Help - water has been turned off

[billd766]

14 hours ago, BritManToo said:

There's a tap either side of the water meter.

They just turn both taps off and pull the meter out.

But the meter is mine which I bought in Bangkok years ago.

[billd766]

14 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

In our home (and in the three others we have rented), there's a stop cock on BOTH sides of the meter. When you go past due, they turn off both stop cocks and remove the meter... actual experience.

Both the meter and both stopcocks are mine and are 1 inch. The main pipe is 3 inch and most people have a downsizer from 3 inch to 1/2 inch.

[NanLaew]

40 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But the meter is mine which I bought in Bangkok years ago.

 

Who do you get your water bill from?

 

When the landlord asked a ridiculous fee for his water meter installation, my wife bought her own meter for the water he supplied to her restaurant. Ultimately it was still his water.

 

37 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Both the meter and both stopcocks are mine and are 1 inch. The main pipe is 3 inch and most people have a downsizer from 3 inch to 1/2 inch.

 

I am pretty sure that the ownership of the meter and stopcocks would have little relevance to the owner of the water when you start 'stealing' it which is basically what happens when you don't pay a bill.

 

[NanLaew]

15 hours ago, davidupatterson said:

Rental property. Trying not to get the homeowners involved if possible but may have to go that route.

I hope that's not because you just want to save face. I assume you have contact details and even a bank account number for the homeowner. If you do, it sounds like a whole lot simpler than trying to pay a past-due water bill anonymously via third-parties.

[billd766]

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Who do you get your water bill from?

 

When the landlord asked a ridiculous fee for his water meter installation, my wife bought her own meter for the water he supplied to her restaurant. Ultimately it was still his water.

 

 

I am pretty sure that the ownership of the meter and stopcocks would have little relevance to the owner of the water when you start 'stealing' it which is basically what happens when you don't pay a bill.

 

A little old lady comes around towards the end of the month, reads the meter, writes the bill on the spot, and gives it to whoever is at home or to our neighbour and the bill is settled in cash. 

 

I think that she is employed by the tessaban or perhaps the PYB.

 

The land we live on is owned by my wife, so no landlord is involved.

 

[NanLaew]

6 minutes ago, billd766 said:

A little old lady comes around towards the end of the month, reads the meter, writes the bill on the spot, and gives it to whoever is at home or to our neighbour and the bill is settled in cash. 

 

I think that she is employed by the tessaban or perhaps the PYB.

 

The land we live on is owned by my wife, so no landlord is involved.

 

 

I would guess this is common in older developments or in more rural or unconsolidated areas.

[tweedledee2]

18 hours ago, billd766 said:

With electricity it is easy to do, but removing the water meter will leave a hole in the pipe unless they are quick with a stopper or they turn everybody's water off, let the pressure drop and then remove the meter and stop the input pipe.

Our village supplied water line has a shut-off valve before the meter.  I would think most supply lines would need a shut-off valve to replace a faulty meter. There would be no way to pull the meter without one.

[KhaoYai]

A lot of people giving information based on their experience which is understandable but..........this is Thailand, there is no one water supplier, you can be on city water, village water or any one of a number of private supplies. In some places you have an option to choose the supplier.

 

Asking a neighbour would be a start and as its a new development, its most likely that everyone is on the same supply but that is not 100% - my wife's house was on local village water as are most of the houses around her.  However, the quality was poor so when I found out that the city water company have a main running past her house we changed.

 

If your friend can't get back there and do the legwork, I'd plan a couple of nights in a local hotel when you return.

[RocketDog]

On 1/1/2021 at 7:19 PM, Lacessit said:

Cherchez la femme. A bit awkward if you or your friend don't know who she is, or who she works for.

Did your friend think to check at the water meter to see if it has been locked? It may simply have been turned off at the mains connection.

Excellent point. Mine has a cutoff valve and it's not even lockable. 

 

In an emergency situation, if the houses are close the plumbing systems can be connected by a garden hose between two outside faucets. One pump supplies both houses. This assumes both parties are amenable. 

[DJ54]

Electric may be an issue if not paid current,.. we live in a village and

had to wait 1 week to get the electricity turned on again., Good luck..

[billd766]

8 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

I would guess this is common in older developments or in more rural or unconsolidated areas.

Definitely rural.

 

The village is about 2 km long with one street with a small square of maybe 30 houses off one side by the temple. It is on route 1117 and connects the "big" village with Chong Yen up in the Mae Wong national park one way and Kamphaeng Phet the other way.

[billd766]

6 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

Our village supplied water line has a shut-off valve before the meter.  I would think most supply lines would need a shut-off valve to replace a faulty meter. There would be no way to pull the meter without one.

There are stopcocks in quite a few places on the main water pipe and they just shut off the nearest one before and let the pressure drop.

 

I was cutting the grass with a weed whacker a few years ago and neatly lopped off the right angle from the main pipe to the house. We had to get the Orbator from the tessaban to shut the system down before he could replace it. Nice fountain for a while.

