Water Tanks, worth it? Or not?

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dmw2692004

New member
Hello all, I have been debating on purchasing a water tank that i can fill for details.



I have a few questions for those mobile detailers who have them:



What size should i look into?

-I have been looking and i can find 90 gallon, 150, 200 and 300 gallon tanks.



Do i need a water pump? or will a pressure washer be sufficient?



I am most likely going to be putting the tank in a pickup truck bed, as well as mounting a generator, pressure washed and hose reel. I want a totally self sufficient detail rig in the bed of the truck.



What do you guys think?
 
Are you doing full details on one or two cars a day or are you doing washes on a bunch of cars? I have a 125 gal in my van. Also I dont have a pump, my pressure washer gets the water out of the tank via gravity. I know some have smaller tanks, others have 250's
 
Forever New said:
Are you doing full details on one or two cars a day or are you doing washes on a bunch of cars? I have a 125 gal in my van. Also I dont have a pump, my pressure washer gets the water out of the tank via gravity. I know some have smaller tanks, others have 250's
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details on one or two cars a day. not so much just washes.



how many details do you normally get out of your 125 gallont ank.
 
dmw2692004 said:
details on one or two cars a day. not so much just washes.



how many details do you normally get out of your 125 gallont ank.
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I have a 250 gallon tank.



I maxed it out last week. I managed to wash 2 cars and 2 SUVs. But I did use the chemical zero degree nozzle. Had I used a 15 degree nozzle I probably could have doubled the cars I did. But I like to have a nice soft flow of water, not a harder spray.



(maybe I have the degrees backwards....you get the idea tho)
 
dmw2692004 said:
Hello all, I have been debating on purchasing a water tank that i can fill for details.



I have a few questions for those mobile detailers who have them:



What size should i look into?

-I have been looking and i can find 90 gallon, 150, 200 and 300 gallon tanks.



Do i need a water pump? or will a pressure washer be sufficient?



I am most likely going to be putting the tank in a pickup truck bed, as well as mounting a generator, pressure washed and hose reel. I want a totally self sufficient detail rig in the bed of the truck.



What do you guys think?
Click to expand...



I have a Mobile Detail Setup and I have a 150 gallon Tank in the van. With the Bulldog Skid mount pressure washer It is very sufficient then on the opposite side of the tank I have a gravity fed line for filling buckets and misc works very well.I then have a 90 Gallon Reclaim Tank some surrounding cities I work in require that you might want to check on that if you have not.
 
MobileDetailKid said:
I have a Mobile Detail Setup and I have a 150 gallon Tank in the van. With the Bulldog Skid mount pressure washer It is very sufficient then on the opposite side of the tank I have a gravity fed line for filling buckets and misc works very well.I then have a 90 Gallon Reclaim Tank some surrounding cities I work in require that you might want to check on that if you have not.
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Nah, no need on the Reclaim tank, the cities that i am in do not need it. Thanks for the reply.
 
If you are going to be doing mobile washing then instead of getting a 12volt pressure pump instead of using a normal 240volt pressure washer.



Much easier as you can just leave the car running and will save a lot of space.
 
In one trailer (enclosed) I have a 125g tank, water pump, 5k watt generator. I can use either the water pump alone or connect it to the pressure washer. The other (open) trailer only has a 90g tank and same setup but smaller generator. Both have filtered water to prevent build up in the pump, pipes, and tank, etc. I prefer to carry my own water and power supply, it just seems more professional to me not having to ask the client to connect to their water and power. Plus with the filtered water, I don't have to spend a lot of time drying the vehicle and can be doing other things instead.
 
I have two tanks - one is a 35 gallon and the other is a 65 gallon (don't ask :o). I used to use a pump a few years ago until I took the advice from a couple of members here. I simply use gravity feed from a 1 ft. hose to the PW. I actually get better water flow from my tank with gravity feed than I do from a water hose at one of my customer's water spigot.
 
ajbarnes said:
Tractor Supply is where I get mine from. Pretty good deals there. If you don't have one near you, I believe you can order online.
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Thanks AJ! I just found a nice selection on craigslist.
 
dmw2692004 said:
Nah, no need on the Reclaim tank, the cities that i am in do not need it. Thanks for the reply.
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It is a federal law left up to the locals to enforce. Here in Cali thEy are busting people for not reclaiming. You days will come -LOL.
 
gmblack3a said:
Where are you guys finding the deals on the tanks?



TIA!
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Don't buy the tanks from detailing websites. Go to a website that services commercial farming, and get a great deal on the same tanks.
 
Jean-Claude said:
I have a 250 gallon tank.



I maxed it out last week. I managed to wash 2 cars and 2 SUVs. But I did use the chemical zero degree nozzle. Had I used a 15 degree nozzle I probably could have doubled the cars I did. But I like to have a nice soft flow of water, not a harder spray.



(maybe I have the degrees backwards....you get the idea tho)
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These numbers don't sound correct. I have a 90 gallon tank and we do around 13 cars with it.:think:
 
I have a 225 Gallon tank, was being used in a GMC 1/2 ton Van.



Thing to remember, water is heavy.



I NEVER filled my tank to more than 150 gallons. At 150, it weighed over 1000lbs. Water weighs about 8.4lbs per gallon.



I could wash 4 - 5 cars easily with 100 gallons of water.



Gravity-feed pressure washer here, as well.
 
exactly the reason for ONR - 2gallons max for a car



vs.



typical pressure washer - 20ish gallons a car



hmm...no need for a large tank, no need for a pump, pressure washer = money saving





i run my business using ONR only - never had a complaint! I have a 16 gallon tank with a spigot on the bottom to fill the buckets. I have never maxed out the tank, even when we washed 7 cars, and detailed two on the same day (hot water extractor water).
 
toyotaguy said:
exactly the reason for ONR - 2gallons max for a car



vs.



typical pressure washer - 20ish gallons a car



hmm...no need for a large tank, no need for a pump, pressure washer = money saving





i run my business using ONR only - never had a complaint! I have a 16 gallon tank with a spigot on the bottom to fill the buckets. I have never maxed out the tank, even when we washed 7 cars, and detailed two on the same day (hot water extractor water).
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Gosh 20 Gallons seems like a lot per vehicle. I have washed a unbelievable 18 cars out of my 150 gallon tank which is roughly 8 gallons a car and still was not sucking off the bottom of the tank. I just use the pressure to soak then to rinse since I hand wash every vehicle. But I also fill my buckets out of the same so thats roughly 6 gallons also. This may be starting some conflicts but I have yet to try the ONR system since I can not believe it will do as exceptional job as using water/Soap. Now on sunnier days water usage does jump even with a canopy.
 
After buying and enjoying my 225gallon tank:



There is no way I would buy anything larger than 100gallons unless I was PLANNING to do a HUGE amount of car-washes. Like, 15/day or more.



I never washed more than 4-5 vehicles per day, and at 15-20gallons each a 100gallon tank is plenty.



I would probably go with a 95gallon square tank next time :nomore:
 
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