The Theory
It seems to me if you had one of those Water Fed Pole Backpacks - that is the ones with their own pumps and batteries and a small tank - then you could load up several 25L water drums into a car boot - deposit the Backpack with its pump and battery on the ground on site and then feed the Backpack from your extra drums.
How would I get the Backpack to demand a refill so it can keep pumping water?
I know a float valve exists to stop tanks overflowing - how would you make it work?
This video shows one possible wfp backpack setup
That was an interesting video. I wonder if that little backpack pump has the guts to push through all the extra hose, though?
For me, the backpack has always appealed as a supplemental, once-in-awhile, difficult access option (like back decks, balconies, courtyards, etc., where you would take the backpack and compact pole right through the home or building). Not something to be used day in, day out, as mentioned in the video.
But I’ve never owned a backpack wfp setup, myself. I transitioned straight from on-site tap hook up, to a vehicle mounted tank setup.
I don’t know about his setup - I’d guess it works but I’d probably use a shorter run of minibore to reduce resistance and give the pump/battery an easier time.
This said I intended to buy a Gardiner v3 Backpack and I’m replacing the pump with one of these Everflo EF1000 Demand Pump 12 Volt
The original point was to have viton seals for softwashing but it looks like a powerful little pump. I’ll let you know how it goes. I didn’t realize - but the backpack battery can give enough oopmf for a day of work which is why I started thinking about the proposal of using the 25L barrels.
The Gardiner pump is 60 psi and 1.0lpm to 2.3lpm, the Rutland pump with the viton seals is 40 psi and 3.4lpm. I got two backpacks so one will have the Gardiner for wfp and the Rutland for softwashing.
I would like to go straight to vehicle mounted - but my wishlist for a van mount is long and it’s going to be expensive to have what I want. I’m just learning to drive and I think the insurance on the kind of van I want will be higher than a small car. It’ll be easier to drive a smaller vehicle starting out too.
Okay - I have two updates. I need jiggle siphons to move water from the 25L tanks to the backpack. The next part is to understand which fill valve would work.
