Water shut off

[MM 6,562]

Tonight, mid evening, our water shut off. The missus found an announcement from Banglamung officials saying they were installing underground electric lines parallel to the water conduits, and that water would be shut off to many areas of Pattaya and Jomtien.

The installation was to finish at 11 pm tonight.

It's 5:30 am and the taps are dry.

 

Who else is affected by this shut off?

 

No showers until the water is back could lead to a bunch of stinky locals.

[thegrogmonster 111]

Tonight, mid evening, our water shut off. The missus found an announcement from Banglamung officials saying they were installing underground electric lines parallel to the water conduits, and that water would be shut off to many areas of Pattaya and Jomtien.

The installation was to finish at 11 pm tonight.

It's 5:30 am and the taps are dry.

 

Who else is affected by this shut off?

 

No showers until the water is back could lead to a bunch of stinky locals.

Go for a swim at Jomtien beach.

[short 215]

Sounds like a good excuse to go for a soapy.

[jacko 8,822]

Tonight, mid evening, our water shut off. The missus found an announcement from Banglamung officials saying they were installing underground electric lines parallel to the water conduits, and that water would be shut off to many areas of Pattaya and Jomtien.

The installation was to finish at 11 pm tonight.

It's 5:30 am and the taps are dry.

 

Who else is affected by this shut off?

 

No showers until the water is back could lead to a bunch of stinky locals.

I always thought you did quite well in the City, my water seems to go off a few times a week. Fortunately I have a storage tank and it has never impacted me. As stated, I would bet the water never goes off at the Soapy places.

[MM 6,562]

Here's the announcement...apparently service won't be available in the areas listed until Tues at the earliest (3 or 4 days outage total).

 

 

We're trying to get a water truck now, but given the massive geographical scope of the outage, it might be a long wait.

[MM 6,562]

First time I had to order one of these myself...250 baht for a fill up. The water's a bit dusky, but it's better than nothing.

 

 

[jacko 8,822]

So you do have a storage tank MM.

 

(And the same pump as me) Used to be 100 baht to fill at my old place.

 

How long do you think that fill up will last you?

 

I find Thais are pretty wasteful of water, caught my Mrs watering the garden when the water was off, and apparently 1 toilet visit can require up to 3 flushings!!! And don't get me started on how long she is in the shower...... If you have 'relatives' hanging around, well need I say any more.

 

At least I can see the pictures now!!!

[MM 6,562]

So you do have a storage tank MM.

 

(And the same pump as me) Used to be 100 baht to fill at my old place.

 

How long do you think that fill up will last you?

 

I find Thais are pretty wasteful of water, caught my Mrs watering the garden when the water was off, and apparently 1 toilet visit can require up to 3 flushings!!! And don't get me started on how long she is in the shower...... If you have 'relatives' hanging around, well need I say any more.

 

At least I can see the pictures now!!!

Yes, I have a storage tank...never used it before, but mistakenly thought it was inline with the city water and would be full when the city water was shut off.

 

That was wrong, obviously.

 

That fill up cost 250 baht..the water is kind of "spicy" and not quite clear. I made the mistake of rinsing my mouth with some after brushing my teeth. That won't happen again!

 

Getting the pump started was a challenge, luckily dealt with by our Thai friend who realized it needed to be primed (and my wife realizing the valve needed to be opened between the pump and the tank ).

 

I am hopeless at this DIY stuff...if it were me alone, I'd be out buying bottles of water at 7-11 and not bathing for days. Actually, I'd probably check into a hotel!

 

Regarding use and how long it will last, that's a mystery to me too. I noticed the missus was doing washing yesterday, and I suspect that takes a lot of water. We had house guests yesterday, though I'm not sure they bathed.

 

Come on Tues or Weds and city water again...please!

[jacko 8,822]

Strange system you must have then.......at my current place 'city' water feeds my tank through a ballcock valve and the tank feeds the pump, which is pretty standard. There is also a bypass line from city water, around the tank via a check valve, meaning I can actually turn off the pump and run off city line pressure. Belt and braces, but at my prior place nearer the City this would never have worked as City pressure was pretty poor there.

 

Sorry to be dull, I am actually interested in that sort of stuff and have done much plumbing work at the house myself.

 

So she is doing laundry eh.. Well if it is in an automatic machine, yes they use a good bit of water. Conservation is an alien concept, here, mine lacks it with respect to money.

[MM 6,562]

jacko, I'm glad you mentioned the possible depletion of the water faster than I thought. I just checked and it's got about 10% remaining in the tank.

