What can we do?

[Jeff]

Just wondering what we can do to help those that are under or could be under water restriction/

I dont know if it would help, but what if we started a campaign of letter writing or phane calls to the officials in charge of these restrictions. Would it help or **** them off getting calls & letters from out of staters

We could send them not as PW contractors, but as freinds & family of PW contractors.

Maybe Scott K could give some input on this. Or others that are smarter than me

OR what else could we do and what ever it is, I think we should get it up and going ASAP

Jeff

[newlook]

Jeff,

This is a previous post that I did a week or so ago. Since then I have spoken to Scott K. several times and others down in the region. I sent him a PM last night asking him to send to me contact information of the authorities in his area and also in North Georgia. The letter writing approach is one of the ways that contractors can use to help encourage law makers to keep the water on and also to educate them

I would also like to report that not only is the TGS working with us on this I have also received comittments from Russ S over at PWI and Bob at PTState.



As an independent contractor out here on the west coast I for one am concerned about the drought problem down South to the extend I have personally been in contact with some of the contractors that are bracing for what we believe will be a ongoing issue in the southern part of the United States for quite some time. These contractors may or may not be PWNA members - I don't know and I didn't ask.

My concern and the concern of other independent contractors is that we are in a mind set to try to offer something to our fellow powerwashers that are feeling the negative effects of the drought.

Traci, you say that you have not seen a single post offering ideas about the problem. You need to dig a little deeper not only on this board but on others as well.

An example of this is that Ron M. dug up an old thread from PWI regarding concrete cleaner using little or no water and freely shared it on other BBS's including this one. That thread was specifically put out there to give the contractors down south one alternative to cleaning concrete. Ron, I appreciate it!!

One other way that we are approaching this is that a core group of independant contractors will be contacting different industry related vendors to ask them to give our contractors down south an emergency discount on products purchased from that particular vendor. This will be products such as stain, cleaner, soap, equipment parts and etc.

These independant contractors will be soliciting funds from other contractors across the U.S. to establish a Relief Fund. This Relief Fund will be used to send money down to established contractors in the south to assist them in any way possible. The Relief Fund money will only be used to assist contractors in areas where they are prohibited to use any water whatsoever for cleaning in their service area.

In conjunction to that, we will be contacting the administrators of all the BBS's that represent our industry to ask that they give the contractors affected by the drought first dibs on job leads in their particular service areas.

This effort that I mentioned above was actually going to be announced in PA at the RT for the purpose to garnish more support but it seemed logically to knock this thread back on track with this info.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, not only myslef but others are closely watching the water problem down there. From what we can tell, there are different counties that have implemented certain stages of water restrictions. We are not aware of any state and/or county that has totally banned water as it relatest to washing so we are hopeful that the above relief measures will not be needed. If that is the case the Relief Fund money will sit in a savings account and acrue interest and be used in case of another crisis in our industry!!

The ony county that I am aware of that tried to ban washing was the county that Celeste resides in. From my understanding she went down to City Hall and got in their face in a professional way and to this day she is washing.

These efforts will be offered to any established power washer that is affected by the drought problem regardless if they are a PWNA member! As a safety cushion we will verify all requests prior to sending relief.

[Tmrrptr]

Best way to help is share recovery information.

Pressure washing is frequently a health and safety issue,
and not merely an aesthetic luxury.

For example: Late nite cocktail lounge patrons frequently
"watered" the doorways in alcoves of adjoining businesses.
Soap, bleach, AND water were required.
Get sympathetic individual at the health department involved.

Chewing gum buildup is a graphic illustration of what is REALLY going on
with that flatwork! We got more cowboys with "chew" here...

You could take pictures of nearly ANY bus stop kids use !!!!
r

[squirtgun]

I don't feel that writing emails and letters to state officials will hurt.I believe it will show a unified front from our industry and show those in decision making positions that we take our businesses seriously.

I'm tryig to gather emails addresses for all of teh state congress men/women and the governors email addy is in my "Call To Arms" post.

[Beth n Rod]

-Rod posting-

Ok, People are asking for ideas so here is mine...

It is small but everything happens with baby steps. I propose that a fund be set up to take collections for the use of buying drinking water to be available at a selected location for distribution to those who would need it. There are pw'ers in Georgia of whom should choose to be a part of this effort could help with the distribution, unloading and etc of the bottled water to various locations.
Bottled water is cheap and if the drought is the problem, drinking water is also in short supply. Pw'ers who are affected by the drought could go to these distribution centers and pick up bottled water for their families.

The first thing needed is to set up the funding network to support the 'campaign' if you will.

Beth is suggesting tanks be set up for the use of fighting fires.
Up here, many homeowners buy water to fill swimming pools by the semi truck tank load. How about setting up a fund to support buying and shipping water for this purpose?

our .02

Rod!~

ps, I also posted this same idea on PWI to get more exposure for feedback.

[One Tough Pressure]

Originally Posted by Tmrrptr

Best way to help is share recovery information.

I think just about everything that can be said about recovery has been said here. The search of all items related to recovery is a long list just on this board alone.

The question is if water was recycled to cut down on total amount used per job, will that satisfy the AHJ in charge of water usage? Less water used is a always good in a situation like this, but is that enough? If they say no cleaning with water, then recovery is not going to help.

[Beth n Rod]

For those who have the means, has anyone thought of offering blasting instead of washing?
Soda, cob, walnut, etc media can really do a great job but it does add a little to the bottom line.

Rod!~

[Ron Musgraves]

Has anyone been stop yet from washing? I was told that people are still washing? YEs????

If thats the case we need to keep sending the proper chain of goverment the concerns of how it will affect the industry.

Has anyone considered talking to a policy relations person at C-tech industrys.

They have a concern since we purchased 80 million in washers last year.

I would imagine they are on this????

[Tmrrptr]

Originally Posted by One Tough Pressure

I think just about everything that can be said about recovery has been said here. The search of all items related to recovery is a long list just on this board alone.

The question is if water was recycled to cut down on total amount used per job, will that satisfy the AHJ in charge of water usage? Less water used is a always good in a situation like this, but is that enough? If they say no cleaning with water, then recovery is not going to help.

Sorry Allan, my post was not well thought out, and poorly composed.

Point being, the pressure washing service industry contributes to public health and well being.
If recovery implementation, as you have so well noted, as described in detail elsewhere on TheGrimeScene.com, was presented to an appropriate individual at the health department in those drought stricken areas, perhaps suitably equipped and licensed operators could continue doing their good work, which after all, does benefit all of us.

...Use the information we have to get some civic official to promote us...

Perhaps I interpreted the intent of the thread's query incorrectly ?
Is it to keep those in our industry working, and putting food on their tables, while under drought conditions ?

Or are we looking to answer the hue and cry and each and every one of us send a bottle of aquafina via fedex?

There was a arab that spent millions to study the feasibility of towing antarctic icebergs to the persian gulf, if you're looking for that sort of idea.
r

[Beth n Rod]

Ok guys....
Here are a few more thoughts on things you can do to add to your business that do not necessarily require water.

Mold remediation
Fire damage restoration ( flood damage too but you don't have that problem)
home inspection
radon testing


Beth