Water - we keep it pure and simple

The ability of pure water to evaporate off glass without leaving a mark or stain behind was the catalyst behind us bringing the water treatment industry and water fed pole systems together in the mid nineties.

The science of pure water can be quite complicated and perplexing, and is unfortunately often misunderstood, to the expense of the customer. This has led to some companies developing over engineered and poorly designed water systems in our industry, and is a problem that has led many companies to seek our advice over the years.  We are recognised as the only true water treatment company in our industry, and often are asked to consult on projects all over the world, including on the recent Burj in Dubai, the world’s tallest building.  We are also increasingly called upon to revamp many systems originally produced through competitors.

As our expertise in water treatment goes back over 22 years, we like to think we understand water better than most.  We also sit on the Technical Committee of the UKWTA (United Kingdom Water Treatment Association) which is responsible for driving forward improvements to the quality of water treatment. We believe in keeping things very simple. This is why we base many of our systems, mobile and otherwise, on deionised (DI) resins. DI resins are very robust in all kinds of operating circumstances, eg hot and cold weather conditions, and have the ability of removing nearly all impurities in water. This is done with just a single piece of equipment at a very reasonable price. It also enables water fed poles to operate from any direct water source such as an outside tap.

Pure water -
making it the right way

Pole users often criticise their equipment because it cannot make pure water quickly enough, in the volume they need and at a realistic cost. The fault can lie with poor equipment but is often inappropriate equipment or equipment being asked to perform in unrealistic surroundings.

Water treatment equipment

H2O for water fed pole glass cleaning needs to be 99.9% pure to be effective. When water is this good it will evaporate off glass without leaving marks or stains, leaving windows sparkling clean.  The water purity also has the effect of breaking the static attraction on the glass, meaning that glass remains cleaner, clearer and brighter for longer.

There are a number of water treatment methods available to provide the correct level of purity, and although the water quality in a locality will naturally have an effect on this decision, consideration must also be given to the volume of water required, and the customer’s own needs.  There is all too often a tendency in our industry for companies to sell the customer a solution without fully knowing or understanding the full picture. Aquafactors (formerly Tucker Pole UK) are first and foremost water treatment experts, and our knowledge of water means that we work very differently to our competitors and this is evident in the systems we build and the advice we give.  Here is a brief resume of the water treatment available from Aquafactors.

Water softeners
In the UK, over 65% of the country suffers with the effects of hard water. The combination of of both permanent and temporary calcium and magnesium hardness minerals creates more problems with glass cleaning than any other impurities. Although they cannot be used on their own, they do remove 100% of hardness and give important and often overlooked protection to other water treatment systems such as reverse osmosis (RO) membranes.

Water softeners use an ion exchange process to remove the hardness minerals from water with a regeneratable resin. The resin collects the hardness minerals while giving up sodium to make the water soft. Salt is used to recharge and refresh the resin occasionally with sodium ions while the hardness minerals are flushed away to drain. The softened water is sodium biased. It is the softest mineral on our earth.

Aquafactors works alongside its sister company, Aqua-Nouveau, and shares considerable experience in both domestic and commercial water softening and other traditional methods of water treatment.  Water softeners can be found in all types of properties including private homes, residential care homes, hotels, hospitals, factories - In fact, any place that is affected with hard water will benefit from the installation of a quality water softener - The payback period is generally anything from 18 months to 3 years.  Our background and international reputation in water treatment offers us access to offer electrical and non electrical softeners from some of the world’s leading suppliers.

Deionisers
Deionisers are the water treatment backbone of the water fed pole industry and give considerable flexibility in use. They can take raw tap water and immediately boost it to a 99.9% purity rating - better than RO - and perfect to go straight onto the glass. 

The equipment (a cylinder containing DI resin) is straightforward to understand and easy to use. As Di resin can be exhausted fairly quickly in this mode, it is often criticised for its expense, but the simplicity of the system is a huge benefit.  It is very much worth noting however that resin prices have been reducing over the past 12-18 months and for most customers this is increasingly a viable and cost effective method of water treatment.  Most customers use deionisers as a final ‘polishing’ medium after RO. This lifts the purity rating from 98% to 99.9% - a notable difference!  As this improvement in purity is so small the resin can last a considerable period of time.  Over 95% of our long standing customers have DI systems on their vans, and typical filling times can be between 15 - 30 minutes, depending on tank size and tap water pressure when coming straight off the mains.

Reverse osmosis
This is remarkable technology capable of producing pure water in very large volumes and at an even lower cost using reverse osmosis (RO) technology, although initial upfront costs are higher. Reverse Osmosis uses a membrane technology to separate out the majority of organic and inorganic impurities in water. The purity of the resulting water is around 94 to 98% depending on the incoming water quality. In some areas of the country such as Scotland, Wales and Cornwall where the ground is a typically a bed of granite, the incoming water can be so soft that the water is good enough to be used directly on glass. In most other areas of the UK, Reverse Osmosis requires the water to be pre-treated (softened) to protect the membrane. Even then the resulting water quality still requires to be further improved using a deionised (DI) resin.

However, it works best in a controlled environment. RO equipment is both sensitive and vulnerable, and was not designed to be jogged around in the back of a van as is often the case found in our industry. RO systems should be pumped and often also softened, and systems often found in vans produce water very slowly, often to the point of extreme frustration and even loss of business. A colder environment (anything below 25 degrees centigrade), such as in the back of a van, can further exacerbate low flow.  A typical van mounted RO system will take approximately 8 hours to fill in the summer and anything up to fours times that length of time in the colder months. 

We prefer to use pumped RO systems in static installations such as in a garage, warehouse or garden shed where they can be properly designed and protected, and which use pressures against the membrane of around 14 bar (200psi). Pure water is therefore produced much faster, in bigger volumes with excellent rejection characteristics. If the set up is designed right, and high quality RO components are used, such as the Nimbus unit, maintenance and running costs can be significantly lower. 

It is difficult to store water at a constant high level of purity. The tendency of pure water is to leach at anything it touches. DI resins are therefore used to ‘polish’ the stored water before it is applied to the glass.

Ultra Violet (UV) systems
Aquafactors market a low voltage UV steriliser for mobile tank systems which use hot water. It was designed and introduced by us some years ago following concerns shown by many competitors worried about the dangers of Legionella with hot water systems they are selling. Although we stress this product is not required in our industry, it is available should you have been given inaccurate information by our competitors and require peace of mind.  A fact sheet on this product is available on request.

Private water supply equipment (bore holes)
When a static water making facility is required to be fitted in a location which has water supplied from a bore hole, well or another form of private supply, the water quality may often not be to the standard of mains water and careful planning must be given to ensure the safety of the water in use. Specific water treatment may be required. Iron problems, for instance, can cause resin binding and therefore it is necessary to further treat the water in addition to the systems already mentioned. In most cases a water analysis will highlight any short comings.