What about water?

Hey guys Ive just started looking into power washing residential. After i get my trailer set up i dont know how to get water… Can i just walk up on a job and use someones water or should i use my own and if i use my own how much would i need to bring? I dont want to use someones water and they ask my why i have to use theirs. Should it be included in a contract that i am using thier water or what??? Thanks for any help and also i would start in Mid Indiana.

If I can’t use their water…I don’t do their cleaning.

I am not hauling water to a job. I keep about 50gals in my tank…that is all the water that I will haul.

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thanks and that water is just clean water im guessing from your house?

Exactly what JimLuke said, estimating how much water you’ll need is really difficult. I have a 200gal tank on my trailer and pull it with MAYBE 50 gallons. My pump pulls straight from the tank, so I hook up to a water source and start to fill as Im working. Some jobs I use 100 gallons, others (BIG jobs) ill fill and drain my tank 2-5 times. The only reason I even have a tank is if im doing something and there’s no water source near by, I’ll still require to have a water source to fill, but I charge extra since I have to stop work to go and refill. It takes a while to stop work, wrap everything up, go back and wait for it to refill and set up all over again. Time is money and if I’m having to stop work because I’m out of water, then I should be compensated for that time.

I did a white plastic fence on a huge property - probably 15-20 acres and had to go back and fill up a few times. I charged them $40 each time I refilled. And that was honestly an hourly pay cut for me.

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It is water from my last job. I turn the water off going to the tank as I am finishing up the job, I will finish up on what is in the tank…what is left when I am done is all that I haul around…normally about 50gals.

that makes a lot of sense thanks for the info

Yup, I don’t think I’ve ever used my personal water. Leave enough in the tank to hook water up and immediately get to work. If its totally empty you’ll have to wait a few minutes to get enough water in the tank so the pump doesn’t starve. That goes back to time is money.

Plus hauling all that extra weight decreases your MPG, and additional strain on your trailer / vehicle. No reason to haul extra weight if you don’t need to.

Come to think of it tho, I’ve never had anyone say I couldn’t use their water.

Do you have those kinds of up charges in your contracts?

I only put them in there if they’re required. I have a 200ft of garden hose and 200ft of pressure hose. Not many places I cant get water from. But I’m in Texas and the big fence jobs are about the only time I include it. They’re also discussed during the estimate if need be. Honestly tho I don’t think I’m going to charge every time I go back anymore tho. Customer was cool with it, but I didn’t want him to think I was wasting water to get additional up charges. Now that I have a better feel of how much I can accomplish with 1 tank, Ill estimate how many refills and just make 1 charge @ 40 a refill. Example: If I think Im going to refill 5 times, add a $200 up charge for unavailable water source. But I may be the only one that does that and everyone could disagree with that. Just my thing.

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where would you say most of your work in texas come from?

That seems like a good plan to me.

I don’t want the hassle of having to fill the tank repeatedly…I am just too impatient for that…when I start a job, I want to work straight through with no delays. But, that is just me…

JimLuke - I agree I can’t stand it… but I’m not turning down a 4,000 job because I don’t feel like refilling the tank haha.

I live in Dallas area so most of my stuff typical work. Fast food restaurant, apartments, residential etc. But there’s the occasional rancher with white pvc like fences, and most of them use well water if they water at all. Super easy work just time consuming when it’s on a huge property

I understand that…I would have to reconsider on that size job.