Sh*t Water

[Glasseye]

For those of you who live over here, and live in a house....

 

Do you have a filtering system of some sort, or a water softner on your incoming water line ?

 

I'm thinking about having one or both installed at some point. 

 

[lazarus]

Speaking of shit water... 😁

[Toy Boy]

2 hours ago, Glasseye said:

For those of you who live over here, and live in a house....

 

Do you have a filtering system of some sort, or a water softner on your incoming water line ?

 

I'm thinking about having one or both installed at some point. 

 

I've got a 1,000 litre water tank in the ground, you ned it as backup for when the mains water is off. It also acts as a sediment trap, the crap in the public water supply has plenty of time to settle out in the bottom of the tank, so you end up with reasonably clean (though not drinkable) water going into the pump and out of the taps in the house. You need to get someone to clean the crap out of the bottom of the tank at least once a year, though. I was told when I bought the house a dozen years ago that, if you don't do that, then over time the water will start giving you strange skin problems. I pay a guy 500 Baht to come and clean it for me every March or April, and I've had no problems. The shower units both have filters on them and they never need cleaning so the water entering the house must be pretty clean.

[Glasseye]

1 hour ago, Toy Boy said:

I've got a 1,000 litre water tank in the ground, you ned it as backup for when the mains water is off. It also acts as a sediment trap, the crap in the public water supply has plenty of time to settle out in the bottom of the tank, so you end up with reasonably clean (though not drinkable) water going into the pump and out of the taps in the house. You need to get someone to clean the crap out of the bottom of the tank at least once a year, though. I was told when I bought the house a dozen years ago that, if you don't do that, then over time the water will start giving you strange skin problems. I pay a guy 500 Baht to come and clean it for me every March or April, and I've had no problems. The shower units both have filters on them and they never need cleaning so the water entering the house must be pretty clean.

 

Huge thank you on that one.

I am going to add a whole house filtering system. The tank is newer, but I did not consider the need to clean it. I will also research finding someone who can do that.

My last house back in the States I was on a well (90' deep), water sucked up through a pump, then ran it through a water softner. I had to add several 40 pound bags of salt every so often. Was a pain in the ass.

Just before I sold the house I noticed sand settling in the toilet, so I had an idea what was coming (a new well would soon need to be dug). Also the drain line running from the house to the towns sewer connection was so old that it was beginning to collapse in parts. I was able to keep it cleared with a couple of serious snake jobs, but knew it was only a matter of time.

Got out of there in the nick of time.

[CampariO]

If you have a garden, it makes sense to separate the water supply for gardening as it doesn't need to be filtered. Toilet water same, but the water feed lines might be connected with the rest of the water lines.

You can install a filter system to soften the water and filter sediment, so the heater of the washing machine lasts longer. For drinking water I would install a seperate filter with carbon filtration to get any bacteria out.

I clean my water tank (above ground) by myself. Stop water feed, let it run almost empty and then open the low point drain. Then I take a mop and wipe the bottom with some water. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Glasseye]

1 hour ago, CampariO said:

If you have a garden, it makes sense to separate the water supply for gardening as it doesn't need to be filtered. Toilet water same, but the water feed lines might be connected with the rest of the water lines.

You can install a filter system to soften the water and filter sediment, so the heater of the washing machine lasts longer. For drinking water I would install a seperate filter with carbon filtration to get any bacteria out.

I clean my water tank (above ground) by myself. Stop water feed, let it run almost empty and then open the low point drain. Then I take a mop and wipe the bottom with some water. Rinse and repeat.

 

 

Thanks for the info.

I will be putting together all of the above now that I have identifed and worked with a guy I have confidence in for the installment.

Also, keep a proper schedule for cleaning/changing filters. 

The cleaning of the tank I will hire out, per recommendation of the maintenance guy (was like finding a diamond in a haystack).

