I may get a lot of hate for this article as water fed seems to be one of the most talked about topics in Facebook groups. Either you love it or hate it; there really isn’t any middle ground. Some people say it doesn’t work, and others say it’s the best thing they have added to their business. Regardless, this is one of my favorite topics; water fed accessories.

I’ll go down the line, starting from the top. These are all my personal opinions, so take it as you may. One of my favorite water fed add-ons is the rinse bar, whether a small 12-inch brush, large 18-inch brush, or padded brush. I have rinse bars for all my brushes. Yes, pencil jets are nice, and fan jets have their place, but there is nothing like a rinse bar with great flow. Just an absolute waterfall of pure water, making hydrophobic windows quick and easy.

Alongside the rinse bar, I could never work without a swivel gooseneck. Whenever I talk with customers about full package setups, I tell them about all of the lovely add-ons we have here at WCR; but to me, the swivel gooseneck is a necessity that needs to be purchased right from the jump. Let’s face it, you run into some crazy situations working residential glass; a fence in the way, a tree in the way, or a roof with an offset window. Whatever the case may be, it helps a ton.

My next choice is a univalve. I know most people would never spend 100 bucks on an on/off connection since we sell 2 dollar plastic quick connects, but seriously if you want to save life on your resin or need to flip the brush over and use the walnut pad attachment, (another highly recommended add on), just tug the bottom of the pole and boom, turn the water on or off. It is super convenient.

Another huge fan favorite is pumps. There are all kinds of pumps out there, some cheap and some expensive. To me, you can not beat an excellent high-quality 110 booster pump when it comes to well water or houses with horrible pressure. If you want to run two or three poles simultaneously or run 500 feet of hose, the Xero 110 booster is my favorite. A huge half-horse pump with a pressure gauge on it to show how much pressure you are running into your reverse osmosis, also a regulator so you can control if you want an extra 20 psi or 90 psi. Rinsing with pure water is one of the most important things about getting water fed window cleaning right. Even with the 110 pumps being expensive, it is a true necessity for RODI units, which I highly recommend. 

If you are not running a hose reel, get with the times, man! For a long time, I was one of those guys with a tangled rats nest of hose in the truck. Do you want to be that guy who pulls up to the customer’s house and sits there for 20 minutes looking super unprofessional, trying to untangle your hose? I mean, if you have three jobs a day, you could add one more job if you just add the time it took you to untangle your hose. A hose reel saves me so much time, and it’s almost impossible to tangle your hose. I say almost because we all have those days.

All of these items I use daily. I didn’t buy them all at once; it did take some time, but man, my water fed game really took a leap once I did. These add-ons added a lot of value to my company and made my life much easier. I can get home faster and make more money in less time. Whether you are new to water fed or have been living under a rock and didn’t know these were out here, I highly recommend them.

~Austin Grubbs