Boars Hair vs Nylon

What is the difference between Boars Hair and Nylon Water Fed Pole Brushes? What’s best for you? It depends on what your cleaning and at what height. This shot video breaks down both types.

Check out more videos here:
Tucker Water Fed Brushes, Poles, and Systems
Window Cleaning Basics
Understanding Pure Water & WaterFed Pole Window Cleaning

Water Fed Pole Compare O' Meter

Have you ever wondered how the top water fed poles compete against each other? You’re not alone! Window Cleaning Resource has come up with a handy way to compare your favorite water fed pole brands. Check out the live comparison sheet below!

To compare the brands even further check out the link below. Sort, compare, analyze and crunch the stats of your favorite WFPs! Sort by brand, product name, material, actual length, type, weight, compacted length, # of sections or price.

Click here to check out the Live Water Fed Pole Comparison Guide!

Latest Window Cleaning Magazine

Winter is coming - the latest edition from the Window Cleaning Page.

WCP Magazine: Window Cleaning Page (WCP): Mark Munro from Dorset brings us the latest window cleaning news. Go to this link to read or download the magazine. You can also find the "window cleaning page" on facebook here. This latest edition includes a must read of everything you should know about running your waterfed pole system in Winter. Also included:

• Winter is coming - How will this affect your waterfed system?
• Aquaeous - Light trolley systems
• Wagtail win big at the Ausclean awards
• The new Power Reel
• Win Unger gloves!
• + more!

OKGO - A New Waterfed Delivery System

This British window cleaning invention could transform your life (and business).

OKGO - a pure water delivery system used from an enclosed secure van. For Pure water window cleaners everywhere. In the words of Jordan King (the inventor) - "This British window cleaning invention could transform your life (and business)".  One of those new products that just stood out at Mark Munro's Window Cleaning Show was OKGO, a new system of using your waterfed pole on the go. If you have a van system & you are tired of snagged hoses & hooking up each time you stop, this may be the device for you. A conservative estimate shows that this system may give you 20% of your time back by speeding up your workload... but probably a lot more. Watch the videos below for details on how to get futureproofed.

Jordan King of OKGO talks..

I have tried all of the available ways of using WFP system in my area and found that each way had its benefits and drawbacks. Methods have included, back packs, trolleys and sliding racks from the rear of the vehicle. Some of the following drawbacks:

• Lifting heavy items from the rear of the vehicle (reels, trolleys, backpacks)
• Setting items up at each stop
• Dragging equipment over rough ground and over steps leaving the vehicle unlocked
• Hand spooling with a dirty rag
• Bending over to reel in Fighting with hose connectors bruised/wet legs from lifting reels
• Wet van smashing knuckles on the floor, etc, etc, the list goes on!

Many window cleaners will recognise some of the above and trust me, i know first hand how tough it can be because I live it day in day out (although i would not swap jobs with anyone). So, I have used my knowledge as an engineer to design, patent and produce a system to make life easier for WFP window cleaners..

The OKGO system was mounted for the show, even the pivoting mounting system showed engineering expertise.

OKGO: Basically OKGO is a frame which allows spooling and winding from outside of the vehicle therefore, doors can remain locked. Hoses are diverted via a pulley system through the van floor and can be fitted to almost any vehicle and can divert to anywhere on the sill as required. Poles are mounted externally and can be left there between stops.

Part of the systems unique characteristics is the remote spool lock which locks the pole tightly against the van allowing transport while externally mounted. In essence the system has the following benefits:

• No heavy lifting
• No bending
• No hand spooling (toxicariosis)
• Van remains locked
• Totally dry van
• Maximum efficiency

With regards to efficiency we estimate it can be improved by 20% on an established WFP round. In addition though, the other main benefits are peace of mind and well being as the video demonstrates. The final product construction has been called 'Bullet proof' and utilises materials, where necessary, such as stainless steel and prudent manufacturing such as powder coating to ensure that it wont let you down and will be with you for years and years to come.

My town Corby, Northants, UK, was once home to one of the biggest iron ore mining and steel manufacturing facilities in the world and it is in the spirit of old fashioned British engineering that we present the 'Bulletproof' OKGO. Thanks to Mark Munro for his invitation to attend the WCP Trade Show 2014. More can be found on our Facebook page Waterworks Window Cleaning. Hope to see you there soon!

 

OKGO at the WCP show.

