Water Problems In Chalong - No Tap Water And Dirty Tap Water

[Valentine]

I have enquired of the (goverment) re. a bore hole told not possible here on Phuket! all you people with bore holes, are they bore holes or wells?

If you do a shallow well usually dug by hand with concrete rings put in place then it seems anyone can do that. If you do a deep well (say 40 to 70m) the operator will include in his price permission form the relevant authority & I believe a meter is put in place whereby you pay for the water.

[LivinLOS]

failed to give me an geological reason why to drill at certain spot - they used 2 metal sticks to find the water... I suppose those had to be great ones, as they were imported from all the way from France.

I declined the offer.

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also.

I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

[katabeachbum]

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also.

I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

I'd call dowsing as homeopathy science Maybe the rods have the same capability of remembering things as the water does..

No scientific base at all. The result is pure luck (or where we live, there is no need for luck). Down there are no underground rivers. There is soil which contains certain amount of water. When doing an deep hole, the water can be collected to the hole.

If you are able to 'read' the environment, it's possible to find certain areas which have more water than others. This reading includes primary the shape of the ground and where to find different kind of plants. If there is a plant which needs a lots of water (big leave with no wax on) and have shallow roots, it's likely that there is a water available withing few meters.

-oilinki

The government lisence for a deep well, is to collect water between 30 and 120 meters. The 6 inch pipe is therefor solid upper 30 meters, and then perforated all the way down. Most well drillers provide government lisence, pipeinstallation, pump, government meter installed. Surat Badaal used to be a teacher in geology, and now uses his knowledge to find deep well water in Phuket. Located in Rawai, phone 0897293318, 0819788847.

Replacing the pump 50-120 meters down there isnt great fun, so make sure quote includes Franklin or similar stainless steel high quality pump, with a good controlpanel

And having spendt all this money on watersupply to my properties, was even close to buy a watertruck at a million baht some years back, my g-d I envy OPs public watersupply even if it looks dirty or pressure is low on occasions. So do more than 20 million thais. 40k to have it stored, treated and drinkable.

Edited July 13, 2010 by katabeachbum

[Thunderbird4ever]

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also. I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

Now thats interesting. I have considered I wanna try dowsing. Do you know some more about how this is actually working?

Before buying the metal rods, do you know if copper are preferred over welding rods? I would like to use what gives you the best chance of finding water. I really want to solve this problem now once and forever.

I know there are various types of dowsing equipment, so when making my own, do you think the Y-shaped dowser or the two separate L-shaped dowsers are the best when searching?

[ilyelol]

I agree with HDRIDER. Pay up and get your own filter. Sorted.

Seriously, he has 2 kids and he is nitpicking the public water system...

if i had any problem with my water, i would go buy a filter the same exact day even if my kid can go without a shower for 2days.

But then again, people still have kids when they cant afford to provide for them... sigh

I doubt getting even a water tank for rain water would be more than a couple thousand baht? It sure is good enough to shower.. hel_l my grandfather in canada showered with rain water for the past 35 years

Edited July 14, 2010 by ilyelol

[keestha]

Prices quoted for making a deep well (roughly 170.000 Baht) are shocking to me. But maybe it varies where you live. I am in Khao Lak (Phangnga), at Bang Niang Beach, which is a low laying coastal plain with a very high ground water level. In 2000 I had a deep well installed, the cost was 45.000 Baht, and the deal was they would keep on drilling till they hit rock. In my case,they came to 19 meters,and my neighbour at that time who had made a similar arrangement was lucky enough to get down as far as 45 meters. When I had to replace the pump after 5 years, it set me back only 5.000, which made me think that they could have overcharged me when making the deal to install the well, which included also the pump.

Oh well, in some areas in Phuket it could really be more difficult and costly to make a functioning well. Still, seeing these prices, I would tend to enquire how much the same job would cost elsewhere in Thailand, and maybe end up letting a contractor from say Phangnga or Krabi do the job. It could just be that the foreign presence in Phuket is so heavy, that it is difficult to get some things done at a realistic price.

