Water Pump

[dumpling]

The engineers have been working in our moo baan laying new water pipe they have now finished and we have lost all water pressure so I guess I will have to buy a pump.Do any of the thaivisa members have recommendations on what pump to buy where to buy it and how much to spend , many thanks in advance.

[CharlieH]

I would wait 48 hrs before doing anything, the pressure you had before will probably return once the resvoir/tank etc used to feed you/your area has re-charged so to speak.

If it doesnt then there are several options dependant on your situation, are you ground level ? how far from the water inlet to the furthest water take off? what size inlet pipe you have ? and what size pipes are within your property. All these things will effect which is the best pump and particularly what size pump to use.

If you can give a little more info I and I am sure others will have some better information for you.

[dumpling]

I would wait 48 hrs before doing anything, the pressure you had before will probably return once the resvoir/tank etc used to feed you/your area has re-charged so to speak.

If it doesnt then there are several options dependant on your situation, are you ground level ? how far from the water inlet to the furthest water take off? what size inlet pipe you have ? and what size pipes are within your property. All these things will effect which is the best pump and particularly what size pump to use.

If you can give a little more info I and I am sure others will have some better information for you.

First let me say thanks CharlieH for responding so quickly.

It has been a good few days since they finished so I would have thought it would be ok by now but a few more days waiting is not a problem, the water meter is at the front of the house about 15feet from where it enters the property it has standard blue plastic quarter inch pipe ,water pressure downstairs is fine but the second floor bathroom has zero water pressure it just drips out the unfortunate thing is the fact that the water heater is upstairs and now we no longer have hot water!

Hope this helps with the suggestions and again my thanks

[JusMe]

There have been quite a number of posts about pumps in the DIY forum under Real Estate.

Not sure if it helps, but when I moved into my house, for some reason, there was no pump and depended totally on the municipal pressure, which varied from little to none!

I organized buying a 1000 litre tank and pump, so the municipal slowly drips into the tank, and the pump provides my house with good pressured water. (enough that I don't want the shower on full blast!)

[GarryP]

There are a number of threads on this as mentioned. The place I rent has the same problem. Enough pressure downstairs but not enough upstairs. I purchased and installed the latest pump myself after the original one gave up the ghost. Just a small constant pressure pump but works fine throughout the house. I believe it is a Hitachi but I am not at home at the mo' so can't check (I am losing my memory ). I ordered it over the phone from a friend ( wholesale price) and it arrived at my door within the hour. Amazingly, no leaks. Have a look at the Hitachi and Mitsubishi websites as it will give you an idea of the type of pumps available and what you will need for your house such as suction distances and pump distances, etc.

[Crossy]

This will probably be better in DIY, moving it there.

[CharlieH]

As suggested here, I would recommend getting a tank installed if you have the space, let the outside supply run in the tank and then from the tank to the house/pump. That way if they dig up again you have no interuption in supply and it keeps a constant pressure flow from the tank to the pump.

I actually bought my pump from Home Pro, but have also seen them in Tesco and other major stores. It seems the main issue with the type of pump would be warranty etc and Hitachi or Mitsubishi seem to be the most popular. As for size there is usually an information chart available where they sell the pumps which helps you determine which one you need based on distance from pump to tap/shower/bathroom etc.

Hope this helps.:jap:

[Pib]

In my moobaan in western Bangkok the pressure from the line running up the street is around 8 to 10psi. With no pump, 10 psi is OK for downstairs when running sink faucets, commodes, washing machine, etc., but it provides a weak shower and weak lawn water hose spray. Now, with only 10psi the faucets, showers, etc., upstairs have very low output....the shower is basically a drip, drip, drip operation. Pretty much like the OP described his situation.

But we have a pump and storage tank setup to eliminate this low water pressure issue. Our house line feeds from the street line into a 850 liter ground level stainless steel storage tank, which for water usage by 2-3 people can store about two days worth of water to including being able to water a small lawn. The output from the storage tank feeds my Mitsubishi WP-255 pump (the kind of design where the pump motor sets on top of a small 20 liter booster/pressure tank), and then the pump output feeds back into the pipes feeding my house. One way/check valves are placed at certain points in this piping system to prevent backflow into the line feeding the storage tank or to allow pressure at the 10psi feed line pressure to continue to feed the house if the pump is not working due to an electric outage, pump broke, etc. Anyway, this pump setup provides an average 35 psi pressure to my house...upstairs faucets, showers are strong, lawn water hose is strong, etc...etc...etc. When I say an average of 35 psi I mean the pump kicks on when the pressure drops to 30 psi and kicks off when it reaches 40 psi...for all intended purposes you can not notice any pressure variation unless you watch the stream from a lawn water hose shoot out and notice the distance it will shoot will vary by a few inches every 5-10 seconds as the pump kicks on and off.....basially, just acts/feels like a constant 35 psi pressure. I've attached some thumbnails to help show the two different types of pumps designs I'm talking about. Other pump designs types exist, but it seems the great majority of folks use the motor setting on top of 15-20 liter tank design and other using the liter sized tank design. See the thumbnails below.

I would recommend the pump design that set on top of a small booster tank and one around the 250 watt range...a 300 watt pump may be a little overkill if just a couple people will be using water at once and a 200 water pump should work fine too...but I wouldn't drop below 200 watts for a single family residence. A pump around the 250 watt range seems to be a sweet point for a typical single family residence. The design where the pump does "not" set on top of a small tank will work fine also, but they will run pretty much continuously when using water, even pretty small amounts, since they don't have the 15-20 liter booster tank to help supply water/pressure for small amounts of water when the pump is off. The type that do not come setting on a small booster tank do normally have a very small container about a liter in size to hold just enough water to handle very small volumes of water without kicking the pump on....like maybe filling up a small glass or turning a faucet on for a second. Both design types cost about the same, with the booster tank design usually costing just a little more...well worth the little extra cost.

Summary: I would go with the type of pump that is setting on a small booster/pressure tank and you really should buy storage tank also to ensure any pump design is an getting enough water supply to pump. No storage tank means "any" pump may be starved for enough water, and flat out won't work/overheat/possibly burn up when the main line/street line is not providing any water/lower pressure than the already low pressure. Most of the pumps come with part number that indicate the wattage, like my WP-255 which is a 250 watt model. It supplies steady pressure to my 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 story house just fine. For the 3 years I'm had it, the pump has only had one problem which required replacement of its air charger/balance valve...I changed it myself...cost 800 baht. Almost all of the pump designs come with a 5 year warranty on the "motor only" and 1 to 3 years (usually 1 year) on all other parts.

[transam]

Our water pressure alters day to day so l have a 1000 ltr tank and a pump that doesn't have a pressure vessel attached. It sorts pressure out internally and is great. Slightly more expensive but good. Think around 6000 bht for a 250 watt quality unit for 2 story house.

[GarryP]

Have a look at this thread. Crossy posted a pump/water tank/mains connection diagram which should prove useful.

Forgot to post the link

Edited December 28, 2010 by GarryP