Originally Posted by
KeaneJohn
Theres footage of her getting a hose down from equipment looking like de-icers.. Don’t know if de-icers can be reprogrammed for water only. If not it was a plane washing jet/hose that looked like a de-icer with a cherry picker operator.
JBT (now part of OshKosh) actually makes a vehicle called an Aircraft Washer. Holds 400 gallons of detergent and 1600 gallons of rinse water. Similar to de-icers, it can also heat the fluid if needed. Have no idea if Heathrow has one of these (most are sold in Dubai where de-icing functions are not often needed). The JBT deicers typically have two tanks anyway, one for deicing fluid, one for anti icing fluid. They are actually different fluids with different thermal viscosity properties. One clears the ice from the flight surfaces, one keeps the ice from forming between deicing and takeoff.