Water Pumps

[CM4Me]

Hi,

We are about to have a small farm cottage built, for which we will need water, obviously, but in this instance non-drinking.

The property does have a long established well, with very clear water all year round (including during this past extremely dry season). This well is about 70m from where the cottage will be.

At the cottage we intend to install the standard Thai Water Filter (usually of metal construction, blue in colour, 40cm dia, 155cm tall, containing 5 different filtering mediums, 1inch piping with a recommended flow rate of 1m3/hr), and a 2000litre holding tank.

The filter and holding tank will be on level 1 (or ground floor) of the cottage, this being about 2m higher than the top of the well.

The bathroom & small kitchen are on level 2.

I believe we will need a pump at the well, and another after the holding tank, and possibly a pressure switch &/or gauge.

As I have know nothing about water pumps any advice / recommendations will be very much appreciated

Many Tks

Kevin

[Artisi]

How far below ground level is the water level in the well?

[CM4Me]

Currently the water level is 1.5 m below ground level. It dropped a further 1 m during the last hot / dry period

[Artisi]

Ideally you need a small self -priming pump at the well pumping to the holding tank and the holding tank should have a level control unit to switch the "well pump" on and off as the level falls and rises in the tank. At the holding tank I would suggest a constant pressure type pump to supply the house, however, the trend in Thailand is to use a "pressure system pump" which come with a tank to maintain pressure and switch the pump on/off as required - I don't think these are the best solution as they are prone to hunt on and off and need to be maintained regularly - see the many links in here of people with this problem. I'm going to Home-Pro in the next day or so and will look at a few options and give you some brand /model numbers.

[CM4Me]

Artisi, Tks for your help. Much appreciated I'll await your further advice Kevin

[Artisi]

Just back from HomePro - nothing much to report, they had a limited selection of pumps and depending on how much you have to spend will decide what you can choose from.

For the well pump they didn't have any self-priming units (other than pressure pumps) but one suggestion is to use a small submersible unit suspended in the well - prices range 3- 5000 Bht - you will still need float control in the tank for stop / start.

As for the house pump my choice is a Hitachi Inverter unit WM -P400GX - problem is the price is over Bht 18 000. I will probably select this unit or something similar from the Grundfos range for the home I will build next year.

You could go for one of the newer type pressure pumps - ranging 3 - 6000 Bht - however, I don't have any experience with these so can't really guide you other than I think they are Ok.

Let me know if I can help further.

Edit- as you are from CM there must be plenty of units to choose from and people experienced in similar installations

Edited November 4, 2010 by Artisi

[lopburi3]

Any small well pump (the normal Mitsubishi yellow type) should be able to pump well as it is very shallow and it can be under cover near the tank/filter/home pump. For home a larger well pump can be used for 35 psi or so home pressure but I would recommend a Grundfos type pump for almost twice the pressure and better shower flows.

The small pump for well should not be more than 3k or so and a larger model for home about 5-6k. Grundfos would be a closer to 12-14k I suspect but has been some time since I checked price.