Salty Ground Water

[pinophai]

Anyone has an idea why the groundwater around Udonthani ( Ampheu Phen etc.) in some place is sweet and 2 km's further is salt, and so on.

What do i have to do to get sweet water by myself, because i have no sweet water from the village.

Thx, Pino,

[NedKelly]

Sounds dodgy to me....are there any trees in the area...?? No trees ....may = salinity or salt rising to the surface...........so plant some trees matey !! (like a few hundred thousand)

Or someones been pissing in the well......

[GuestHouse]

The best option is rain harversting.

It involves some upfront investment but will provide you with clean drinkable water.

You simply need a large water tank (Ours is a concrete tank set in the ground), we drain rain water off our roof, through a course filter and into the tank. We then pump it into the house through a filter for drinking water and not through a filter for washing water.

Don't be tempted to go for a desalenation filter, they are expensive and the commonly used 'de-ionisers' also remove all the minerals from the water - this is not good news for your calcium levels.

If you are using salty ground water then expect high maintenance on any ferrous parts of your water system (mainly the pump), I've seen a water pump rotted from inside out within a year of purchase.

Ask the dealer which one is best for salty water service.

We are looking at making our water usage even more efficient by recycling grey water for flushing the toilets and watering the garden but that is for the future - we aim to be totaly water independent.

To calculate your rain water availability, take the rain water for your area in milli meters per year from and multiply by the area of roof you can collect from, then multipoly by 0.7 to allow for losses and you should come up with a volume that is quite respectable.

PM me if you want any more hints.

[KevinN]

We also set up a water harvest system 2 years ago, I was going to have PDA come and build me 3 tanks of 11,000 liter cap. but they would not come to phetchabun from khon kaen for less than 5 tanks, they build ferro-cement silo tanks for 15,000 baht,

But I got 21 1600L. Thai water jars ,had them made so i could hook them together with 1 inch plastic pipe and we harvest our roof water,,I have 34,000 liter storage,we use it for everything except drinking,as I dont really care for bird shit off the roof, but do water some plants and wash the car and we only use about 60 gal a day average,

Some familys use more and some less, that will tell you what you need,so figure up your Use a day, we never got much below half this year and the rain that we have had,we have been overflowing the tanks for a week of so with every rain.

I have first flush At the gutters and a particle filter at the pump intake.There is a pic of the main system here.

http://public.fotki.com/KevinN/thailand_pictures/page2.html

Our well is nasty,standing water in a tub or container stinks and I think it must be salty also as it doesn't work well for water on plants,especially orchids, and makes the cloths washed in it stink to bad to wear,you stink after a shower and your skin feels terrible,so rain water is the way to go,and with the use of jars at 500 B apiece,it is very affordable,but I will eventually get PDA to come and build tanks,even if I have to take 5,but the second story roof will be the only one to supply water to the top half of the silo tanks.

[edd]

Our house is 7 km from Amphur Phen and we have a well.

I am told by the villagers that if you make your well too deep that you will hit salt water.

This is correct but frustrating as some times you have to go deep to hit water.

We insured good water by giving the man who made our well a bottle of law kaw and a flower to fasten on the drill

Yes yes i know its bull s**t but we got good water & 2 drunk workers.

We pump it upto a tank and it gravity feeds to the house, it works well.

I also use it to fill my swimming pool.

edd

[KevinN]

Where we live there is no water down past 5 or6 Meters, But I had a well driller give me a bid on a deep well and submersable pump,he said he didnt think he would hit water and if he did I would pay him 46,000 baht,, I agreed and he drilled 158 meters and then pulled out and left.

Then we had a guy come and drill with a jet,he drilled awhile and said he was down 7 M.and a lot of water, To make the suction 7M long. and said the bill would be 1500 when he was finished,I payed him then,they bought some whiskey and beer and got drunk and left,when I checked the hole it was a little less than 4M did have water,but we can't use it.all runoff from cesspools.

Years ago ,my father in law drilled 500 m and came up dry,there is nothing down there but clay. 4 KM up the road they have a deep well and get water good enough to drink,altho I wouldn't drink it. So just kinda depends where you are.