# Water Tanks for Power Wahser



## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

I am wondering if I can buy a holding tank for water and use my 4,000 psi power washer we have. We have six 30,000 square foot buildings coming up with no pratical source of water so I need to figure out if I can connect my power washer right to the tank? I am thinking a 500-800 gallon but im not sure. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks


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## Mandrake (Jul 4, 2007)

Check the powerwashingnetwork.com for better advice than I can give. we have a hot water PW unit that can run off a holding tank. I think most PW units can but you have to watch the GPMs. Problem we ran into was the weight of carting water around. A full 500 gallon tank weighs over 2 tons! Watch out!

I'd call a couple local PW guys and see if they might work something out. If you are planning to do a lot of this then you might want to buy a trailer and tank. I have a guy locally who supplies the PW people and he's been a great help. Check for a landa, hotsy, or MiTM dealer and they mght be able to help out.

What about subbing it out to a PW guy?

Mndrk


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## Wolverine (Apr 17, 2007)

Don't alot of PW people buy PE totes?

http://business.search.ebay.com/275...1QQsabfmtsZ1QQsacatZ12576QQsaprchiZQQsaprcloZ


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## Firemike (May 29, 2007)

We did an industrial job a while ago that had no water, we had a 6000 gallon tank truck brought in by a water trucking company, cost was like $475 or something like that. 

Called them and explained what we needed to do, they brought the trailer with the fittings we needed, left the trailer there for the three days it took us. We figured at 4.8gpm the tanker would give us over 20 hours of washing time. Normally the cost was like $275 for a load of water, but the cost was higher because they left the trailer, well worth it considering how easy everything was. No portable tanks, running to fill the tank up again, down time, etc.

Don't know if it will work in your situation, maybe smaller tankers if you are doing the buildings at six different times or have a logistic or staging problem


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## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

Mandrake said:


> Check the powerwashingnetwork.com for better advice than I can give. we have a hot water PW unit that can run off a holding tank. I think most PW units can but you have to watch the GPMs. Problem we ran into was the weight of carting water around. A full 500 gallon tank weighs over 2 tons! Watch out!
> 
> I'd call a couple local PW guys and see if they might work something out. If you are planning to do a lot of this then you might want to buy a trailer and tank. I have a guy locally who supplies the PW people and he's been a great help. Check for a landa, hotsy, or MiTM dealer and they mght be able to help out.
> 
> ...



Thank you Mndrk great idea. We dont like to pw much so this will work out good, and the company we found doesnt paint at all and said he would like to recommend someone like us. Great way to network thanks again...


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## premierpainter (Apr 17, 2007)

There are no Hydrants in the area? You cna hook up to one if there is. Portable tanks cause way too much downtime. Your household water will ggive you about 5 gallons a min. if that divided into 500 gallons is a lot of sittin around.


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## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

how would I hook up to a hydrant with a regular commercial grade power washer? I would need 400-500 feet of house would I loose pressure the more hose I hook up?


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## Paul Kassander (Aug 8, 2007)

The pressure and flow would not be restricted enough to matter with a 4 gpm machine so I wouldn't be concerned with that. Most communities will issue Hydrant permits upon request and they will usually provide the meter and fittings with the permit. If they do not provide it you will have to get a meter or some sort of back flow preventer which they usually require to prevent an contamination of the water supply.

As far as the tanks go if you are not looking for a permanent tank you could try fire mike's idea or check with the local rental yards. Many times they have "watering trailers" available for rent that you could use and hook up to those.


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## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

Thanks for everyones advice. 
A friend on mine had a 250 gallon tank lying around he said I could have because he dont use it.


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## Humble Abode (Apr 11, 2007)

Paul Kassander said:


> The pressure and flow would not be restricted enough to matter with a 4 gpm machine so I wouldn't be concerned with that. Most communities will issue Hydrant permits upon request and they will usually provide the meter and fittings with the permit. If they do not provide it you will have to get a meter or some sort of back flow preventer which they usually require to prevent an contamination of the water supply.
> 
> As far as the tanks go if you are not looking for a permanent tank you could try fire mike's idea or check with the local rental yards. Many times they have "watering trailers" available for rent that you could use and hook up to those.


 
Hey Paul nice to see you here. :thumbsup:


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## Safety Guy (Jul 19, 2007)

If you are going to run it off of a gravity fed tank don't you need a booster pump between the water source and the powerwasher?? It seems like we had problems when we tried to run it off a tank???


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## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

Today was the big day we power washed two 30,000 sf buildings with a lift and that tank. The tank worked well we used about 800 gallons of water all together. All we did was hook the holding tank right to the power washer.


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## Firemike (May 29, 2007)

In the imortal words of Hannibal Smith: I love it when a plan comes together!"

Glad everything worked out!!!!!!!!!


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