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  1. #1

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Getting water in Thailand

    Now at the moment in a lot of areas it is quite hard to get water, the rainy season started at the beginning of the month but nobody told God or Budha that.

    Obviously many areas are flooded as per usual and many areas are without water as per usual, there maybe some management problems here but they would never admit it.

    So here we have a picture of the main resevoir for Pattaya, this is called Maprachan and is now completely empty and has been for several months.

    Now I have to admit I am not sure what makes the water stay in such a high place, but I assume the base of the resovoir is clay, but obviously when this dries out for several months and is hit by unrelenting sun I assume the clay breaks up, then the resovoir is porous, so will this ever be usable again?


  2. #2

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    So what you need is one of these, they bring in a big drill on a trailer and start drilling for water, the boss will come round first with a divining rod and tell you that the water is real deep, ie 50 meters, I got to admit I laughed the last time I saw him going over the underground waste that was holding 10,000liters of water 50cms under the ground and him saying there was no water there and he would have to go at least 30 meters deep, maybe that divining thing aint that accurate, anyway they charge about 1,000baht per meter, here's a nice pic.


  3. #3

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    You may wonder why has this picture been put here, it's actually a really old water drilling lorry which I might add is still being used, the owner was actually asleep underneath it.


  4. #4

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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  5. #5
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    Fabian's Avatar
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    Did they drill in that corner or has he parked there?

  6. #6

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    He was sleeping, and the lorry was parked, but as I left the workers turned up so tomorrow I may even be able to get some action shots of it drilling and other exciting stuff like that, although looking at it I assume they spend most of their time repairing the poxy old thing

  7. #7
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    DD,
    I think you have answered my question, I was going to ask how much would it cost to have a well bore carried out. I have been quoted 100,000 baht this is expensive as you sugest 1,000 per meter. What is included in this price.

    Jumbo

  8. #8
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jumbo
    I have been quoted 100,000 baht this is expensive as you sugest 1,000 per meter.
    Depends. The deeper you go the longer it takes, so cost per metre, deeper than 50m could be higher.
    My bore is 85 metres deep. The pump is a costly item and not worth skimping on because you want it to last 25 years.
    Mine cost about 80k I think.

    Make sure the pump has a 3 wire system.
    That has the capacity up top and so it can be replaced without having to drag the pump up which is a big job.
    Last edited by Thetyim; 12-08-2006 at 09:11 PM.

  9. #9
    Somewhere Travelling
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    Is it possible to set up a system with a pressure tank such that the pressure in the lines is more or less constant and when it drops below a certain amount the pump comes on automatically?

    At my wife's family's house in Isaan they go outside, plug in the pump, and unplug it when they are finished. I'm interested in something a bit more automatic.

  10. #10
    Khun Marmite
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    Can anyone say what pressure you should expect from a water supply?

    I ask this because the water I get piped from Phuket city is extremely high and has caused several problems.

    I also have a "well water" supply which is pumped from a well 200 metres away and filtered by a 5 foot high, 10" diameter rocket-like steel cylinder. The pressure gauge at the top of this filter usually registers 3 Kg/sq cm.

    I tried to measure the pressure of the "city water" by feeding it into the filter cylinder, but after I opened the "city water" valve, the pressure went up from 3 Kg/sq cm to 4, 5, 6 Kg/sq cm.

    As the gauge got to 6.5 Kg/sq cm, water started seeping out of the rubber seal at the top of the filter cylinder. When it got to 7, the water was pissing out so I turned off the "city water" and opened the outlet of the filter to release the pressure.

    So is this figure of 7 Kg/sq cm correct?

  11. #11
    Khun Marmite
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    Quote Originally Posted by surasak View Post
    Is it possible to set up a system with a pressure tank such that the pressure in the lines is more or less constant and when it drops below a certain amount the pump comes on automatically?

    At my wife's family's house in Isaan they go outside, plug in the pump, and unplug it when they are finished. I'm interested in something a bit more automatic.
    I have a tank in the garden filled by the water from Phuket city - because it's good quality. But often the water does not come, so I use the water saved in the tank. There is a pump next to the tank. When the outlet valve of this pump is turned on, it will pump water until the pressure on the outlet side gets to 3 Kg/sq cm. Then it automatically switches off.

