well or tap water is really high???

EDIT
It seems like there has already been lengthy discussions about the rain water idea, because I did find a few posts here when doing a quick search. Here is a link that was in one of the posts. I already knew that the roof wash needs to be discarded from past catchment system experience (usually about the first 5 or so gallons, which may be more for TDS readings) and this article confirmed that.

They are paying like $70 for rain catchment barrels, but you can usually buy empty plastic barrels from car washes for like $5 to $10 after they have used all the detergent in them. Of course this method might not supply all of your water needs depending on the average rainfall in your area, but some folks might save quite a bit of resin by utilizing the soft rain water being wasted from their downspouts.

On a side note:
I have been considering using the pump from a scrap car’s windshield wiper fluid, since they are 12 volt, for a cart type setup for a 5 to 10 gallon tank, I have not experimented yet, but it should have enough power for a short WFP. If it works, then that should be a cheap way to rig a pump for a home made portable system. Any thoughts, or anyone try that before?

porta potty lol tds

Is that the reading from your rain water? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

If so, did it come off of a metal roof or asphalt shingles, and did you let the roof wash come off first?

You have to discard the first X gallons of water coming off because that has all of the pollen and other junk in it that has collected on the roof since the last rain. You also need clean gutters too. Those are just water catchment basics.

If you have a metal roof with clean plastic gutters and discard the initial roof wash water, then your reading should be close to zero, or way closer than that. If you are testing water falling from the sky and getting that reading, then I would question the accuracy of your device, and if it is indeed working correctly, then you are living in very polluted air my friend.

I really need to get a TDS tester even though I don’t have a WFP yet, because I am curious about the difference in my catchment system versus my well water. I have had the well water tested before and a real estate developer said it was the best results that he had ever seen from a well test, but I did not pay attention to the itemized results, I was just happy it got the thumbs up from the health department for drinking it unfiltered.

Anyone else have any rain water TDS results for their area?

it’s from the tap of a house using well water up in the mountains.

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Okay you freaked me out a bit, because I saw the water droplets and thought that was a rain water test. :smile:
I was like, what the heck?!?! (had bad thoughts about the chem trail jets)

A lot of the mountains homes (old log cabins) around here have rock lined springs or spring houses for the water. Those have the best drinking water around. Hard to beat a mountain spring.

If you have a pool supply store in your area they could probably test a water sample and tell you TDS. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for that advice. I really need to get one of the hand held for field testing. Was hoping to pick one up locally, but when I ask for a TDS tester, I get the response of … “a what?”, then when I try to explain what it is i get a … “never heard of it.” :slight_smile: Nearest pool supply store would be about an hour away from me, but I may call some and see what they say about selling one.

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Just order one on amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=tds+meter

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NEVER! :money_mouth_face::crazy_face::nerd_face::japanese_ogre::japanese_goblin:
I refuse to use Amazon.

I will probably buy the same kind from HomeDepot that leavingnc is showing in his photo. I just didn’t want to wait for one to be mailed. (their outlets here don’t stock them)

Will absolutely not work. A wiper fluid pump is only designed to produce a TDH (total dynamic head) through a 1mm hose of about 24 inches. You have to have a pump that will produce at least 1.5gpm with a TDH of 35 feet at a minimum through a 5mm line.

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i am just about to mount a 250 gallon tank in an e250. have been considering rear mount with gear in the middle, any pics?

Yeah, you are right, if I go to the larger hose and I try to go 35 feet, but I’m not (“should have enough power for a short WFP.”). The car I am taking it off of has a pump that shoots a large stream all the way over the top of the car when not angled at the windshield. So, it seems to be pretty powerful. I am going to try it just to see how far it will pump vertically through the same size hose it was designed for, because its hose is definitely more than 1mm. Probably won’t work, but I am curious to know how high it will go.

Not trying to use more than 0.5 gallons a minute anyway. That seems to be enough flow for the [backpack systems) that some people use. Not sure about the psi coming out of my pump, so again, probably won’t work but it seems powerful enough for an experiment. Was just wondering if anyone else had tried it before.

why not just buy one? can lose so much time reinventing the wheel. if wfp isn’t making you money right thats fine focus trad cleaning then save too buy one.

Have you ever built something? Or created something, like artwork, even virtual? There is a satisfaction in making something, even if it is not a new invention. Would you have told Henry Ford to just go buy a Mercedes? Henry Ford’s wife would not drive his cars, because she felt that combustion engines were too dangerous. She drove an electric car instead. To each his own.

I do plan on purchasing one, and building/modifying some too. Would like to try bamboo.

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