When determining the efficiency of a water blasting system, it is important to identify the actual, effective cutting width.

Many water blasting manufacturers claim that the scope of the motion of the tool equates to a larger cutting area. This is simply not the case. One cannot include the forward motion of the vehicle, nor the horizontal movement in the efficiency equation.

The effective cutting path of any water blaster is dictated by the width of the tool itself, not by the scope of motion in any direction.

Using familiar pieces of equipment as an example will allow for an easy explanation of this fact. Take, for example, Lawn equipment.

When purchasing a weed whacker, the manufacturer specifies the cutting path as the actual size of the cut, not by the length of the arm swinging it.

Imagine if manufacturers of lawn equipment used the length of the user arms to convey efficiency of their equipment. This is what you find in the waterblasting industry. Some manufacturers actually claim that their cutting path includes the swing of the arm assembly.
Obviously this argument is misleading. It is only utilized because of equipment limitations that cannot be surmounted without a complete redesign of the machine and a new approach to removal philosophy.

At Waterblasting Technologies, we subscribe to the rational that the effective cutting path is determined by the width of the spray bar, the actual tool doing the work, not its support apparatus.