Abrasive is transported via tubing and pressure from a large bulk hopper located near the waterjet cutting system to a mini-hopper near the cutting head. Bulk hoppers will normally hold anywhere from several hundred pounds of abrasive to 2200 pounds. If you are cutting with one head and 1.4 pounds per minute of abrasive, then you are consuming about 84 pounds per hour. An 1100 pound hopper would last about 13 hours of operation. This would mean that the machine could run for well over a shift before it needed to be refilled. Most waterjets are provided with approximately 600 pound hoppers, which would equate to about 7 hours of operation. So, at least once during an 8 hour shift the hopper would need to be reloaded. The costs associated with the additional downtime over the course of a year should be evaluated.

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