Lanes for Drains - the UK's largest independent drainage specialists - has continued to show its faith in Whale Tankers having recently taken delivery of another Kaiser-Whale sewer cleaning Jet-Vac with continuous dirty water recycling. This latest move reaffirms the company's intent on deploying the most technically advanced and durable equipment available.
Supplied by Whale Tankers of Solihull - a specialist manufacturer to the waste and cleaning industries - the latest fleet newcomer is mounted onto Volvo's FM84R 8 x 4 chassis developing 440 bhp and complete with sleeper cab. Indeed the specialist 32 tonne GVW Jet-Vac tanker will be working across Lanes for Drains' South West regional service centres. It will operate on preventative maintenance and cleaning contracts with leading water authorities, utility providers and specialist organisations involved in the cleaning of culverts and larger diameter sewers.
Commenting on Lanes for Drains' decision to specify the additional Kaiser-Whale, Group Transport Manager, Simon Nicholls said: "The Kaiser-Whale remains a high specification unit that leads the field when it comes to continuous water recycling and therefore supports our strategy of investing in next generation plant and equipment. With an increasing number of customers demonstrating an interest in this type of tanker, it is our aim to have a Kaiser-Whale type vehicle operating across our entire nationwide network of 23 regional operating centres."
In addition to the confidence shown by Lanes for Drains in the Kaiser-Whale product itself, Simon is keen to continue to praise the levels of support provided by Whale in the field. "The back-up that we receive across all of the Whale tankers that we operate is first class. Whale is capable of providing a rapid engineer response service on a nationwide basis that is extremely efficient when it comes to reducing vehicle downtime in a cost-effective manner. They also operate a very efficient and comprehensive parts programme and are always on hand to provide us with what we need, when we need it."
Joining Lanes for Drains' 90-plus strong tanker fleet, the Kaiser-Whale represents a revolutionary approach to heavy duty jetting machine applications using recycled water. Developed by Whale Tankers in technical partnership with Kaiser AG - an acknowledged leader in water recycling equipment in Europe - the specialist unit recycles the water it uses during jetting operations, therefore maximising time spent working on site and minimising the time involved taking on supplies of fresh water.
The Kaiser-Whales specified by Lanes for Drains feature a 'spiral cassette' loading boom option equipped with a 12.5m, 6" diameter suction pipe. In addition to providing a 300º rotation, this means the tanker can load up to depths of 50 metres, eight without the need for additional manual hoses.
In terms of jetting capability, each tanker features the Kaiser KDU High Pressure Water pump assembly. The KDU delivers high performance, with a flow rate capable of 110gpm maximum up to 200 bar. Located at the rear of the vehicle is a hydraulically operated Whale 'Mega Reel' that effectively handles a 180m, 1 ¼" heavy-duty hose. Vacuum functionality is provided by the KWP high performance liquid ring pump. As standard, the new vehicles also feature Whale's PLC with SmartWhale logic, located at the vehicle's rear off the main hose reel frame. Having all the controls for jetting, vacuum and recycling on a single panel, clearly and logically set out.