No Water For 3 Days - What is the news on the water shortage

[Thomas J]

For several weeks we did not have municipal water every day.  Usually it would be shut during the day but return at night.  Now we have not had any water for 3 days but see not news on the water shortage and what the plans are for providing water.  Does anyone know? 

[lopburi3]

Guess you didn't get the memo on Friday.  Pattaya?  Where is Pattaya?  ???? 2nd link from today might be a short term attempt to get water.

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by lopburi3

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

Lopburi3

 

Gee maybe you have difficulty understanding the word replenish.  Maybe this will help you 

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/replenish

Actually I do understand that word (even if more than 4 letters).  The fact is Pattaya area reservoirs have not seen much, if any, replenishment regardless of what was published as "across the country".  ????

[Kerryd]

Yeah, I figure that where I am (soi Khao Noi) we've actually been without water for 5 days until today. I usually check around 6:30-7 in the morning and again in the evening (before the "curfew" time as that is also the time the water is supposed to be cut everywhere in Pattaya anyways).

Khao Noi was supposed to get water on "odd" numbered days, during the daytime. However we got some today (even numbered day). It wasn't on at 06:30 but was working just before 8 am.

And yeah, the article claimed that reservoirs around the country were replenished with the recent rain, but that was wrong. The reservoirs in our (Chon Buri/Rayong) area barely got any water as we didn't get much in the way of rain at all. An hour of moderate rain wouldn't even budge the gauge right now.

As for the piping the water out of the Sattahip lakes, I don't think that is coming up here. I think that will be going to Rayong and surrounding areas. No way they are going to lay a water pipe all the way to Maprachan. 

The closest of the Sattahip reservoirs (Mab fak thong 2) to the closest reservoir in Pattaya (Huai Chak Nok on soi Chaiyapruek) is a little over 7 kms in a direct line. Maprachan reservoir is over 11.5 kms in a straight line.

It would be a pretty major undertaking at the best of times, even using small diameter pipe laid on top of the ground. And there's no way they'd be able to go those distances in a straight line.
The water they are going to draw from those Sattahip reservoirs is most likely meant to keep Rayong (and it's factories) running for awhile longer.

[Leaver]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually I do understand that word (even if more than 4 letters).  The fact is Pattaya area reservoirs have not seen much, if any, replenishment regardless of what was published as "across the country".  ????

"Across the country" doesn't specify that Pattaya's reservoirs were topped up also.  

[bkk6060]

Buy a couple of tall water 6 packs at 7-11.  One bottle should get you through a shower and a cup of noodles.  So, at least a several days supply till the spouts are back on.

[Canuck1966]

8 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Buy a couple of tall water 6 packs at 7-11.  One bottle should get you through a shower and a cup of noodles.  So, at least a several days supply till the spouts are back on.

Living the dream ????

[Kerryd]

4 minutes ago, Canuck1966 said:

Living the dream ????

Well, some soap dodgers have been known to get by on even less ! Many of them like to prove it when they go to Immigration too !

[Ron jeremy]

Good thing they cancelled songkran, don't they need water to attract tourists to this world class family resort?

more dirty falang! ????????????????????????????????????????

[Kerryd]

As it stands now, there does not seem to be any "plan" to alleviate the situation. At least not one I've seen, or have heard about (in the English language media or from friends/neighbours looking at the Thai media sites).

We had water on my soi yesterday for awhile and in the afternoon a water truck arrived. Probably someone ordered it the day before, but by the time he arrived their tank(s) were already topped up because he didn't stay long or pump any water.

No water today though (just checked). By the last schedule that was posted, we should be getting it (but it seems the "odd" days are getting it on the "even" days). Will check again in a couple hours (I think it said from 8-5.)

I don't think the authorities have much of a plan, especially when the whole area is in the same situation. Can't truck water in from other reservoirs that are also nearly dry. Can't pipe it in from other reservoirs (the same ones).
Too late (again) to worry about planning a pipeline from "up country" where they may have larger reservoirs with less demand. That's something they should have thought about after the last drought.

