Water tanks/system chemicals and side effects

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

What do hotels, guest houses etc put in the big water tanks and systems to make them clean and sterile, do they know what they’re doing, what adverse affects can it can if the put too much in, should they mix it up, if they don’t mix it up can it be unevenly disturbed so that delivery of the water can contain concentrated amounts that could cause adverse effects, is this common practice? 

[Crossy]

If they put anything in it's unlikely to be more than regular (hopefully unscented) bleach.

 

If worried drink only bottled water.

[mogandave]

Don’t most hotels provide bottled water to drink?

As water is constantly flowing through the tanks, they likely add nothing.

[i claudius]

We have a storage room the door is outside and it curves under our staircase.very handy for storing my car stuff and suitcases ect.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

7 hours ago, mogandave said:

Don’t most hotels provide bottled water to drink?

As water is constantly flowing through the tanks, they likely add nothing.

I mean for showering

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

7 hours ago, Crossy said:

If they put anything in it's unlikely to be more than regular (hopefully unscented) bleach.

 

If worried drink only bottled water.

I mean in the shower

[jackdd]

I've never heard or read of anybody who got a rash or something like this from taking a shower in Thailand, so i would assume it's safe for this purpose

[The Deerhunter]

Probably a sand and charcoal filter if anything at all.  Can't see them.messing with chemicals or spending money on them in 99.9% of establishments.  If you worry about such things Japan is probably the only Asian country for you.

[Crossy]

Most people ask about water for drinking.

 

So long as the water is clear and doesn't smell bad it will be fine for showering, you may want to use bottled for cleaning your teeth.

 

[djdubuque]

We have a three filter water system as we get our water from a well.  The image here shows what the filter looks like after 30 days.  It was white when first installed.  Just a FYI

[Gold Star]

I'm trying to learn more about it too. I went to the PWA water authority office at Chiaporn Vitee to inquire about the bad smell in my city water and that we were getting sick, even when I bypass my tank and draw directly from the city source. In most parts of Pattaya, they put in a bit of chlorine, and The PWA posts the chlorine readings on a sign outside the office. I live in a house in Jomtien and was told by PWA that my water comes from Sattahip, and they will send out someone to check, who never showed up. I'm not sure if they use chlorine in the Sattahip plant, but if you ever see the inside of any a city supply pipe, it is caked thick with a green slime you can wipe with your finger.  The machines you see everywhere on the streets to fill your drinking water for 1 baht a litre just filter the city supply line water, and bottled water is the same but done in a plant.

As the water supply here is intermittent and at low pressure, every house and hotel needs to have a reservoir tank and a pump.  Flora and fauna live in the reservoirs. Do not expect anyone to ever clean the tank, lines, or the system, as the only time it gets serviced is when it breaks. I put in a cup of bleach into my 2000 litre tank every few days, just enough to start to smell it in the shower. I drain and clean my tank at least twice a year, as there ends up being about 5 mm of sludge at the bottom from the city lines. I also mix a strong solution of bleach and let sit in my house pipes for a few hours. When I turn on the taps, they run a brown red green goo for a minute or two as the slime is cleansed off the wall of the pipe, and the smell is better after that. If I forget to put in the bleach into the tank, sometimes one of us gets sick. Everyone in our household has had and gets amoebic dissentry once or twice a year, and we always have a couple cards of Metronidazole 400mg handy as you are laid up for 3 to 4 days, and recovering for a couple weeks to a month. Not good. 

Edit: We also do use a 3 stage 10" filter system for kitchen water to wash and prepare our food.

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Gold Star
added filter comment

[mogandave]

We haven’t done anything to either of our tanks for 17 years and our water smells fine and no one has gotten sick from bathing in it.

I do open the drain-cock on the bottom of each tank once a month or so and drain off the sentiment.

[Gold Star]

4 minutes ago, mogandave said:

We haven’t done anything to either of our tanks for 17 years and our water smells fine and no one has gotten sick from bathing in it.

I do open the drain-cock on the bottom of each tank once a month or so and drain off the sentiment.

Nice. Where do you live? Is your water supply chlorinated? More details please...

[flexomike]

3 hours ago, djdubuque said:

We have a three filter water system as we get our water from a well.  The image here shows what the filter looks like after 30 days.  It was white when first installed.  Just a FYI

thanks for reminding me I need to change ours

[mikecha]

We pump water from the ground well

first to  settling tank then Pump off to another tank  with filter   Tanks Are not expensive 200ltr enough 

Have a back wash for the filter via the same hydrafor pump was some work double piping but cleaning goes well 

use a clorine dosage drip  and a chacoal  filter  .for second tank..

we use for showering   and washing but buy drink water and use also for cooking  .