    Inside the tank there is a float connected to the electricity supply to the pump. When the float gets near to the bottom of the tank, it automatically cuts power to the pump so that the pump does not run continuously when there is no water.

    The pump sits on top of a "pressure tank" - about 30 cm diameter and 30 cm tall. This seems to even out the pressure, but if you use only a little water from a tap in the house, you can usually see the flow increase and decrease slightly as the pump operates to fill the pressure tank.
    Last edited by RDN; 12-08-2006 at 09:48 PM.

  12. #12

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Ahhh, you have reminded me of a good topic, I really hope I remember this tomorrow, big air pockets on your pump, this is good stuff, balancing the output of your pump, damn this stuff is so good you will probably wank off to it...

  13. #13
    Khun Marmite
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    ...this stuff is so good you will probably wank off to it...
    Somehow I don't think so... but keep going - it IS interesting (but not THAT much) and I have a few stories to tell too (mostly about what NOT to do.

  14. #14
    Somewhere Travelling
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    I've dug my own well before and had a primed pump much like one uses for swimming pools. Never had to prime it and it was setup to automatically switch on when irrigating (I used the 'dig a hole' and excavate with pressurized water method of getting the pipe down about 35-40').

  15. #15
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    my well dug was 10k. it is about 35 meters deep. i have a mitsubishi pump above ground that draws the water and puts it into a big steel tank. then i have another pump that sends water to my kitchen and bathroom. works quite well.

  16. #16
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    all teh pumps have auto shut off when pressure is met.

  17. #17
    Tonguin for a beer
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    With a name like Aquaman you would think your water supply would be problem free!

  18. #18
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    it is.

  19. #19
    Tonguin for a beer
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    I had a mate around, a bit of an old hippy, who showed me how to divine for water.

    You get two metal bits of wire (coat hangers work well) and bend them at 90 degrees holding them very gently in the palms of your hands pointing straight out. You then walk the area in a grid and wait for the wires to move when passing over water.

    It actually works, we proved it by running some water through a hose on the concrete and when you walk over it you see the rods spin around through 90 degrees. I did the whole yard and found there was one line running right through the yard. I then walked a grid at 90 degress to this and found another line and am putting the pump where the two intersect.

    Apparently it doesn't work if you are hungover so that is why it has taken me about a year to get around to doing this.
    Fahn Cahn's

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    At THB1000/m, old somecun who operates this sensational bit of machinery must live in a fcuking palace.....You can pay less in NZ, but it's prolly 'cause of the sheep.

  21. #21
    Khun Marmite
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    This well - shown here partially completed - was dug by one bloke and his wife over a few weeks. They just had one shovel and a plank of wood, and yet the well was perfectly circular and vertical:


  22. #22
    Khun Marmite
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    Here's an earlier pic:


  23. #23
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    disconnected from mouban...

    The pipe from mouban broke, and they decided to dig a hole and get own supply to fix the problem...

    The water was found at 31 meters, took them one day of work and the bill was skyrocket high at 9'000 thb, for the whole connection and drilling, center of korat city...

    So roughly 250 thb per meter over here...

  24. #24
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    RDN,

    That well is realy cool. How deep would you say the finished depth is.

    Jumbo

  25. #25
    Khun Marmite
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    Quote Originally Posted by jumbo View Post
    RDN,

    That well is realy cool. How deep would you say the finished depth is.

    Jumbo
    I was amazed at how smooth, circular and vertical it was. I believe it was only 15 meters deep because that was the depth of the existing well - so I was told - and it looked about the same. The existing well supplied 5 houses. When they built another house, they decided to build another well and move some pipes and pumps around to even out the usage in each well.

    Last dry season, one of my neighbours stopped getting water at his house and didn't investigate. Turns out his pipe was too short in the well and the pump was running dry all night. I think it got buggered. Landlord not happy. Another reason to have a new well dug.

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