A fan nozzle cleans a stripe a few inches wide, so cleaning a driveway means overlapping dozens of passes and hoping the overlap is even. It rarely is, which is why pressure-washed concrete so often shows stripes.

A water broom puts three or four nozzles on a bar at fixed spacing and a fixed angle. One pass, twelve or sixteen inches wide, evenly.

The two water brooms

Both attach to a standard spray lance with a quick connect, no tools.

Broom or surface cleaner

These are different tools that get confused constantly.

A water broom is open. The nozzles spray at an angle and push debris ahead of them, the way a broom does. It rinses and sweeps: sand, leaves, pollen, loose dirt, and the last pass after chemical.

A surface cleaner is enclosed, with spinning jets inside a shroud. It lifts bonded material: embedded dirt, algae, tyre marks, grime that has been there for years.

If the dirt is loose, a broom is faster and uses less water. If the dirt is stuck, a broom will move it around and a surface cleaner will remove it. Plenty of contractors carry both, using the cleaner first and the broom to rinse.

Matching it to your machine

The nozzles are 1.3 mm and there are three or four of them, which sets the flow the tool wants. A machine that produces less than that will not build pressure through the bar; one that produces much more will overpressure it.

The 12 in three-nozzle version suits smaller machines; the 16 in four-nozzle version wants more flow. If you are running around 2 to 3 GPM, start with the 12.

Using a water broom well

1. Keep it moving at a steady pace. Water brooms reward rhythm. Stopping leaves a wet mark, and varying speed leaves an uneven finish, which is the thing you bought it to avoid.
2. Work with the slope, pushing debris downhill and toward the drain. You are sweeping, so plan the direction before you start.
3. Keep the bar flat and in light contact with the surface, so all the nozzles sit at the same height.
4. Rinse the nozzles after use. A partially blocked orifice puts a clean stripe next to a dirty one and is immediately obvious.
5. Store dry and indoors.

Where they earn their keep

• Driveways and sidewalks: sweeping off dirt, sand and organic debris
• Patios and decks: pollen and sand without the aggression of a concentrated jet on soft materials
• Garage floors: flushing dust and light oil residue evenly toward the door
• Pool decks: removing algae and loose debris that makes surfaces slippery
• Commercial entrances and loading docks: a fast morning rinse before opening

The common case is a surface that needs rinsing regularly rather than deep cleaning occasionally. That is exactly the job a surface cleaner is over-specified for and a wand is too slow at.

Browse the full accessories range, or send your machine’s GPM and you will get the size that matches it. Reference: Hydraulic Institute.