i hook a garden hose up to the machine. it fills itself.
i drain all the water at once into 5 gallon buckets, as i filter it thru a 1 gallon, 125 micron bag to pick up any loose trim particles. i have this mounted on a frame that sits atop the bucket. then using a single 5 gallon bag at a time i pour it thru and into another empty bucket. i have 6 or 7 buckets lined up at once. i use white buckets for unscreened water, that gets poured thru the first screen(70mic) into a yellow 5 gallon bucket, that gets pored thru the last screen925mic) into an orange bucket. orange buckets get dumped outside. while i'm doing all this the second cycle is already running.
i start with 40 pounds of ice, second cycles i add another 15 or 20 to top it off. i like to fill the drum about halfway with ice, then throw in the full bags, then fill it the rest of the way. then i add the water. this usually gives me the perfect mix. i have found the ratio of ice to water is as important as any other step in the process.