Two machines on two spigots?

[Skizzat]

Is it possible to put a 4GPM machine on one spigot and a 2.2GPM machine on another at a customer's house and still have the GPM needed for both machines? Or is it possible to put a splitter on one spigot and connect both pressure washers at the same point? I find myself with an additional machine and thought I'd put the wife to work. Since I don't yet have a truck big enough to carry my own water I'd need to connect to the customer's water.

Thanks

 

[Mark]

Either might work.

It depends on the output of the faucet. [hello]

 

[Skizzat]

Will my equipment be damaged if they're trying to draw more water than can be supplied? It won't start collapsing pipes anywhere will it?

 

[5 Star Johnny]

In MOST cases, this shouldn't be a problem. We do this all the time, running 100' - 3/4" water hose and don't usually have an issue. You could run 50' supply hose, which would increase your draw power. NO, you're not going to collapse pipes in the house. We do run across the occasional residence that doesn't have enough water pressure to support two machines. If we're a considerable distance from the shop, this usually ends up with one guy spraying chems, while the other sprays. Still results in someone standing around watching the other. Once in a great while, we have one that won't support a single machine. This is normally in a rural area where the client is on a well system, and their well pump can't keep up. Since we don't carry our water tanks with us, we end up pulling off the job and bringing back a tank. Once back on the job, we just run a supply hose into the tank to keep it filled up.

The best way to avoid the problem is to carry a tank and be prepared. I can only think of two times this season we've actually had to use one, and we always run off the clients water supply. Hope this helps.

 

[Skizzat]

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll just put my little 2.2GPM between the house and the wife and have her keep the dirty water flowing while I use the surface cleaner. At this point that's a lot cheaper than going with a vac system of some kind. Thanks for the help.

 

[PressurePros]

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll just put my little 2.2GPM between the house and the wife and have her keep the dirty water flowing while I use the surface cleaner. At this point that's a lot cheaper than going with a vac system of some kind. Thanks for the help.

Its still federal law that you have to capture and reclaim that wash water. You probably knew that already though..

 

[Skizzat]

Oh yeah... as long as I only do jobs where the water washes into grass or natural areas I should be ok. Doing a summer's worth of selective washing would bring in enough for a simple vac system to protect me on jobs where water would wash into a street. Maybe I can just berm the water and use a sump to send it back into the lawn...

 

[PressurePros]

You may not even need the sump in most cases. We berm the end of the driveway which 90% of the time is adjacent to the lawn.

 

[Skizzat]

Good plan. What do you berm with? Find anything you can make from Home Depot parts or did you have to buy something "professional" that cost a weeks pay?

 

[PressurePros]

Good plan. What do you berm with? Find anything you can make from Home Depot parts or did you have to buy something "professional" that cost a weeks pay?

Fire hose filled with sand low budget enough for ya ?

 

[Skizzat]

Cheap is right up my alley, but doesn't that get heavy? Sound like it would work though. Maybe I'll go find some hose somewhere and try it out. Thanks for the idea man.

 

[Jonney_boy]

a though.. .maybe you could just fill the fire hose with water instead for weight? will that work? (I am not usually required to recover my waste water so i'm not too fimilar with it myself)

 

[Skizzat]

I could go either way I suppose, but after trying to reach someone at the local fire station to ask about used hose I decided to go another route. I hope they don't respond to fires like they respond to a ringing phone. :burn:

I have a friend in the inflatable moonwalk/moon bounce business and he not only rents the things but also repairs them as well. I'm getting him to make me several tubes made from heavy vinyl that I can fill halfway with sand. I asked for three 6-ft lengths so I could arrange them easier as well as keep myself from having to lift so much with one big one. We'll see how it works out. I might end up going with something else after all but for 20 bux I'll try it.

Hey if any of you people need anything made of heavy vinyl (equipment covers, parts bags, water berms) let me know and I'll see if my guy can make it for you.

 

[Revive]

cheap

Cheap. Pool socks, that are used for keeping pool covers on in the winter.. $8.00 each. They are 4' long. Won't last as long as fire hose, but you asked for cheap. Fill with water, then just drain and roll up.

 

[Skizzat]

Well I got to use my new vinyl berms filled with pea gravel today on a neighbor's driveway and was surprised to see they work pretty well at redirecting waster water flow. I see two problems however:

1. The berm only works up until about 3 feet or so from the end of the driveway. Any closer and the water that ends up in the grass as a result of the berm is just going to the travel the few feet through the grass and end up in the street anyway. Short of using some sort of mechanized suction I don't see a way to clean the end of a driveway without water getting into the street. What are you guys (or gals) doing? Is everyone using reclaim systems?

2. The grass or dirt on the side of the drive can't be too much (if at all) higher than the driveway surface or there will have to be near perfect alignment between the driveway, berm, and grass so water doesn't go around or under the berm. Berm works great if the soil surface is below the driveway surface, but the berm doesn't seem to work well at all if the soil/grass is above the surface level. Anyone know a way around this short of a berm with a vacuum attached to it?

I also had to give up trying to get the dirty water off parts of this driveway. The grass/soil not only kept the dirty water from blowing off the drive, it also kept bleeding back on the drive. :burn: How does one get around this?

I really enjoy doing flat work but controlling waste water on the cheap is kicking my butt.