Wagtail At The Dorset Window Cleaning Show

Willie Erken, Director of Wagtail Pivotal Tools shows off his game changer at the WCP window cleaning show.

Wagtail at the Dorset Window Cleaning Show: Wagtail pivotal tools were a huge draw at the WCP window cleaning trade & van show organised by Mark Munro in Bradstock Burton in Dorset. Willie Erken showed how his new waterfed pole pivoting brush & waterfed pole swivelling pad aid in cleaning windows & also his new pole that extends from the bottom instead of the top. Some more lightweight poles are shown as well as his compound angle that mimics the wrist & his older angle adapter that could also fit at the other end of the pole for a double whammy action.

On the day, Wagtail drew quite an audience with the window cleaning public, many of who had only heard of Wagtail but not seen the tools in action. Willie came all the way from Australia to feature not only his popular range of squeegees but also many adaptations which are able to wet the window as well as clean at the same time (one-pass), but also his popular range of flippers. The videos below are best seen on youtube for full HD quality. Lee Burbidge from Window Cleaning Magazine UK were also there to take in the event & we await with baited breath the high quality film once it's edited.

The "Pied Wagtail" was also seen flying around the event, a local migrating bird that 'just' happened to be there at the same time as his namesake from Australia. Willie even brought his own brand of wine to the event to celebrate the occasion (seen above)... which kept the riff-raff away!

The show was a credit to Mark Munro who put on an amazing show out of his own pocket. Many big names showed up for the event, photos to come! Even Willies brother - Peter, of Window Cleaning World, made it over to network with other window cleaners on the day.

Some attendees were lucky to pick up the night action squeegee.

Water Fed Pole Class With John Kieser, Part 2

Following on from the first series of videos of the Water Fed Pole Class With John Kieser, here are the next set of videos in the series. Click on the picture above to take you to all Johns WFP videos.

WFP Class Changing Filters HiRes

WFP Class Deep Ledges HiRes

WFP Class - Extending Pole

WFP Class - Top Down Method

WFP Class - Screens

Water Fed Pole Class With John Kieser

Click on the picture above to take you to all Johns WFP videos.

WFP Class With John Kieser - Testing Water Quality

WFP Class With John Kieser - Basic Residential Technique

WFP Class With John Kieser - Commercial Windows Basic Technique

WFP Class With John Kieser - Brushes

WFP Class With John Kieser - Cut Ups


WFP Class With John Kieser - Curtain Of Glass

Mile High WFP Window Cleaner

Mile High Window Cleaning Supply - John Keiser: "Welcome to Mile High Window Cleaning Supply!" "My name is John Kieser." "I've been in the window cleaning industry for 15 years." "In that time I've used lots of tools and equipment...from huck towels to squeegees to water fed poles and everything in between." 

New waterfed training video series: I'm pleased to announce that our waterfed video training series, called Waterfed Class on WCR, is completed. Here is the first episode. You can expect a new episode about once per week. Please let us know if you have any ideas for future episodes. We will be running specials in the store along with the release of many of the videos.

This week's episode teaches how to test your water quality. The key tool for doing this is the TDS meter. We're running a special just for the viewers of this video. After watching today's video, click the store link here. Look for TDS meters in the waterfed section of the store. Put a TDS meter in your cart, and anything else you'd like to order. At checkout, enter the promo code 5TDS, and you'll save $5 on your TDS meter. This offer is good until Monday, May 23, 2011.

Check out Johns Blog here.

Water Fed Pole - Man Electrocuted in Canada

Victoria, B.C. Canada - A window washer was hospitalized Tuesday after the metal pole he was using touched a live power line. “The electricity transferred right through the rod that he was carrying,” said Victoria police Sgt. Grant Hamilton.

He said the man was on the ground and using an extension device about 10:50 a.m. to reach the top windows at the Royal Scot Hotel & Suites on Quebec Street, about half a block from the legislature. He was working for an independent contractor.

Two hotel workers in the area saw what was happening and ran to help, Hamilton said. “They dragged him out of harm’s way because the brush and the pole were still sparking, there was arcing. They immediately started CPR because he wasn’t breathing. “The quick action and quick thinking on their part could quite possibly have saved his life.”

The man, in his early 60s, was taken to Royal Jubilee Hospital, Hamilton said. At last report he was listed in critical condition in the intensive-care unit. Emergency crews responding to the incident were joined by B.C. Hydro, which shut down power. The road was blocked for about an hour. “There are several layers of review and investigation that initiate now,” Hamilton said.

