What's your pole position?
June 1st 2009

Dissecting the water fed pole market from this year's Cleaning Show,Alan Matthews of Aquafactors discusses growth issues, and the need for correct customer information

Aquafactors has been promoting water fed poles and water treatment know-how since 1998 and has attended all of the Cleaning Shows since that time.This year we saw change in various aspects of the industry. Much can be attributed to the current economic climate, but we think there is more to it than that.

The industry has seen steady growth since the late nineties and in recent years it could be said that the worldwide water fed pole market has been UK led.

Several aspects of the business were highlighted at the show: There was more water fed pole representation than at any previous exhibition, and there is a general feeling that the market is becoming overcrowded.

Pricing is under considerable pressure as competition increases.This is good for many customers.However, the growth in lower priced equipment is seen by some as poorer quality systems stifling the professional approach of the more traditional supplier.

The number of industry newcomers attending the show was well down and clearly indicates that demand is plateauing.

Most visitors to the Aquafactors stand were existing users looking to add, change or upgrade their systems.We perceived a certain level of dissatisfaction with some competitors equipment and this was particularly apparent with the approach to water treatment.

The appearance of a Dutch company, exhibiting for the first time, saw some new equipment and a slightly different approach to product presentation. Some of their systems were particularly inspiring but had a high price tag to match.They were surprised by the amount of competition and low pricing applicable in the UK.

Industry evaluation Water fed poles:There are now many types available giving a wide choice of formats, quality and price.This is an area of the business that really does come down to personal preference.Whereas one person loves their aluminium poles, another has equal affection for carbon fibre.The same applies to brushes (although we have to say we probably had more interest shown in our range of Aquafactor brushes than was expected).

Water treatment:This is where Aquafactors and the competition still seem diverse in understanding and technical presentation. In discussion with many visitors at the show it was apparent that many of them did not understand water treatment very well.Those who did were trying to simplify what they had acquired or wanted to upgrade and better the systems they had originally bought.

Some of the points of discussion were: The use of resin vessels upright versus horizontal.

The use of pumped reverse osmosis systems over tap pressure membranes.

The benefits of using ordinary deionised resin over colour change resins.

The application of automatic meter controlled water softeners.

Avoiding heating DI water, for cleaning, due to the potency of carbon dioxide.

Information underload Overall we were very pleased with the outcome of the Cleaning Show.As usual the attendance by window cleaners produced quality enquiries and we gained some interesting new business.However, the response from many customers regarding the lack of technical information shows that companies need to be more aware of how they express water treatment implications.There is a lot of confusion about what should be used and under what circumstances.

If readers have any concerns about the equipment they are using, Aquafactors would be pleased to help with queries. Please contact the company using the contact details on the right.

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