[Glasseye]

 

[Butch]

In the Philippines our borehole pump has a cartridge type filter system which sits inline and just past the first outlet (between the pump and the tank basically). It's more of a sediment filter than a softener system, as the water is not very hard anyway.

Might be worth investigating how your water is on the scale, as the average (70%) of Thailand is 120 mg/l which falls into the "slightly hard" category. Our place in the UK is classed as "hard" at 200 - 300 mg/l and we don't have a water softener.

filters for sediment are good, as particles can bollocks up the pumps in water heaters, plus its probably a good idea, as mentioned, to get tanks cleaned out occasionally.

 

 

Edited January 20 by Butch

[forcebwithu]

15 hours ago, Glasseye said:

 

On a side note, I hate the design of the toilet flush here as pictured in the screen grab of the YT video.

The cistern cover isn't a tight fit, so all it takes is for it to shift slightly and make it hard if not impossible to activate the flush when pushing down on the button.

Worse is the button activator can get jammed and not return to the non-flush position. If you don't notice it the flush water will continue to run continuously until you come back and fix the problem. With the western handle type flush system it's much more obvious when the flush mechanism gets stuck.

[Glasseye]

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

On a side note, I hate the design of the toilet flush here as pictured in the screen grab of the YT video.

The cistern cover isn't a tight fit, so all it takes is for it to shift slightly and make it hard if not impossible to activate the flush when pushing down on the button.

Worse is the button activator can get jammed and not return to the non-flush position. If you don't notice it the flush water will continue to run continuously until you come back and fix the problem. With the western handle type flush system it's much more obvious when the flush mechanism gets stuck.

 

Thanfully I have side handles on mine. Gives a decent flush also, but always a struggle to keep them clean because of the hard water.

[Toy Boy]

On 1/20/2024 at 5:50 PM, Glasseye said:

The cleaning of the tank I will hire out, per recommendation of the maintenance guy (was like finding a diamond in a haystack).

Some of the water tanker truck drivers will do it as long as you let them fill up the tank afterwards (something like 200-300 Baht/m3 compared with 15 Baht for mains water). Like everything here, they'll rob you blind if they think they can get away with it. Many years ago I had one of the village motorbike taxi drivers do it for me. He brought his wife along and I was stupid enough not to ask the price beforehand, got shafted by him for 1,200 Baht. Since then the GF gets one of her friends in Laem Chabang to come and do it for me, I stipulate up-front that I'll only pay 500 baht but I make him a good meal afterwards with a cold beer or two. OTOH, an American guy in the village gets a relative of his wife to do it for him for just 250 Baht. I asked if he'd do it for me, but nope, he's keeping it in the family.

[Yessongs]

Ok so at wifey’s house here, we have a tank on the side of the house. She is a "clean freak” so she cleans the outside probably once a month…..why? LOL! The city of Minburi comes out 2 times per year to drain it, clean the inside and then re-fill. 500 baht per….so that is taken care of. 

We also have a “soft water” set up inside the house behind the washer/dryer directly off the kitchen. I do the salt tablets and get them from Mega Home. 

We get our water delivered from “Sprinkle” 2 times per month on Wednesdays. That is run through the water filtration system called “Puramun” water filtration system. Tastes really good.

Personally, I don’t care about the “soft water” for showers/baths….buy wifey seems to think it is important…I would never drink any water, under any circumstance out of any tap, here in Thailand and don’t. Bottled water at the gym only.    

[Glasseye]

Nice. To both above posts. My water is actually pumped in through a water line connection. The source is from a resevoir up in the hills.

I agree with the soft water comment. But, it is nice to have one. It considerably adds to removing the harsh minerals that can create build up within the system (fixtures, piping, shower doors, etc.). It is also very helpful with laundry. Clothing will be much softer with conditioned water.

I will add one of those at some point. Probably work out a deal with a dleivery guy who can deliever the salt and fill the softener once a month. That in addition to the whole house filtration system should do the trick.