Generally speaking – yes! Give our team a call to find out the best option for your property. – 01539 756219

Pressure washing requires a good supply of water in order to clean large areas. Due to water being extremely heavy, and taking up a large amount of space, it is near impossible to bring enough water to each customer. For most jobs, an outside tap is a crucial requirement for exterior cleaning – there are however, a number of options if you do not have an outside tap.

1. Buffer Tank

For small areas, we can use our onboard buffer tank. This tank contains 500 litres (half a tonne) of water and is used to provide our pressure washing equipment with a consistent flow of water. Without this tank, we would not be able to pressure wash in areas with low water pressure or where the flow is inconsistent. When we arrive at a house with an outside tap, we plug our hoses in to keep this tank topped off.

For very small jobs where houses do not have outside taps, the onboard water will last for about 30 minutes. For most jobs however, this option is not going to be sufficient.

2. Tap Adapters

Onboard our van we keep a large range of high quality, stainless steel, adapters. The adapters allow us to connect to most inside and outside taps. Our adapters are designed with wide diameters to provide good flow to our equipment and high quality rubber seals to prevent leaking when the hose is attached. Our water tank is designed with a special valve that stops taking water from the tap when the tank is full – exactly like a toilet!

Our technicians will check the water supply during the quoting process and will advise if we are unable to connect to your water supply.

3. Towable Water Bowser

Another option for getting water to you, is by using a towable water bowser. The water bowser is filled by the pressure washing company and bought to you. For larger jobs the water bowser still won’t carry enough water to complete the job. and will require the operator to make many trips to refill the tank and return to you. Due to this, water bowsers end up being a more expensive option due to the additional fuel and time required to refill the water and complete jobs.

 

4. Standpipes from the local water authority

Another option for water access is to use a standpipe provided by the local water authority. Standpipes connect to the mains water supply in the road and are hidden under specially marked manhole covers. Only designated hydrants can be used by operators and water abstraction requires a license with the water company. The disadvantage of these hydrants is that in some areas, designated hydrants can be few and far between.

Some hydrants may be placed in an busy road or be too far for hoses to reach. Our technicians will assess whether this option is feasible during our quoting process

5. Natural water sources

Taking water from a surface source (such as a river, stream or canal) or from an underground source is called abstraction and is a great way to use natural water. Pressure washing only requires small quantities of water to refill tanks, but if you have to take more than 20,000 litres a day, an abstraction licence is required from the Environment Agency.

Before considering water abstraction, a responsible company should alway consult local rules, bylaws and speak to the environment agency for guidance. Natural water can contain detritus and dirt so filtration should be used to prevent damage to equipment.

6. Help from next door!

Finally – we carry very long hoses onboard our van, and if you have friendly neighbours, it may be worth speaking to them about using their water supply. The average price of water in the UK is around £1.90 per 1000 litres. On an average driveway, you would expect to use around 1000 litres of water. If you’re getting a patio, roof or larger cleaning work carried out, more water will be required – but the cost should still be minimal.

We hope that this article helps you understand the options available to you. If you have any questions on the above, leave a comment below or call our team on 01539 756219.

– Lake District Exterior Cleaning