[stevenl]

I agree with HDRIDER. Pay up and get your own filter. Sorted.

I doubt getting even a water tank for rain water would be more than a couple thousand baht? It sure is good enough to shower.. hel_l my grandfather in canada showered with rain water for the past 35 years

even stronger, we are collecting the rainwster and use it as drinking water. No problems whatsoever

[LivinLOS]

Prices quoted for making a deep well (roughly 170.000 Baht) are shocking to me. But maybe it varies where you live. I am in Khao Lak (Phangnga), at Bang Niang Beach, which is a low laying coastal plain with a very high ground water level. In 2000 I had a deep well installed, the cost was 45.000 Baht, and the deal was they would keep on drilling till they hit rock. In my case,they came to 19 meters,and my neighbour at that time who had made a similar arrangement was lucky enough to get down as far as 45 meters. When I had to replace the pump after 5 years, it set me back only 5.000, which made me think that they could have overcharged me when making the deal to install the well, which included also the pump.

Oh well, in some areas in Phuket it could really be more difficult and costly to make a functioning well. Still, seeing these prices, I would tend to enquire how much the same job would cost elsewhere in Thailand, and maybe end up letting a contractor from say Phangnga or Krabi do the job. It could just be that the foreign presence in Phuket is so heavy, that it is difficult to get some things done at a realistic price.

I was on Koh Tao and Samui last few weeks and the water subject came up (both places having problems) on both islands I was told 170 was cheap and the Koh Tao guy was especially impressed.. I have no idea what they pay but for a bore both thought the 170 price much cheaper than their options.

[keestha]

Still puzzled why it has to be THAT expensive:

The costs are:

1) the pump (roughly 5.000, in my case enough for a 15 room hotel)

2) PVC pipe, which is very cheap

3) labour costs, maybe 3 guys working for 3 days, not more than about 3.000

and 4) use of the drilling machinery, which will be very expensive to buy, but.....does it justify taking way over 100.000 per customer?

I hope somebody with specific technical knowledge will chip in.

[KarenBravo]

It's expensive because the drilling company gives you three trys at water. That 100,000 Bt may have to pay for three very deep holes which will take more than three days to drill.

Also, consider the generator and fuel costs for the drill.

[katabeachbum]

Still puzzled why it has to be THAT expensive:

The costs are:

1) the pump (roughly 5.000, in my case enough for a 15 room hotel)

2) PVC pipe, which is very cheap

3) labour costs, maybe 3 guys working for 3 days, not more than about 3.000

and 4) use of the drilling machinery, which will be very expensive to buy, but.....does it justify taking way over 100.000 per customer?

I hope somebody with specific technical knowledge will chip in.

30k baht for the government lisence and sealed government meter in Phuket. More some places, less some places.

100k for 80 meter drill which takes 6-10 days for 4-5 guys having 1,6 mill baht of equipment. Water guaranteed 20m3 a day for 3 years. In this price I suppose there is a speedincentive for government lisence in 3 days.

40k for Franklin stainless pump delivering 3m3 an hour from 80 meters deep, pipe6' perforated from 30-80 meters, 100m supplypipe1', valves, cable 100m, controlpanel with levelsensor, timers, spike protection, rund dry protection, V/A meters, etc, installationwork. All pipes screwed to each other, not glued.

My reason for going as deep as 80 meters, was Club Meds 5 drills only 100 meters from here being 70 meters deep supplying all water for Club Med, Kata Beach.

I fill up my 45m3 pools with clean, clear water any time of the year in 16 hours, giving pumps a one hour brake halfway, at a cost of 350 baht.

[petercallen]

even stronger, we are collecting the rainwster and use it as drinking water. No problems whatsoever

In the 1950s in Western Australia the Perth metro area was very small and if you lived more than 30 Kms from the city

most people had rain water tanks for drinking and cooking and bores for stock, irrigation etc.

At the end of summer before the winter rains started you would clean the gutters and disconnect the down pipes from

the tanks so the initial rains cleaned the roof and then reconnect them, the water from the tanks was the sweetest i

have ever drunk, lots of rural areas in Australia still rely on rain water for drinking.

