How to Save Water While Cleaning Windows and Solar Panels During a Hosepipe Ban
, 5 min reading time
How to Save Water While Cleaning Windows and Solar Panels During a Hosepipe Ban
Hosepipe bans are becoming a regular part of the British summer, and for good reason — with reservoirs running low, every litre counts. But a ban doesn't mean your windows have to stay grubby or your solar panels have to lose efficiency under a layer of grime. Whether you're using a water-fed brush or a squeegee pole, a few simple changes to your technique can cut your water use dramatically — without cutting corners on the finish.
Check the Rules First
Most hosepipe bans restrict a hose connected directly to the mains for cleaning purposes, but using water from a bucket or a watering can is almost always still permitted. That's the key distinction that shapes the tips below.
Saving Water with a Water-Fed Brush
You don't have to give up your water-fed brush system during a ban — you just need to feed it differently and use it more deliberately.
- Swap the hose connection for a bucket-fed reservoir. Many water-fed brush kits, including IGADPole's, use a soft light hose that runs from the brush head down the pole. Instead of connecting this to an outside tap, you can gravity-feed it from a raised bucket or a small backpack sprayer filled from a water butt. This keeps you within most bans' rules while still giving you a steady trickle of water at the brush.
- Use a pump sprayer instead of a running tap. A simple pump-action garden sprayer, filled from a butt or bucket, lets you pulse water onto the brush only when needed rather than letting it run continuously.
- Work in sections. Wet, scrub, and move to the next pane rather than keeping water flowing the whole time you're working.
- Collect and reuse rainwater. A water butt connected to a downpipe is the most sustainable source for topping up your brush reservoir, ban or no ban.
- Clean in the cool part of the day. Early morning or evening reduces evaporation, so more of the water you use actually goes into cleaning rather than drying off before it's done its job.
Saving Water with a Squeegee Pole
If you want an even lower-water option, a telescopic pole fitted with a squeegee head is extremely efficient, since it uses a fixed bucket of water rather than a continuous feed.
- Fill one bucket, not a running tap. Mix warm water with a small amount of washing-up liquid or a proper glass-cleaning solution. One 12-litre bucket is usually enough for an average semi-detached house.
- Apply the soapy water with the microfibre or scrubber pad attached to the squeegee head, working in sections rather than soaking the whole surface at once.
- Squeegee it off in overlapping strokes, wiping the blade with a cloth between passes so you're not just redistributing dirty water.
- Reuse the bucket water for several panels or window sections before it needs changing.
- For solar panels specifically, clean in the early morning or evening when panels are cool — this avoids streaking and thermal shock, and means less water is lost to evaporation.
Why This Matters for Solar Panels
A layer of dust, pollen, or bird droppings can noticeably reduce a solar panel's output over a season. Keeping panels clean protects your generation efficiency, and both methods above let you do that responsibly during a ban.
Recommended Products
Whichever approach suits your setup, IGADPole has options for both:
- Water-Fed Brush & Duster Sets — pair these with a bucket-and-sprayer feed or a water butt during a ban, then switch back to your outside tap once restrictions lift.
- Pole & Squeegee Sets — telescopic poles with a squeegee head and microfibre scrubber, designed to work from a single bucket with no hose connection at all.
- IGADPole 6m (20ft) Window Squeegee Cleaning Kit — extension pole and 10" squeegee, ideal for reaching upstairs windows and solar panels from the ground.
- IGADPole 14" (35cm) Squeegee 2 in 1 — a wider squeegee and scrubber head for larger panels and picture windows.
- IGADPole 12L Window Cleaning Squeegee Bucket — sized specifically for bucket-fed cleaning, so you're not guesswork-filling a mop bucket.
- Dusters Kits — great for a quick dry dust-off between full washes, cutting down how often you need water at all.
Because these poles extend up to several metres, you can reach upstairs windows and rooftop solar arrays safely from ground level — using only the water you've deliberately measured out, exactly the kind of mindful cleaning a hosepipe ban calls for.