Low Water Pressure From The Street

[ReThai]

We've just moved into a new building and we're having to pay for water to be delivered - because, as our neighbors tell us and do, they need to wake up at 2-3am to turn on their water pump since that's the only time there's pressure...

waking up at 2am is something i don't really want to make a habit out of, there's some pressure from the street, but not enough for the pump to stay on and pump water up to our tank on the roof... is there anyway on increasing the pressure, or using some kind of valve to change the flow rate required - like creating a constraint so a lower water pressure is required for the pump to stay on...

anyone else tackled this before? i'm sure were not the only people with poor city water pressures.

thanks

[trogers]

New building built without an underground water tank that can hold a day's supply of water?

If you have such a tank, the pump can be set to auto to send water up to the roof tank should water level up there falls below a preset level. And the public supply pipe flows to underground tank 24/7 but with a float valve switch. So everyone can wake up later.

[ReThai]

hrmmmm there probably is an underground tank, i know we have 2 pumps, a pump on the roof and a pump downstairs. i assume the roof pump is pumping water into the tank from the underground and the downstairs pump is pumping from the street into the underground tank...

(just assumptions, we do have 2 pumps) i'll find out from our fixer if that's how it's setup.

but from that assumption, we're unable to fill the underground tank, not enough water / pressure to get it from the street into and under the building...

i'll find out more.

[longball53098]

My guess is that the city water flows to the tank underground(if there is one) first and then the pump pushes it to the roof tank and that pump feeds the house pipes. So if the city water flow rate is poor the ground tank will not fill and then the pump cannot fill the roof tank.

It would be highly unlikely that a pump(downstairs) is pumping directly from the main line. And the upstairs pump would not be sucking the water up to the roof tank as this is quite a strain for a pump

[trogers]

hrmmmm there probably is an underground tank, i know we have 2 pumps, a pump on the roof and a pump downstairs. i assume the roof pump is pumping water into the tank from the underground and the downstairs pump is pumping from the street into the underground tank...

(just assumptions, we do have 2 pumps) i'll find out from our fixer if that's how it's setup.

but from that assumption, we're unable to fill the underground tank, not enough water / pressure to get it from the street into and under the building...

i'll find out more.

The pump on the roof is pressurizing water into the building from the roof tank.

The pump on the ground sends water up from the underground tank to the roof tank.

Check the level of water in your underground tank to see if public water supply is sufficient to fill it daily, or in 2 days if the tank size is large.

Placing a pump into the main pipe from the public line may result in extracting a mixture of water and air, but your meter will still register all-water passage and billed accordingly. If the public supply is insufficient to meet the demand of your neighbourhood, its time to make a collective petition to the authorities and publicise the issue to get butts moving.

[ReThai]

ok not sure about the underground tank yet, but when we push the button for the pump, the meter moves a little then nothing, pump sucks air and we still have no water pumping in.

the meter has registered almost nothing, does the meter register water going into the tank, or after we pump from the tank...

the way the thai guy who's dealing with all this is doing it now, is he's turning the pump on and watching the meeter, the meeter does little to nothing and he blames the external water supply...

not sure if he's trying to use the pump to fill the underground tank or trying to pump from the tank to the roof. whichever it is, when he pumps, the meter moves a bit and stops, and we get nothing.

[trogers]

ok not sure about the underground tank yet, but when we push the button for the pump, the meter moves a little then nothing, pump sucks air and we still have no water pumping in.

the meter has registered almost nothing, does the meter register water going into the tank, or after we pump from the tank...

the way the thai guy who's dealing with all this is doing it now, is he's turning the pump on and watching the meeter, the meeter does little to nothing and he blames the external water supply...

not sure if he's trying to use the pump to fill the underground tank or trying to pump from the tank to the roof. whichever it is, when he pumps, the meter moves a bit and stops, and we get nothing.

Is this a 2/3 storey house? If so, the pump on the ground may be pumping directly from the public line and there is no underground tank.

If it is just sucking air, the water meter will not turn. But if it is a mixture of air and water (slush), the meter will turn. So probably some people up the line is pumping hard and leave only air down the line at this time of the night.

[longball53098]

If this system is pumping directly from the city meter it needs to be changed. The city water should flow in to a tank(downstairs) and the pump should be between this tank and the roof tank. This method will allow for better control and use of the downstairs pump and it will only run when it is needed to fill the upstairs tank. The downstairs tank can fill when the city supply is good and no sucking on a dry pipe. A manual control of the downstairs pump may be needed to prevent this pump operating if the tank(downstairs) runs dry. In this case buying water may be necessary unless the downstairs tank is large enough to last for several days use without city water.

[ReThai]

ok not sure about the underground tank yet, but when we push the button for the pump, the meter moves a little then nothing, pump sucks air and we still have no water pumping in.

the meter has registered almost nothing, does the meter register water going into the tank, or after we pump from the tank...

the way the thai guy who's dealing with all this is doing it now, is he's turning the pump on and watching the meeter, the meeter does little to nothing and he blames the external water supply...

not sure if he's trying to use the pump to fill the underground tank or trying to pump from the tank to the roof. whichever it is, when he pumps, the meter moves a bit and stops, and we get nothing.

Is this a 2/3 storey house? If so, the pump on the ground may be pumping directly from the public line and there is no underground tank.

If it is just sucking air, the water meter will not turn. But if it is a mixture of air and water (slush), the meter will turn. So probably some people up the line is pumping hard and leave only air down the line at this time of the night.

3 floor shophouse (its our new office)...

there could be an underground tank, will try to find out this week, been away over the weekend