Every couple of years when the rains started we would clean out one tank at a time that way we never run out of water,we had 2 tanks.

[Thunderbird4ever]

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also. I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

Just back from Bangkok and water is fine. Never really been a problem with preassure around here except for a few days now and then in the past. This thread is about what can happen on this island. As I told in the start, I am looking for information from the government. Some press release when they have accidents with the filtering and the water is dirty fo rmore than 2 weeks. I know people that got skin rash from this etc.

I still want to take some measurments and get some options for the future. Talked to owner and he seems to be willing to sort it out no matter what the cost will be. I do want to try dowsing. And someone who did it and found water would be of good help.

Livin LOS. Its hard to belive that you found water with this method if you turn silent and cant tell more about how you did it and and if you think this is the best method for Phuket. I mean you post answers to almost anything you can find on this forum so getting silent when asked and people might think the opposite.

[HDRIDER]

HI

You can test your water in the new Homeworks close to central, cant remember the shop name but its downstairs, they have a lot of filters, cost is around 100 B

Sorry 1000 B

Edited July 20, 2010 by HDRIDER

[LivinLOS]

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also. I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

Just back from Bangkok and water is fine. Never really been a problem with preassure around here except for a few days now and then in the past. This thread is about what can happen on this island. As I told in the start, I am looking for information from the government. Some press release when they have accidents with the filtering and the water is dirty fo rmore than 2 weeks. I know people that got skin rash from this etc.

I still want to take some measurments and get some options for the future. Talked to owner and he seems to be willing to sort it out no matter what the cost will be. I do want to try dowsing. And someone who did it and found water would be of good help.

Livin LOS. Its hard to belive that you found water with this method if you turn silent and cant tell more about how you did it and and if you think this is the best method for Phuket. I mean you post answers to almost anything you can find on this forum so getting silent when asked and people might think the opposite.

I dowsed for water in the UK when I did a property development.. Mostly just for curiosity as I saw no reason why it would work. Yet it did and clearly.

When I had my bore put in they came and dowsed the whole area where it was possible for it to go, and settled on 2 or 3 options, we went for one that was convenient due to use of space.

[Thunderbird4ever]

Dowsing is very common and how you find water.. Its done in the west too.. My guys used 2 copper rods tho I have seen it done with 2 welding rods also. I tried it in the west and found an underground watercourse.. It works.

Just back from Bangkok and water is fine. Never really been a problem with preassure around here except for a few days now and then in the past. This thread is about what can happen on this island. As I told in the start, I am looking for information from the government. Some press release when they have accidents with the filtering and the water is dirty fo rmore than 2 weeks. I know people that got skin rash from this etc.

I still want to take some measurments and get some options for the future. Talked to owner and he seems to be willing to sort it out no matter what the cost will be. I do want to try dowsing. And someone who did it and found water would be of good help.

Livin LOS. Its hard to belive that you found water with this method if you turn silent and cant tell more about how you did it and and if you think this is the best method for Phuket. I mean you post answers to almost anything you can find on this forum so getting silent when asked and people might think the opposite.

I dowsed for water in the UK when I did a property development.. Mostly just for curiosity as I saw no reason why it would work. Yet it did and clearly.

When I had my bore put in they came and dowsed the whole area where it was possible for it to go, and settled on 2 or 3 options, we went for one that was convenient due to use of space.

Sure it works. Some people around here also dowsed and found water quickly. As I have understood there are a couple of different dowsers but I am not quite sure about how they work. Which one did you use?

If using theY-shaped one, will you feel that its pointing downwords by itself or how does it indicate there is water below?

I can see the point of an Y-shaped as it will point down to the ground but the L-shaped is a bit mysterious. As I have learned its not so common to use the L-shaped one.

So if using L-shaped ones ( which are easier to make ) how do they indicate that water is found?

[petercallen]

I am just happy to have good water pressure again although I must admit it is a bit smelly but does not appear to have any sediment in it.

I am the same as you but the lady who owns the house opposite you had no water 2 nights ago.

Seems strange to me i thought we where all on the same water supply.

[KarenBravo]

When my deep bore was drilled, a water dowser used two L-shaped pieces of wire to find a location. When the wires crossed, that was the place.

What I don't understand is that the water-table extends all over the land, so, they are looking for water deeper than the water-table. How dowsing works? No idea and science doesn't have an answer either, though, it clearly does work.

[LivinLOS]

Sure it works. Some people around here also dowsed and found water quickly. As I have understood there are a couple of different dowsers but I am not quite sure about how they work. Which one did you use?

If using theY-shaped one, will you feel that its pointing downwords by itself or how does it indicate there is water below?

I can see the point of an Y-shaped as it will point down to the ground but the L-shaped is a bit mysterious. As I have learned its not so common to use the L-shaped one.

So if using L-shaped ones ( which are easier to make ) how do they indicate that water is found?

I used 2 L shaped rods which I think were copper or brass.. Tho the dowser who they belonged to said they were not 'special' and that welding rods were good substitutes..

The rods were held loosely in hand, so they could 'pivot' with low resistance like a compass.. They crossed around water but on one channel they separated pointing outwards in the channels direction. Later we had to dig up the courtyard where this was indicated and there was an old stone culvert / drainage channel exactly where this was strongly indicated.

[wtk]

I had a very low water pressure again on saturday for a few hours and again now.

Anyone know the reason? is this a frequent high season thing? or does someone know about some repairs the water company might be doing?

[Valentine]

I had a very low water pressure again on saturday for a few hours and again now.

Anyone know the reason? is this a frequent high season thing? or does someone know about some repairs the water company might be doing?

I have exactly the same on Saturday & now. It must be pump repairs or something although they did extensive work on pumps a few months ago.

[riley76]

A deep bore is definately out of the question. I will demand some answers and an inspection from the water department. Heading over there on monday and dragging a team back here to inspect it. We are after all paying for this shitty p water so I think they at least owe us that.

Other solutions are welcome

Move over to Nai Harn, Rawai area.

The water coming out of my well now is so clear, I'm pretty sure you could drink it.

thunderbird4ever post-3726569. re Nai harn Rawai well.water, i had a well dug 8 years ago and we had to stop digging as the water was spurting up making digging deeper a no go. The water was and still is clear, but i was the first house and since more and more buildings and more and more wells.[ plus toilets] the level has dropped over the years and about three years ago, I had to import water to my two holding tanks as the levels were and still are low, i am just about sucking up water at present , and once the level get's down it smells, Is there any control on how other dwelling's, shop houses, bar's dispose of effluant . . Mark this there is a problem with water .The water company is a joke they should consider getting a proper pipe line from Phangna, rather than rely on Bang wad dam. and old tin mines. thats a worry!!, which is still not enough , what were all the wter pipe lines. installed around the island for ?? would they have enough to charge it [.fill.] WE have beeen drinking our well water , with just a carbon and sediment fillter ,the whole time, we have lived here. They say the soil filters out the chemicals etc ??? I do have a bio filter. I feel there are so many people useing the water supply and it increases daily . that it can only get worse yes it was.. easy for us having our own well untill!!

A deep bore hole cost's approx 190.000 plus, on phuket . i had one drilled including pump and pipes in Isarn for 26000 . I wait for rain every day in the hope the water suplly will last accross the island for all of us riley 76

[Valentine]

I had a very low water pressure again on saturday for a few hours and again now.

Anyone know the reason? is this a frequent high season thing? or does someone know about some repairs the water company might be doing?

No idea why but I have the same problem as does my neighbour.

[Chainsaw]

It's easy to make your own dowsing rods. Cut a couple of lengths from wire coat hangers, bend them into an 'L' shape, fit the short ends (about 4" long) into the plastic outer sleeves of two biros so that they can swivel freely and away you go. Dowsing does work, don't ask me why though.

I've read of instances where oil and water companies use professional dowsers!

Good Luck!

[wtk]

anyone else no water in chalong again?

got cut off between 3 and 6pm and still no water as of 7.45pm