 

There are many things on the market clorinating tablets   filters    uv filters   but find this a good way to do 

 

we have a water test unit i brought from europe to check ph ect ect

if u have water that smells  then there is a problem stagnent  or dead water can realy give health problems 

 

we dump water 1 time a week all system empty  flush and fill again never a problem and we have never a smell 

water management costs time but a hour looking at the internet will give u all some good tips .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

I am asking because I live in Thailand (Chiang Mai) 4 months every winter, have done for 16 years but 2 years ago my hair started to “fallout” whilst here, after about 3 weeks of returning home it stopped, same thing happened this year. 2 friends of mine have just returned, 1 from Chiang rai where hers started to fall out whilst there and another from koh Yao noi and Chiang Mai. They are reporting that their hair is “breaking off” and not falling out, so it got me examining mine again and actually on very close inspection it has indeed broken off, you can see where’s it’s snapped a cm or 2 from the scalp, all of us are reporting it is on the top and the front like when you tip tour hear back in the shower. During the last 2 years where I stay they have installed huge water tanks on the roof and I have seen the tubs of chemicals laying around and have smelled the chemicals whilst sitting up there    . I am a hairdresser by trade and have always kept my hair in amazing condition, I am not a sunworshiper, in fact I try and avoid prolonged exposure to the sun and I wear a hat a fair amount of the time so I know it’s not sun damage before anyone suggests that. My friend who has returned from koh yao noi is having a particularly hard time of it as quite a high percentage of her hair has snapped off. I feel something sinister is going on, so am trying to get to the bottom of it? Any suggestions? 

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

4 hours ago, Gold Star said:

I'm trying to learn more about it too. I went to the PWA water authority office at Chiaporn Vitee to inquire about the bad smell in my city water and that we were getting sick, even when I bypass my tank and draw directly from the city source. In most parts of Pattaya, they put in a bit of chlorine, and The PWA posts the chlorine readings on a sign outside the office. I live in a house in Jomtien and was told by PWA that my water comes from Sattahip, and they will send out someone to check, who never showed up. I'm not sure if they use chlorine in the Sattahip plant, but if you ever see the inside of any a city supply pipe, it is caked thick with a green slime you can wipe with your finger.  The machines you see everywhere on the streets to fill your drinking water for 1 baht a litre just filter the city supply line water, and bottled water is the same but done in a plant.

As the water supply here is intermittent and at low pressure, every house and hotel needs to have a reservoir tank and a pump.  Flora and fauna live in the reservoirs. Do not expect anyone to ever clean the tank, lines, or the system, as the only time it gets serviced is when it breaks. I put in a cup of bleach into my 2000 litre tank every few days, just enough to start to smell it in the shower. I drain and clean my tank at least twice a year, as there ends up being about 5 mm of sludge at the bottom from the city lines. I also mix a strong solution of bleach and let sit in my house pipes for a few hours. When I turn on the taps, they run a brown red green goo for a minute or two as the slime is cleansed off the wall of the pipe, and the smell is better after that. If I forget to put in the bleach into the tank, sometimes one of us gets sick. Everyone in our household has had and gets amoebic dissentry once or twice a year, and we always have a couple cards of Metronidazole 400mg handy as you are laid up for 3 to 4 days, and recovering for a couple weeks to a month. Not good. 

Edit: We also do use a 3 stage 10" filter system for kitchen water to wash and prepare our food.

 

Thanks for this insight, I have posted a longer explanation of why I was asking. I think I’m gonna have to start washing my hair in bottled water lol 

[mikecha]

maybe hey use to much chemicals or mix causing a reaction other than doing good it turns tixic .

why not try  using drinking water from a big bottle to was  your hair and see if  that helps 

[mogandave]

Nice. Where do you live? Is your water supply chlorinated? More details please...

I don’t know if it is chlorinated or not, but i assume it is. It comes from a reservoir in an industrial area of Prachinburi.

If you are pumping well water, it could just be dirt clogging your filters. Setting up two or three tanks in series, and putting your filters after the tanks should help, as much of the dirt will settle out in the bottom of the tank(s)

Also, generally, the more water-surface area you have in the tanks, the better your water will smell. This helps get the chlorine out as well.

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

4 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

I don’t know if it is chlorinated or not, but i assume it is. It comes from a reservoir in an industrial area of Prachinburi.

If you are pumping well water, it could just be dirt clogging your filters. Setting up two or three tanks in series, and putting your filters after the tanks should help, as much of the dirt will settle out in the bottom of the tank(s)

Also, generally, the more water-surface area you have in the tanks, the better your water will smell. This helps get the chlorine out as well.
 

 

If only I was in charge of my own water filter this is what I would do but unfortunate I stay I managed places ?

[mogandave]

If only I was in charge of my own water filter this is what I would do but unfortunate I stay I managed places [emoji853]

Oh well (no pun intended) you do what you can do, good luck with it.

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

5 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

Oh well (no pun intended) you do what you can do, good luck with it.

 

A great pun non the less ?

[rooinekrsa]

11 hours ago, mogandave said:

We haven’t done anything to either of our tanks for 17 years and our water smells fine and no one has gotten sick from bathing in it.

I do open the drain-cock on the bottom of each tank once a month or so and drain off the sentiment.

Sorry to say. if euro peoeple would bath or shower more, then they would not have the problems. your comments are correct

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

19 minutes ago, rooinekrsa said:

Sorry to say. if euro peoeple would bath or shower more, then they would not have the problems. your comments are correct

Sorry can you explain exactly what you mean? 

[Gold Star]

On 2018-05-01 at 3:02 PM, CaitlinHappyMeal said:

Thanks for this insight, I have posted a longer explanation of why I was asking. I think I’m gonna have to start washing my hair in bottled water lol 

Here is today’s water quality data in Pattaya from PEA office: