Urgent Help Needed!

[coalminer]

We are now for the second week in a row without city water and bottled drinking water are getting scarse.

There is absolutely NO way that the situation would improve in a short time (declarations on Cable TV and Radio).

We cannot perform the normal house tasks like bathing, washing the dishes and clothes, cleaning the house, etc. anymore.

But worse is that even laundry shops are closed now too because of the water shortage.

Is there a way to get access to a water supply?

What are the odd's to find water if we let somebody bore a well (groundwater)?

What would it cost?

TIA

[ManilaLover]

Serious ? Wow !

EU-Thai friends of me east of Pattaya have a waterwell drilling equipment, but no idea where you live.

PM me if you need a phone number, at least he can tell you the true prices to avoid being ripped by a local who takes advantage.

[Farma]

There is plenty of advice on the pinned borehole topic in the farming forum. It covers a number of locations and some prices are mentioned.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Boreholes-t81390.html

[aussietravellers]

change to new home temporary, this is my suggestion.

[Tigs]

Where do you live? An important question as your situation sounds quite dire, but have heard nothing on the news yet.

Have you got kids?

A well is cheapish and yes you normally get water.

Can you get in a car/truck and drive to another city to load up with water?

[Payboy]

Cost of diggin a bore-well is usually in the region of 35-75k baht depending on size, depth and location.

[Crossy]

As noted above, we need to know where you are.

You should be able to get water tankered in, the locals should know who to call.

Do you have a tank you can fill?

Task A - Get a tank and pump, get the biggest tank you have space for / can afford.

Task B - Fill said tank from a water tanker.

At least you'll be able to bathe and clean the house.

Task C - Investigate getting a bore.

[coalminer]

As noted above, we need to know where you are.

10 km out of N. Ratchasima in direction Khon Khaen.

But I'm not the only one affected outside of N. Ratchasima.

You should be able to get water tankered in, the locals should know who to call.

Yes, we can call the "thetsabaan" and they will bring about 1000 liter of city water for 200 Baht.

Limit: once every 2 weeks for normal households.

Do you have a tank you can fill?

Yes, a 1,000 liter tank.

A bigger tank makes no sese as 1,000 liter of city water is the maximum they deliver now.

But as the draught keeps on, this limit can as well drop down very soon.

Task A - Get a tank and pump, get the biggest tank you have space for / can afford.

Task B - Fill said tank from a water tanker.

At least you'll be able to bathe and clean the house.

No. Answerred in the sentence above.

Task C - Investigate getting a bore.

Thats what I try to do with this thread.

Thanks

[coalminer]

Where do you live? An important question as your situation sounds quite dire, but have heard nothing on the news yet.

Have you got kids?

Yes.

And pets as well.

Relocating as suggested by one poster is not an option for me as my kid need to go to school and we have some social commitments to fulfill here.

A well is cheapish and yes you normally get water.

35 - 37k Baht is not quite "cheapish"

Although, we could sell some water to the neighbourrs if the water becomes really restricted.

Can you get in a car/truck and drive to another city to load up with water?

No.

[whiterussian]

Thai neighbour here in CM moobaan got borehole for 10,000 yesterday. Took about 2 hours, start to finish, no pump bought yet. Drilled through her concrete patio.

water table 10/15 meters down.

Did notice the Thai borehole boss hesitate when I asked the price, (difficult to judge my net worth when I'm just wearing flip flops and short pants!!) then a friendly Thai neighbour told me the real price...

Edited April 2, 2010 by whiterussian

[Crossy]

I don't know your area so can't help with a bore, but one would suggest that if there was shallow water in your area there would be no issue in the first place

Have you investigated getting water from an alternative tanking company rather than just going to the Thesabaan, 1000L per fortnight is nowhere near enough even for a small family ?

[H2oDunc]

As said above try a private tank delivery company. On Samui we are short on water but I can still get it trucked in by various sellers. 6000 litres costs me 600 baht for filtered water. Never had a problem with it. Have you any rain catchment system ? if not why not. Every time it rains you are wasting valuable water. It is no expensive to do.

[Tigs]

Well I am sure you can get them done for less than 35000. The concrete liners for the well are about 350-500 each and then the man with the machine. The worse the drought gets, the more he will charge. If you continue with no water you will gladly pay 80 000 for a well in two weeks time. As for not being able to drive for water can you get someone else to do it? I would have thought with the Thai spirit for making a quick buck there would be water vendors springing up everywhere (no pun intended). Is bottled water really becoming scarce? Good Luck sounds like it will be a pretty dry Songkran up there.

[Farma]

Back in the middle of 2007 the father in law had a bore drilled. I think its down around 10 or so metres. They lined it with 6" blue plastic pipe. The cost of drilling was 800 Baht with pipe costing 812 Baht. Add onto that a stainless steel tank with 2 pumps, one to draw the water to the tank and another to supply pressure to the house. You could cut down the cost with only the one pump drawing water and using trickle feed from the tank.

That system has worked very well since then with only 2 hiccups. The pump needed bleeding once and another time a lizard died in the bore tainting the water.

[coalminer]

I don't know your area so can't help with a bore, but one would suggest that if there was shallow water in your area there would be no issue in the first place

This is the worst draught I have seen since I live in Thailand (nearly a decade).

Many rivers, like the one at the BIG-C supermarket are completely dried up.

Normaly, the river is used to pump water up in the trucks and then spray the plants on the roadside.

Have you investigated getting water from an alternative tanking company rather than just going to the Thesabaan, 1000L per fortnight is nowhere near enough even for a small family ?

No, that's why I'm asking others in my situation what to do?

BTW, the 1,000L are limited to ONCE per 2 WEEKS.

[coalminer]

As said above try a private tank delivery company. On Samui we are short on water but I can still get it trucked in by various sellers. 6000 litres costs me 600 baht for filtered water. Never had a problem with it.

There must be some private companies who are selling (city) water in big quantities.

Only, I haven't needed one before and now that I need one I don't know of any.

Have you any rain catchment system ? if not why not. Every time it rains you are wasting valuable water. It is no expensive to do.

A few years ago, I launched a thread about filtering systems for producing drinking water out of city water.

I have installed the filtering system and I am using it for about 5 years now with complete satisfaction.

I asked in that thread if collecting the rain water would be a benefit and many posters told me NOT to do it.

But to answer your question, in my area the rainfall during the year is pretty low and in the dry season even worse.

So, collecting the rain water would be no solution to the present problem as there is no rain and we expect no rain either.

[coalminer]

Back in the middle of 2007 the father in law had a bore drilled. I think its down around 10 or so metres. They lined it with 6" blue plastic pipe. The cost of drilling was 800 Baht with pipe costing 812 Baht. Add onto that a stainless steel tank with 2 pumps, one to draw the water to the tank and another to supply pressure to the house. You could cut down the cost with only the one pump drawing water and using trickle feed from the tank.

That system has worked very well since then with only 2 hiccups. The pump needed bleeding once and another time a lizard died in the bore tainting the water.

I have already a 1,000L tank and a pump system to supply the pressure in the house.

Even when we have water from the city, the pressure of the water rarely is enough to enable the pressure switch of the water heater. A tank and a pump system are indispensable if I want to have hot water.

Was the well drilled in Korat?

[Tigs]

Coalminer

I am a bit confused. Whilst I understand that many people come on here to ask advice on a wide variety of things, your situation is turning in to an emergency. There is no time for pontificating from TV members from the four corners of Thailand offering solutions. You know that you need lots of water. You have lived there a decade. If you are married to a Thai woman then get her to help, but get on the phone and find out where the water suppliers are. Drive into every industrial set up or supermarket in the area, and ask the managers where they are getting water from.Get your 1000 lt tank filled asap and tell the driver until further notice come back every 4 days and you will pay him double the amount for your water. Whilst others are fighting for water, you will be ok, and the problem of others is not your concern, you just need to secure water for your wife and child. This place is not the best medium upon which to get an answer for time critical problems or emergencies. Good Luck!

[Farma]

snip

Was the well drilled in Korat?

It is a few provinces over from you. The guy came with a drill on the back of a truck. It only took a few hours to get it dug. The house was outside the town water supply system.

In the meantime I'd look at taking Tigs advice and get your tank filled followed by asking around the neighbourhood for the best price to have a borehole dug. You have the tank already so it won't cost all that much to get bore water.

[Lite Beer]

We have a 50 meter deep bore in Khon Kaen. Cost 18,000 Baht including the pump.

Have had non stop water for 3 years. No problem.

[Tigs]

We have a 50 meter deep bore in Khon Kaen. Cost 18,000 Baht including the pump.

Have had non stop water for 3 years. No problem.

Christ mate! That's so deep the water should come out hot

The hole probably did not cost you much, but a pump to handle that (a suck beyond 30 M) would be about 13 K

Coalminer, it is a sound point actually that there is a big difference in a bore hole and a well in terms of price. I have a well that is 1M diameter (only for emergencies in case mains is off for any reason. 15m deep and water starting at 4m at the moment. Cost me 20K without a pump!. I like the idea of a 50 M borehole though, it might run out of water in about 4000 years

[coalminer]

Coalminer

I am a bit confused. Whilst I understand that many people come on here to ask advice on a wide variety of things, your situation is turning in to an emergency. There is no time for pontificating from TV members from the four corners of Thailand offering solutions. You know that you need lots of water. You have lived there a decade. If you are married to a Thai woman then get her to help, but get on the phone and find out where the water suppliers are. Drive into every industrial set up or supermarket in the area, and ask the managers where they are getting water from.Get your 1000 lt tank filled asap and tell the driver until further notice come back every 4 days and you will pay him double the amount for your water. Whilst others are fighting for water, you will be ok, and the problem of others is not your concern, you just need to secure water for your wife and child. This place is not the best medium upon which to get an answer for time critical problems or emergencies. Good Luck!

Have just received 500 Liter of "free" water from a truck from the local town (the same red trucks which are used to spray the plants at the roadside).

The truck has been giving water to every house.

Houses which had no means to collect a lot water did get only as much water as they could stock.

That should be enough to get a good shower and do the most necessary things.

The driver has promessed to come back with water every day as long as the city water is not available.

Will start looking tomorrow for water supply in big quantities (1,000 L) and for some prices for a "borehole".

[Tigs]

Coalminer

I am a bit confused. Whilst I understand that many people come on here to ask advice on a wide variety of things, your situation is turning in to an emergency. There is no time for pontificating from TV members from the four corners of Thailand offering solutions. You know that you need lots of water. You have lived there a decade. If you are married to a Thai woman then get her to help, but get on the phone and find out where the water suppliers are. Drive into every industrial set up or supermarket in the area, and ask the managers where they are getting water from.Get your 1000 lt tank filled asap and tell the driver until further notice come back every 4 days and you will pay him double the amount for your water. Whilst others are fighting for water, you will be ok, and the problem of others is not your concern, you just need to secure water for your wife and child. This place is not the best medium upon which to get an answer for time critical problems or emergencies. Good Luck!

Have just received 500 Liter of "free" water from a truck from the local town (the same red trucks which are used to spray the plants at the roadside).

The truck has been giving water to every house.

Houses which had no means to collect a lot water did get only as much water as they could stock.

That should be enough to get a good shower and do the most necessary things.

The driver has promessed to come back with water every day as long as the city water is not available.

Will start looking tomorrow for water supply in big quantities (1,000 L) and for some prices for a "borehole".

Great news. Now get the drinking stocks sorted.

I had the misfortune to be working in Oman when there was a Hurricane a few years ago. It caused utter devastation. No water nothing! After a few days in the hotel it was becoming a survival situation (nothing could move outside). The toilets could not be flushed, so after two days (with no aircon/power) the smell in the hotel corridors was outrageous. People were selling bottled water for $10 us a small bottle (they were rounded up and put in jail). The only thing to drink was in the minibar! On day 4 I got a call, the airbase was open and I could go back to my consulting job. Before going to work the only thing I was able to have a shave with was a can of sprite!! Next time I will put containers on the balcony to collect the rainwater!

Edited April 2, 2010 by Tigs