Low Water Pressure

[somchaismith]

Our old, 2-story, Don Muang house has horrible water pressure since the day we moved in. If you have a tap running, the second floor shower will not work. However, from early evening until the morning the second floor water will not run at all. I would have thought it should be the opposite as factories and businesses use more water in the daytime.

 

Anybody else's home have the same problem?

[Lamkyong]

i am sure from what i read  that this pressure problem  occurs throughout Thailand

 

i overcame this by fitting a holding tank   incoming from supply  via a ball cock  outgoing via a suitable on demand  pump  by suitable i mean a pump rated   to supply water under pressure to the height  of your second floor outlet  each pump will be rated with lift/pressure info

[VocalNeal]

Sounds like you don't have a pump?

[Crossy]

5 hours ago, Lamkyong said:

i am sure from what i read  that this pressure problem  occurs throughout Thailand

 

i overcame this by fitting a holding tank   incoming from supply  via a ball cock  outgoing via a suitable on demand  pump  by suitable i mean a pump rated   to supply water under pressure to the height  of your second floor outlet  each pump will be rated with lift/pressure info

Yup, buffer tank + pump = great water pressure, every time.

[somchaismith]

5 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Sounds like you don't have a pump?

That's rIght, no pump, straight off the mains. What concerns me is, why the sudden pressure drop at night?

[tutsiwarrior]

it's true that there can be demand issues with regard to water pressure...if I take a dump at certain times of the a.m. when demand is high then the bum squirter becomes a dribble, very annoying...

 

make sure that there are no clogged in line filters (like at a tap discharge where many times there is a small mesh screen, wall shower heating units have these also at the water inlet) before any further investigation...

[VocalNeal]

14 hours ago, somchaismith said:

That's rIght, no pump, straight off the mains. 

 

Ok that is what you need. Just a small one say 150W will do you for times when the mains pressure is a bit low. Mitsubishi has a sizing chart on their website. It will come on when needed and switch off when not.

The problem maybe to find a spot for it in a townhouse. Under the stairs on the ground floor? You may even be pleasantly surprised that the piping under the stairs is ready for a pump?

 

But yes you could ask a local plumber to check the meter for blockage but I suspect the area has expanded and that demand has gone up.

Edited September 28, 2017 by VocalNeal

[somchaismith]

56 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

But yes you could ask a local plumber to check the meter for blockage but I suspect the area has expanded and that demand has gone up.

Why would there be more usage at nightime?

[bankruatsteve]

At night is when the splasher tanks are filled using a dribble that ends up overflowing at some point but nobody cares.

 

[VocalNeal]

3 hours ago, somchaismith said:

Why would there be more usage at nightime?

 Because for the same reason electricity usage peaks in most places in the world because people come home from work and do laundry, do washing up, take showers etc. 

I have a pump because i have a shower on the third floor and BMA water doesn't reach the third floor. Maybe my water pressure also goes down at night but I don't realize. 

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by VocalNeal

[VocalNeal]

4 hours ago, somchaismith said:

Why would there be more usage at nightime?

 

I used to live in a company house in Indonesia. Quite happy until all of a sudden i couldn't have a decent shower because the water only dribbled out of the shower. After contacting Housing who did nothing, attaching a pressure gauge to the garden hose I discovered the pressure was insufficient for a shower. I even went down to the water treatment plant and found the townsite water pump and checked their with the operators to see if all was as before. In the end I went into town and bought a small water pump and stuck it in the line between my meter and the house. Bingo.

 

Rather than beat yourself up about the "why's" , if there is a physical spot where a pump will fit just buy one and have it installed and then you can shower whenever you wish.

Edited September 28, 2017 by VocalNeal

[somchaismith]

48 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Rather than beat yourself up about the "why's" , if there is a physical spot where a pump will fit just buy one and have it installed and then you can shower whenever you wish.

There are nasty people in our soi. I wouldn't put it past someone to tap into a water supply.

[VocalNeal]

Hmmm. Well OK. But as long as the taps on your water meter are fully open, what happens upstream of your take-off you have no control over. 

[Crossy]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

In the end I went into town and bought a small water pump and stuck it in the line between my meter and the house.

Do not, that's not, pump directly from the supply line. Apart from being illegal you could end up drawing water from someones duck pond.

 

Buffer tank and pump is the correct solution.

[Proboscis]

We used to have the same problem in Vietnam. As stated before, you need a buffer tank. In Vietnam, where the water pressure was so bad it would not reach the roof, we had to have two tanks - one tank in the basement of the house (only works in locations where it does not flood, that is! - if there is a danger of flooding, you need a more complicated solution) and a pump takes the water to a tank on the roof - both tanks have automatic shut-off valves to prevent over-spill (what some people call ball-cock valves). Gravity then does the rest.