But it's like the house owner with the leaky roof. Can't fix the roof when it's raining and when it's dry it isn't leaking so no urgent need to fix it.

Here - Too late to start planning a water pipeline (or other alternative method of water supply) when there's a drought, but when the monsoons start there's plenty of water, so no urgent need to worry about alternative sources.

I think they are mainly counting on the monsoons to start "at any time" as they normally would have done by now. They are seeding the clouds in some areas, but I think that's mostly in the farming areas in Isaan. Plus you kind of need clouds in the first place for that to work. Looking outside (in Pattaya) today and it looks like another clear, sunny, hot day again.

As I've mentioned before (in a different thread), this should be an "eye opener" and a "wake up" call to the authorities. However, I suspect that once the rains start the eyes will be blinded and the ears will be plugged while everyone goes back to sleep and pretends it was all just a bad dream.

[newnative]

I'm in a condo in Pattaya and so far have not had any water cutoffs.  Is this just happening with houses?  

[Kerryd]

16 minutes ago, newnative said:

I'm in a condo in Pattaya and so far have not had any water cutoffs.  Is this just happening with houses?  

You may have had cut-offs and just never noticed them. Condo, hotel and most apartment buildings will have tanks (usually on the roof) which fill from normal city water when it's running and, all going well, provide enough to keep everyone going when there is a cut off.
The water to your building could be cut off every other day for half the day and as long as the holding tanks are able to fill up when the water is on, you may not even notice a drop in pressure.

For houses though, we get fed directly from the main water feed. Many houses will have a storage tank on the patio (or somewhere else) but many don't. I have a 1,250 litre tank in the corner of my patio. For years I never worried about it because I wasn't having any issues with the city water (and there was a problem with the tank and the pump). Even when the water would go out, it would usually be back on in 6-8 hours so no big deal.

Now that everything is working, when the water gets cut I flip on the pump and use the water from the tank. When the city water starts running again, the tank fills and I turn off the pump (except when I'm having a shower as I like the extra pressure).

It's usually not a big deal. Until suddenly they notice the reservoir that feeds most of the city is down to 5% capacity that is.

In your case, it could also depend on your location. If you are in a certain area your water may come from a different source. One that has less (normal) demand on it and isn't being as tightly controlled.
Or you live in an area that also has some "connected" people living there who never have their water restricted or cut off.

(I was thinking I should find out where the Mayor lives and move in next door. Probably guaranteed to never have a water - or power - outage ever again !)

[Rimmer]

Some posts have been removed, when someone is trying to help with what little information is available there is no need to go after them and flame them.

[Jack Mountain]

20 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Yeah, I figure that where I am (soi Khao Noi) we've actually been without water for 5 days until today. I usually check around 6:30-7 in the morning and again in the evening (before the "curfew" time as that is also the time the water is supposed to be cut everywhere in Pattaya anyways).

Khao Noi was supposed to get water on "odd" numbered days, during the daytime. However we got some today (even numbered day). It wasn't on at 06:30 but was working just before 8 am.

And yeah, the article claimed that reservoirs around the country were replenished with the recent rain, but that was wrong. The reservoirs in our (Chon Buri/Rayong) area barely got any water as we didn't get much in the way of rain at all. An hour of moderate rain wouldn't even budge the gauge right now.

As for the piping the water out of the Sattahip lakes, I don't think that is coming up here. I think that will be going to Rayong and surrounding areas. No way they are going to lay a water pipe all the way to Maprachan. 

The closest of the Sattahip reservoirs (Mab fak thong 2) to the closest reservoir in Pattaya (Huai Chak Nok on soi Chaiyapruek) is a little over 7 kms in a direct line. Maprachan reservoir is over 11.5 kms in a straight line.