Megan Johnston of WorkSafe B.C. said her agency is looking into the circumstances of what took place. She described the extender the window washer was using as a 10.5-metre-long tool that has water running through it. “It appears that he lost control of the pole and it hit a 120-volt power line that was running to a streetlight,” Johnston said.

Tucker Pole?

Window washer in hospital after being electrocuted on the job: A window-washer is in hospital after being electrocuted on the job Tuesday morning. Philip Howe, owner of ACME Building Maintenance, was washing the windows of the Royal Scot Hotel on Quebec Street near the Inner Harbour when his 30-foot metal window-washing wand touched electrical lines.
At this point it is unsure if he suffered cardiac arrest before losing control of the wand or if touching his wand to the electrical line caused the cardiac arrest. When firefighters arrived, a person on the scene was trying to resuscitate Howe. “We were dispatched for a medical aid for a window washer that was injured and while en-route we were told there was a possibility of wires down,” said acting Lieutenant Oscar Pohl of the Victoria Fire Department . “When we arrived we found what we perceived to be an apparent electrocution. You could see his window-washing wand had contacted the lines and he was down on the ground and people were performing CPR.”
BC Hydro was called to the scene where they de-energized the line. Howe was then taken to Royal Jubilee Hospital. “We are not too sure if it was electrocution, or if he had a heart attack and dropped his pole which made it look like it was an electrocution,” ACME manager Jean-Paul Meek said. “He is breathing in hospital by himself with the help of some devices, but he is not conscious yet.” Howe was an experienced window washer and the company has been in his family for over 46 years.

Legionnaires' Disease: Info' For Window Cleaners

Today's news concerning drivers & Legionnaires' disease concluding that Legionnaires' cases could be avoided by adding screen wash. A few water fed pole operators have also been known to add screen wash or GlassGleam 3/4 to their tanks. A few hints & tips following these headlines -

Legionnaires' disease link to lack of windscreen wash (LONDON) — Failure to add windscreen wash to a vehicle's windscreen wiper water could account for around 20 percent of cases of Legionnaires' Disease, according to the Health Protection Agency. The disease - caused by the Legionella bacteria - is commonly associated with water systems such as air conditioning units, showers and fountains. When inhaled the bacteria can cause pneumonia. However, this is the first time a link has been made between the disease and windscreen fluid. Adding screen wash could mitigate the transmission of Legionella bacteria to drivers and passengers, the HPA said, in a report published in the European Journal of Epidemiology last week. An HPA spokesperson said: "This preliminary HPA study suggests a strong association between a lack of screen wash in wiper fluid and the incidence of Legionnaires' disease. "Further studies are now needed to determine whether the use of screen wash in wiper fluid could play a role in preventing this disease."
The HPA carried out the study after finding that cases of the potentially fatal disease were five times more prevalent among professional drivers in England and Wales than expected. The agency contacted all survivors in England and Wales who had contracted Legionnaires' between July 2008 and March 2009. Willing participants were questioned on their driving habits, possible Legionella sources in vehicles and known risk factors. The study - which looked at 75 cases and 67 controls - also identified an increased risk of infection from driving through industrial areas, where there is likely to be a greater exposure to outside sources of Legionella. This was the most likely explanation for the higher percentage of cases among professional drivers, analysts said.
Driving or travelling as a passenger in a van, driving with a window open and driving for long periods of time also increased the risk of infection -- all factors which may be linked to driving through industrial areas. Also associated with an increased risk were driving an older vehicle and not using showers at home. However, the report's authors said the findings on windscreen wash were "the most intriguing", concluding that 20 percent of Legionnaires' cases could be avoided by adding screen wash. "This simple public health advice may be of worldwide relevance in reducing morbidity and mortality from Legionnaires? disease," the report stated. Between 400 and 550 cases of Legionnaires' Disease have been reported in England and Wales in the last two years, with around one third of those infected as a result of travel to another country.

CTA Worker Dies Of Legionnaires' Disease (Chicago): The DuPage County coroner's office confirms that Robert Pierce, 37, died on Sunday. The Plainfield resident had been in an induced coma since contracting the rare disease two weeks ago. Pierce had been working with another CTA electrician on an 'L' train car washing machine in a CTA rail yard near Midway Airport when a blast of stagnant water struck him in the nose, mouth and face. The next day Pierce became very ill with an extremely high fever. To keep its buses and trains passenger-ready, CTA vehicles pass through high-power washers, where health officials say the bacterium that causes Legionnaire's Disease could grow.