 

You may not need two tanks if the water pressure is sufficient to reach your roof or roof space.

 

As mentioned before, never ever attach a pump directly to the water main.

 

Even if you have a set-up like this, you may find that the water pressure in your shower is not sufficient as there might not be sufficient height in your buffer tank. You can install a shower pump to deal with this.

[thailand49]

8 hours ago, somchaismith said:

Why would there be more usage at nightime?

Everyone comes home from work in the area?  this would seem pretty normal anywhere.

[4MyEgo]

On 27/09/2017 at 3:50 PM, Lamkyong said:

i am sure from what i read  that this pressure problem  occurs throughout Thailand

 

i overcame this by fitting a holding tank   incoming from supply  via a ball cock  outgoing via a suitable on demand  pump  by suitable i mean a pump rated   to supply water under pressure to the height  of your second floor outlet  each pump will be rated with lift/pressure info

Yep two 1,000 litre holding tanks, and a good pump, we got sick and tired of the water pressure being reduced during peak periods in the village, now its water pressure whenever we want, the village can suck as much water as they want during peak hours, which is very little.

[Foozool]

If you are family of 2, you just need a small tank + pump

[Brayka]

Everybody( almost every farang)has a pomp, but by law it is forbidden Thai people told me

[VocalNeal]

55 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Yep two 1,000 litre holding tanks, and a good pump, we got sick and tired of the water pressure being reduced during peak periods in the village, now its water pressure whenever we want, the village can suck as much water as they want during peak hours, which is very little.

In the OP's case holding tanks wouldn't influence pressure as he has water at night on the ground floor, just low pressure. They would only provide volume which can be used if the mains water fails completely. He didn't mention running out of water.

Edited September 28, 2017 by VocalNeal

[somchaismith]

2 hours ago, thailand49 said:

Everyone comes home from work in the area?  this would seem pretty normal anywhere.

I would have thought factories and businesses which operate during the day could be more inclined to put a strain on the water supply.

 

I assume the supply and the demand for water are further determined by variables that tend to be location specific. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by somchaismith

[Jdietz]

Here is the 'standard' schematic of hooking up a tank + pump legally (and not sucking water out of the neighbor's toilet tank when pressure is low..)

 

[helloagain]

On 27/09/2017 at 12:01 PM, somchaismith said:

Our old, 2-story, Don Muang house has horrible water pressure since the day we moved in. If you have a tap running, the second floor shower will not work. However, from early evening until the morning the second floor water will not run at all. I would have thought it should be the opposite as factories and businesses use more water in the daytime.

 

Anybody else's home have the same problem?

Buy a more powerfull pump. 7000 baht should be ok

[VocalNeal]

17 minutes ago, Jdietz said:

(and not sucking water out of the neighbor's toilet tank when pressure is low..)

Please explain how that will happen. I'm interested in your theory. 

[Jdietz]

Just now, VocalNeal said:

Please explain how that will happen. I'm interested in your theory. 

Was more tongue-in-cheek attempt of humor, as these tanks are filled from the top. However when you pump directly from the mains and cause underpressure, water can and will flow from neighboring properties from tanks, ponds and devices without check valves (in Thailand basically everything...). Also because the mains pipes are usually a leaky mess (reason the water pressure is kept so low here) you can end up sucking sewer water (from the also leaking sewer lines next to it) right in.

 

 

[munchlet]

Fit a pump to a pipe leading to a tank in your roof, then you have gravity fed pressure to all floors of your house. Simples

[maake55555]

There is no particular time when my water pressure is down, it happens in the morning, at night and all during the day.  There is never a steady stream with my water, but always weak flow.  Wish I knew a way to fix it, but my guess is that with the small plastic pipes used here and too many users on it.  The pump is the answer.

Edited September 28, 2017 by maake55555
Correct sentence.

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, Brayka said:

Everybody( almost every farang)has a pomp, but by law it is forbidden Thai people told me

AFIK that is not true.

what is likely to be true is that it is forbidden to pump directly from the main water supply. You must pump from a tank or your own well.

[themerg]

Water pressure in increased in 2 ways.

1-- A pump

2-- Smaller piping, as you put your finger over a hose to get more speed and pressure

[Crossy]

8 hours ago, Brayka said:

Everybody( almost every farang)has a pomp, but by law it is forbidden Thai people told me

Only pumping directly from the supply is illegal, using a buffer tank is not.