It would be a pretty major undertaking at the best of times, even using small diameter pipe laid on top of the ground. And there's no way they'd be able to go those distances in a straight line.
The water they are going to draw from those Sattahip reservoirs is most likely meant to keep Rayong (and it's factories) running for awhile longer.

The last week Soi Khao Noi (Soi 11) got water on the even days from 8am till 8pm.

[newnative]

27 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

You may have had cut-offs and just never noticed them. Condo, hotel and most apartment buildings will have tanks (usually on the roof) which fill from normal city water when it's running and, all going well, provide enough to keep everyone going when there is a cut off.
The water to your building could be cut off every other day for half the day and as long as the holding tanks are able to fill up when the water is on, you may not even notice a drop in pressure.

For houses though, we get fed directly from the main water feed. Many houses will have a storage tank on the patio (or somewhere else) but many don't. I have a 1,250 litre tank in the corner of my patio. For years I never worried about it because I wasn't having any issues with the city water (and there was a problem with the tank and the pump). Even when the water would go out, it would usually be back on in 6-8 hours so no big deal.

Now that everything is working, when the water gets cut I flip on the pump and use the water from the tank. When the city water starts running again, the tank fills and I turn off the pump (except when I'm having a shower as I like the extra pressure).

It's usually not a big deal. Until suddenly they notice the reservoir that feeds most of the city is down to 5% capacity that is.

In your case, it could also depend on your location. If you are in a certain area your water may come from a different source. One that has less (normal) demand on it and isn't being as tightly controlled.
Or you live in an area that also has some "connected" people living there who never have their water restricted or cut off.

(I was thinking I should find out where the Mayor lives and move in next door. Probably guaranteed to never have a water - or power - outage ever again !)

Good to know.  Thanks!

[andygrr]

No water for 3 days you are lucky. I live on Soi Tungklom Tanman and we havent had water for over 2 weeks.

[dogfish180]

Don't you have a water tank? If not better take a trip to Homepro and buy one. Problem solved.

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, dogfish180 said:

Don't you have a water tank? If not better take a trip to Homepro and buy one. Problem solved.

Actually may not be solved as many people report pressure even when on is not enough to fill an above ground tank.  And you would also need a pump.

[ivor bigun]

We must be very lucky ,live just of Sukhumvit at Banglamung,water pressure goes down at night ,but apart from that no problems(we do have an underground tank if there is) ,mind you there are some very ,very large houses close i think very rich people live there one has at least 7 very expensive cars ,so perhaps thats why???? 

[ivor bigun]

9 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually may not be solved as many people report pressure even when on is not enough to fill an above ground tank.  And you would also need a pump.

get an underground one ,much better ,with a pump.

[Kerryd]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually may not be solved as many people report pressure even when on is not enough to fill an above ground tank.  And you would also need a pump.

It would probably take a long time for sure.

My neighbour across the street from me just had a 750 litre plastic tank and small pump installed about 2 months ago. I think it cost her 3,000 baht total ? I believe that included all the plumbing as well (from the meter to the tank to the pump to the house).

When I had my tank fixed (pump repaired, outlet tap replaced and outlet pipe cleared of rust/sediment build-up) our water was off (this was well before the current restrictions). The water came back on during the night and by morning my tank was full.
(I've got a 1,250 litre metal tank.)

Even with that tank, I've also filled two 45 gallon plastic garbage cans with water. One in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. (Another one sits outside where my plants are and normally fills from the rainwater off the eaves.)

Considering how often the water goes out here even when the reservoir is full, it'd probably be worth it to invest in a tank and pump if you are living in a house.

[Kerryd]

2 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

get an underground one ,much better ,with a pump.

May not be an option in a lot of housing projects. Also quite a bit more expensive as well.

[baansgr]

44 minutes ago, newnative said:

Good to know.  Thanks!

Where in Pattaya?...Jomtien, never has a problem, water, electric WiFi...all works 24/7..

[ivor bigun]

8 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

May not be an option in a lot of housing projects. Also quite a bit more expensive as well.