What the Federation of Window Cleaners say about the subject:

Safety in window cleaning using Waterfed Pole Systems: Legionella Bacteria can be found in low levels in most water sources, the presence of a few bacteria is in itself unlikely to cause a problem, it is when they begin to multiply that the risk increases. Legionella requires nutrients to multiply; these can be provided by sediment, scale, sludge and biofilms. These materials build up in the filters used to purify water, if not replaced at specified intervals filters may become a fertile breeding ground for legionella bacteria. Water temperature is a particularly important factor in the survival and multiplication of legionella, when the temperature of water rises above 20 degrees the bacteria begin to multiply, the optimum temperature being 37 degrees.
Contracting the Disease: The disease is normally contracted after the inhalation of the bacterium in small droplets (aerosols) or in droplet nuclei that are in the residue after the water has evaporated. Watered poles produce aerosols and it should be noted that aerosols are not restricted to the point of production. Under suitable wind conditions, viable bacteria can travel up to 500 metres. Legionella will not normally multiply in cold water systems or even hot water systems when the water is heated at point of use, or when the system is in regular use. However, legionella will multiply when the right conditions exist, these are:
• When sediment, scale, sludge and biofilms build up in filters.
• When water temperatures rise above 20 degrees (optimum temperature 37 degrees).
Measures that should be taken to control the risk of legionella are:
• Replacements of filters at recommended intervals.
• Following the manufactures servicing recommendations.
• Keeping the system stored in a cool place when not is regular use
• If system cannot be stored in a cool place, drain tank and filters whenever the system is to be left idle for more than three days during warm summer months.
The release of legionella is also subject to the Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.
Used filters should be disposed of in accordance with local authority guidelines.


The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) information to assist disease recognition, investigation procedures to identify probable water sources, and control strategies. The primary focus of this document is on the control and prevention of contaminated water sources, not on case identification, an area of expertise primarily exercised by local health departments frequently in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Appendices include details on conducting an employee awareness program, water sampling protocols and guidelines for acceptable levels of the organism in water, procedures for identifying new cases of the disease, and water treatment and control strategies for facilities where an outbreak has occurred. Included in the summary are:

• Introduction
• Disease Recognition
• Source Identification
• Investigation Protocol
• Investigational Guidelines
• Controls
• Bibliography

Legionnaires’ disease - A guide for employers: This short and simple guide is written to help you, as an employer, understand the health risks associated with legionella. It explains in general terms how to control those risks. You should consult the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance Legionnaires’ disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems for the technical detail on how to manage and control the risks in your system (see Further Information section at the end of this leaflet).

Jeff Brown of the WaterFed Pole Training Academy contacted the HSE to find the truth on Legionnaires disease around four years a go:

Hi Jeff,

Your query concerning legionella bacteria and window cleaning has come through to me. You ask a number of questions in your message which may be better talking through over the phone. However, I am out of the office for two weeks beginning tomorrow so in case you don't pick this message up in time, here are some of my thoughts regarding your questions:

"Can pure water incubate the Legionnaires' Disease?"

The answer here is that legionella will not tend to multiply to dangerous levels in pure water because they need nutrients to grow and divide. However, most water will contain some impurities that will act as a nutrients source for legionella e.g., contamination in pipework - you'd have to go to some lengths to ensure that water is totally uncontaminated.

"What precautions must window cleaners take to prevent Legionnaires'
disease?"

As well as nutrients, legionella bacteria require temperatures to fall between 20C and 45C for them to grow and divide. Clearly in warm weather, like we've had lately, there is potential for stored water to reach these temperatures. Therefore the approach to take in order to control risks from legionella would be one that took into account both cleanliness of the system and water temperatures i.e., keep system (pipework, storage tanks, purification equipment) clean
if possible, take steps to keep stored water temperature below 20C.

I hope this has helped. I'll be in the office until about 4.30 today if you wish to discuss this matter further with me (see number below).
Regards, Paul

Dr Paul J McDermott
HID SI4 (Biological Agents Unit)
0151 951 3405
Ref: AREL-6RLDHP

On a personal level, I've found that capped pure water can & will stay useable without any chance of infection for over 4 years if stored in an airtight plastic drum in the shade.