[scubascuba3]

Well I never, don't pay the bill and water gets cut off

[HighPriority]

OP, you talk of “we” being out of the country and you mentioned that your “wife owns the land”... is she Thai ?

[brianthainess]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:02 PM, billd766 said:

With electricity it is easy to do, but removing the water meter will leave a hole in the pipe unless they are quick with a stopper or they turn everybody's water off, let the pressure drop and then remove the meter and stop the input pipe.

 

I live in rural Kamphaeng Phet and we have a lady that comes around from the tessaban and we pay her, If nobody is around she normally goes to a neighbour and we pay the neighbour.

Say what??  Mine has a stop cock before the meter, as all of them do.

[canthai55]

18 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Say what??  Mine has a stop cock before the meter, as all of them do.

No they do not - ours does not

Saying all in LOS ... 555

[brianthainess]

Your not going to be able to sort this until you get back; If you have a tank then maybe it is still full, unless your garden hose runs from it in which case your water could have been turned off before and your friend who couldn't just check if it had been turned off at the meter , has drained it watering the garden.  Use a 20 lt water bottle for the toilet, and go without a shower for a day or two, after all you sound like a falang, and you know we don't shower and are dirty according to the health minister A Nut In.

[brianthainess]

1 minute ago, canthai55 said:

No they do not - ours does not

Saying all in LOS ... 555

Well my bad but where I live everybody has.

[Dante99]

1 hour ago, HighPriority said:

OP.... you mentioned that your “wife owns the land”..

where did he say that?

[brianthainess]

10 hours ago, RocketDog said:

Excellent point. Mine has a cutoff valve and it's not even lockable. 

 

In an emergency situation, if the houses are close the plumbing systems can be connected by a garden hose between two outside faucets. One pump supplies both houses. This assumes both parties are amenable. 

I have also fitted a one way valve just after the meter so my tanks don't feed into the mains when the water goes off.

[Dante99]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:09 PM, BritManToo said:

There's a tap either side of the water meter.

They just turn both taps off and pull the meter out.

and then you just make a simple pipe connection between the two taps with a union

[brianthainess]

7 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

where did he say that?

Page 3 18hrs ago.

[Dante99]

4 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Page 3 18hrs ago.

don't think that was the OP who wrote that, it was a different person writing

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

and then you just make a simple pipe connection between the two taps with a union

I have one already made, in the rainy season the meter clogs with mush that looks like broken down leaf's and twigs so i have to remove meter and clean it out, I run an outside tap till it clears.

[brianthainess]

3 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

don't think that was the OP who wrote that, it was a different person writing

Ooops.

[RocketDog]

42 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I have also fitted a one way valve just after the meter so my tanks don't feed into the mains when the water goes off.

good idea except that those valves are spring-loaded balls that the city water must push open, so if pressure is low you won't bet much water and the pressure is decreased even when they are open.

Also, people like me that have float valves in the top of the holding tank don't have that problem. I'm guessing most tanks have such float valves so one-way valves aren't needed.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Say what??  Mine has a stop cock before the meter, as all of them do.

Where do you live?

 

Most of the houses and land did not have any stopcocks in front simply because there were not many houses built.

 

When we started building in 2004 there were no houses for about 500 metres on either side of us. Now we are shoulder to shoulder and no more space to build on this side of the road.

 

Stopcocks are only put in when they are requested otherwise there be lots of unused stopcocks which, when they are required, will probably need to replaced if they can be found.

 

We live at 9 Moo 8. My next door neighbour has a house at 9/3 and another also next door at 9/5. My wife's other land and shop is at 9/4 about 2.4 km up the road. Not even the postmen know where 9/1 and 9/2 are.

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

We live at 9 Moo 8. My next door neighbour has a house at 9/3 and another also next door at 9/5. My wife's other land and shop is at 9/4 about 2.4 km up the road. Not even the postmen know where 9/1 and 9/2 are.

For Lazada et. al. deliveries I have a map on my fone. And the wifes. When the courier company driver can not find the address, send him the map.

I still have not figured out how the post office motorbike guys know where everyone lives - no rhyme or reason to the house numbers that I can see.

Have been told that the number is issued when a house was built in that village. No 1-2-3 as the street progresses.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, canthai55 said:

For Lazada et. al. deliveries I have a map on my fone. And the wifes. When the courier company driver can not find the address, send him the map.

I still have not figured out how the post office motorbike guys know where everyone lives - no rhyme or reason to the house numbers that I can see.

Have been told that the number is issued when a house was built in that village. No 1-2-3 as the street progresses.

Thank you for that idea. I must try that.

 

Most of the delivery guys know where we live now, so touch wood, I might not need it. I usually give them my wife's number and she sorts them out.

 

I wonder if I can put my wife's number as a second number on Lazada.

[HighPriority]

11 hours ago, Dante99 said:

where did he say that?

You are correct, Billd766 said “My wife owns the land...”

presumably the OP’s wife is Thai and is with him, I don’t understand why she doesn’t know more or problem solve ?