Ours was installed when the house was built ,its in our store room ,or under it , our first pump packed up after 5/6 years and we had to get a new one ,but works fine when we need it ,mind you the house behind us has a massive plastic one in their back garden .

[Max69xl]

23 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually I do understand that word (even if more than 4 letters).  The fact is Pattaya area reservoirs have not seen much, if any, replenishment regardless of what was published as "across the country".  ????

There's water in my neighborhood in Jomtien same as before they started to talk about rationing tapwater (in every news website) every second day.

[NoBrainer]

I thought that the solution when there is no city water is to call up one of the water companies and order in a truck load to fill up your tank.

 

If you don't have a tank, then you better go and buy one (get the biggest you can afford, and have space for) because now with all of the

water theft going on with 9 dams upstream by the same lovely people who gave is the current virus, Thailand is going to be in a drought

situation for a very long time.

 

If the land is dry and parched, it is unlikely that we will get much rain in the future. The only long term solution is a sizable desalination plant

in the Leam Chabang area, and whoever has the foresight to build this will make an awful lot of money in the future.

[chilly07]

Our village recently had PWA supply installed. Made mess of roads installing overly large pipes and kit. We all bought meters from PWA on basis overall the metred cost would be lower than previously charged for a village supply by pumped well topped up by tanker when it ran low. Suprise suprise when the first PWA bills came in they were higher than the village were charging probably because the PWA were pumping a lot of air with their water! Luckily the sceptics amongst had not disconnected our village supplies so are able to switch back especially as those who cut off their village supplies are now getting spasmodic supplies from PWA. Expect a lot of reconnections to the village supply which is still topped up by tanker all for a marginally lower cost than PWA.

[EricTh]

Don't worry, the rainy season starts from the end of the month onwards.

[Kerryd]

6 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

Our village recently had PWA supply installed. Made mess of roads installing overly large pipes and kit. We all bought meters from PWA on basis overall the metred cost would be lower than previously charged for a village supply by pumped well topped up by tanker when it ran low. Suprise suprise when the first PWA bills came in they were higher than the village were charging probably because the PWA were pumping a lot of air with their water! Luckily the sceptics amongst had not disconnected our village supplies so are able to switch back especially as those who cut off their village supplies are now getting spasmodic supplies from PWA. Expect a lot of reconnections to the village supply which is still topped up by tanker all for a marginally lower cost than PWA.

I think the price for the PWA supply will go down over time. Not positive, but I think they average the price based on usage over a 6 month period or something.

Our water used to be supplied by (something - ChokChai managed it for the 1st few years - not sure where the water was being piped from though). The water fee was included in the monthly "village maintenance" fee.

When we switched to PWA, a contractor came in, laid new (small plastic, 1/2") pipe to each house and installed a new meter (we didn't have to pay for it that I recall). They capped the old pipe which had been shut off (somewhere).

When the first bill came we had to go to the PWA office to pay it for some reason. Oh wait, maybe it was to confirm name/address/phone number or something. Can't remember now.
I asked about setting it up for automatic pay from the bank (just like my electricity and cable bills are) but they said it couldn't be done for some reason.

I think the guy said something about "6 months" - like maybe I had to wait 6 months so they could see the usage or something ? I don't know.

But the price has gone down. I've been using about the same amount constantly for years now and where I was paying about 120 baht a month, it's gone down to where last month's bill was just under 65 baht ! (And that was before the water restrictions.)

I never bothered going back to see about setting up automatic payments as I haven't been away from home long enough or often enough to need it (yet). 
Surely if I can pay the bill at any 7-11 or Tops (or other stores) I should be able to set it up to be paid automatically from my bank.
 

[murraynz]

4 hours ago, newnative said:

I'm in a condo in Pattaya and so far have not had any water cutoffs.  Is this just happening with houses?  

Same same at my condo in cosy beach.

Several weeks ago,we got advice from the management co. That we would have water on alternate days only. Still seems to be water every day...im not complaing..