WFP Tanks & Waterfed Pole Systems FAQ

Standard tanks are cheaper, but they only come in certain sizes and materials. They are also made by rotational moulding, which results in uneven wall thicknesses. A custom tank will be the exact size you need in the right material for your purpose. They will be made in a thick strong material, without weak spots. You can find out more in our custom vs off-the-peg tanks comparison here.

The main thing to look for is payload and size. You need more room than you think in a van with all your ancillary equipment like hose reels and poles. The best size is a medium size wheelbase van like a Despatch, Vivarro or Transit, as these can accommodate all that you require to start with.

Every tank comes fitted with the following as standard:

• Inspection Lid
• Top Tray
• Level Gauge - makes water level checking easy
• Honeycomb Baffling - ensures the water stays as still as possible in a moving van
• 2 x ¾" BSP Outlets
• Pump : Tank Fixing
• Battery : Tank Fixing & Drip Protection – you don’t want it to get wet...
• Van Fixing Plate – the safest way of securing the tank to your van

Just about anything you’ll ever need:

• electric pumps & pump housings
• filler tanks & hoses
• clips and mounts for hoses and pipes
• screwthread bosses for immersion heater fitting
• fast fill outlets for a backpack, trolley or pressure washer
• return pipes and valves for pressure washers
• mounting points for power up reels
• electrically controlled fill/shut off valves /solenoids
• volt meters and inline TDS meters
• DI (De-Ionisation) vessel holders

Yes, we can! We can design the tank to fit your van, make the tank, fit all pipework, filters, meters & controllers and finally fit the tank to your van. When you ask for a quote, just let us know either the registration number of your van, or the make & model, so that we can find out the exact floorplan of your van.

It denotes how many operators can use the system at one time, as normally 1 pump and one controller is required for each operator.

TDS stands for Total Dissolvable Solids. In any water supply to houses there will be particles of chemicals in the water, commonly found are Liquified Chlorine; Sodium Silicofluoride / Aluminium Phosphate / Fluorosilicic Acid and Calcium Hydroxide. Whatever their names, they’ll leave ugly streaks on windows washed with tap water !!

PPM means Particles Per Million (drops). If your tap water PPM is high, you live in a hard water area, if it’s low, you’re in a soft water area. This will affect the level of filtration you require to obtain pure water and a perfectly clean window.

A TDS Meter will tell you your source water PPM and filtered water PPM, allowing you to see how well your filtration system is working.

DI means De-Ionisation and RO means Reverse Osmosis. They're two different filtration processes - the hardness of water in your area determines which one to use.

Checking the TDS level of your source water will tell you what system you need. If the reading is between 0-120ppm you are classed as Soft water and only require DI filtration, if your reading is between 120-400ppm, RO filtration is required. We can supply and fit both.

You need to check your water source pressure (you can ask the council), once you know this you can decide whether you need a booster pump or not. Ideally any pressure under 80psi should have a Booster pump as it will help the RO filtration work quicker.

That depends on the type of unit you have:

Delivery Only: You only need a basic controller either analogue or digital for operation.

DI unit: You will require an Autofill controller with electronic float and solenoid. Once filled the float activates the solenoid and stops the production of water.

RO unit: You will need an Autofill/Autoflush controller to activate the purification system, as with the DI unit it is controlled by an electronic float and solenoids.

If your RO or DI unit requires 2 or more operators then only a basic controller is required for the 2nd or 3rd operator.

This could be several things. First do the basic checks:

• Check if the pump is working and on; check there is no kink in the polehose; check there is no kink in the hosereel hose.

If the basic checks don’t resolve the issue: Take the outlet side off the pump, then:

• If water flows then it is a potential blockage, air gap, or block on the hoses/brush etc. To fix, turn the controller to max and blow out.
• If no water flows from the pump outlet, reboot the pressure switch on the pump and prime. Remove tank lid as the problem could have been caused by an air block.

That one is hard to tell at a distance. You'll have been given a controller manual with a troubleshooting section. Please look through this carefully first and if you cannot resolve the issue, please get in touch with us, we'll be happy to help.

On average once a controller is on, it uses an initial 3amp surge and an additional 3amps per hour - with 2 men working you are using 54 amps per day. If you have a 110amp battery you’ll use half the battery's capability in a day! The problem is that if the battery gets below 10.8 volts it won’t activate the controller.

Although your battery charges while you’re driving, we still recommend a bench charge overnight at least twice a month, especially if you have a compact round. If you do longer trips this will inevitably put more charge back into the leisure battery so the need for an overnight bench charge will be less frequent. Check the battery level frequently using the controller and put the battery on charge if it’s getting low to prevent nasty surprises.

As only pure water is contained in the tank, the chance of limescale is nearly non-existent.

As soon as the brush depth has diminished by 20% we recommend re-newing the brush for cleaning windows, however, you can keep the old brush for cleaning fascias, gutters and soffits as this will be fine for cleaning them.

We would recommend that, if you’re not using your van for more than 4 or 5 days, you completely drain the tank to prevent the possibility of Legionnaires Disease.

If your van is well set-up all ancillaries will have their own place. We offer a whole range of storage solutions not only to make your van tidier, but also to make you much more efficient & faster doing the job, as there is a designated place for each tool you use it’s easier and quicker to get out and use.

Ideally a maintenance check should be done monthly to ensure no leaks are appearing and no wires are becoming loose - this can occur because it’s a moving product. A full maintenance check is recommended every 12 months to replace fuses & tighten wiring; check hoses & main wires for damage; and redo taped fittings if needed. You can have a WFP System Service done right here at Toolcraft.

Yes ! Please have a look at our WFP Tank Servicing page to find out details and our competitive prices.