 

As for our "strange system", I'll look into that. I think we must have been bypassing the tank (it's a rental unit) permanently.

 

Would running off city water directly obviate the need to run the pump? My impression is that the pump hadn't been used in a while, since it needed to be primed.

[forcebwithu 4,856]

jacko, I'm glad you mentioned the possible depletion of the water faster than I thought. I just checked and it's got about 10% remaining in the tank.

 

As for our "strange system", I'll look into that. I think we must have been bypassing the tank (it's a rental unit) permanently.

 

Would running off city water directly obviate the need to run the pump? My impression is that the pump hadn't been used in a while, since it needed to be primed.

 

Suspect that's a pressure pump to give you a boost in water pressure into the house. When the city water supply shut off the pump probably ran itself dry then shut off, thus the need to prime it.

[DP Gumbypgh 97]

I have installed the same as jacko. Better to run it constantly through the tank and always use the pump, keeps the water clean and better pressure for showers. Bypass is needed in case of power outages can still have water available. I do not trust the check valves that they install here so have a manual valve instead that can be used when the power fails. Other addition I can highly recommend is an filter.

[jacko 8,822]

jacko, I'm glad you mentioned the possible depletion of the water faster than I thought. I just checked and it's got about 10% remaining in the tank.

 

As for our "strange system", I'll look into that. I think we must have been bypassing the tank (it's a rental unit) permanently.

 

Would running off city water directly obviate the need to run the pump? My impression is that the pump hadn't been used in a while, since it needed to be primed.

Yes, as per my home arrangement, you could run off city pressure only and then the tank and pump become a 'backup'.

My pump kicks in when I use garden sprinklers as more water is needed than city supply can maintain.

And when City supply is low.

Your circumstance are odd not to be filling up that tank

You are fortunate indeed (or have been) if City water is so reliable that the pump never need run.

[jacko 8,822]

I have installed the same as jacko. Better to run it constantly through the tank and always use the pump, keeps the water clean and better pressure for showers. Bypass is needed in case of power outages can still have water available. I do not trust the check valves that they install here so have a manual valve instead that can be used when the power fails. Other addition I can highly recommend is an filter.

I have put a ball valve in line with the check/non-return valve to give me a selection ability... although I do prefer to run through the bypass ...keeps my electric bill down! (Tight, what me.......??) So I turn my pump off and get a heads up every time my City water is off and I often dash to the pump switch in the early hours because the toilet isn't refilling. Also it gets turned on when she does laundry and I water the garden. My neighbour has all his pipework buried under concrete but fortunately mine was under dirt, so I could get to it when I needed to replace the check valve....

Edited May 19, 2015 by jacko

[frostfire 1,279]

Mine runs inline with my village water supply (which is supplemented by the city water) but the pump does run moat of the time when water is being used. The tank does work as a backup when the city water is out tho... but it's all automatic here

[MM 6,562]

Ball valves, check valves, manual valves, pipes and fittings...all this is Greek to me.

 

The most I know about plumbing is if I turn on the tap and water comes out, it's working.

 

Now my pressing question is..when the city water comes back on, how will I know?

[Odense 498]

Could you put in a pressure booster pump without a tank or if not how small can the tank (or pressure stabilizing device) be. I know in small villages in Denmark a hydrophoric tank with a compressed air cushion is or was often used at the village water work.

[ttownjeff 1]

I can't answer the question (how do I know when the city water comes on)

Appears you will have to manually check, however whatever you decide to do with the tank

if you elect to use it as (storage tank) for future uses, don't forget to occasionally use what is in there and

don't allow the water go stagnant, for which I'd think in that climate would happen faster than here in the states,

just a thought.... (sorry this don't help your situation now)

[jacko 8,822]

Ball valves, check valves, manual valves, pipes and fittings...all this is Greek to me.

 

The most I know about plumbing is if I turn on the tap and water comes out, it's working.

 

Now my pressing question is..when the city water comes back on, how will I know?

Well, under normal circumstances, you would hear the water filling up,your tank, or find that it had filled up.

But you apparently have an issue there.

For me I can turn my pump off and see if my hose pipe still works, or the old standby, go look at the meter and see if the little wheel is spinning.

[MM 6,562]

The water came back yesterday morning I think.

 

Checked the tank and it's full again, so now water is running into the tank and then into the house.

 

It was that direct connection to the mains when the place was unrented for a few months, I believe.

 

Until this incident, I had no reason to wonder what the setup was.

 

All better now, I hope.

 

Thanks for all the assistance, guys.