Drinking Water In The Kitchen

[Greenside]

We use (and are happy with) big bottles of water which fit on our water cooler and get delivered for about 15 baht apiece. Our new kitchen doesn't really have a practical place to put one of these which we usually keep in a cradle device for pouring into a large jug that sits on the counter. It crossed my mind that maybe I could use a small electric pump (or even a manual one) like that fitted to boats or caravans and dispense it from an auxiliary tap at the sink. It looks as if it would be simple to adapt a screw top to take both the water out and let the air in.

I am not keen on using an under sink filtration unit since I'm not confident our well water will be suitable for drinking and most people I know who have them tell me that determining when the elements need replacing is not an exact science and the cost looks like it will exceed our current solution by a long way.

Has anyone tried something like this?

Edited January 27, 2011 by Greenside

[craigt3365]

Sounds like an interesting idea. If you proceed with this, please let us know! I also did not want the expensive RO system that goes under the sink, and we don't have room in our kitchen for a cooler. We just bought a cheap water cooler from Carrefour. It was on sale for 1200B. We keep it right outside the kitchen door, in the Thai kitchen area, and usually it is unplugged. We then keep several liter bottles that we fill every so often inside the kitchen, and a few in the refrig. A pain at times, but an easy solution.

[juehoe]

I newer used the big bottles because their water quality is also doubtful (see http://www.ewg.org/r...y-Investigation)

We used a 5-stage (with UV) under-sink water filter for a while but the 2-weekly maintenance intervals are boring. It is also nor sure that Thai inhabitants will do this when you are not at home...

So we decided to by an air water generator (AWG30 from Thai Pure Water, http://www.thaipurew...eandoffice.html). The water quality and taste is excellent. The machine is not small, of course...

[Greenside]

I newer used the big bottles because their water quality is also doubtful (see http://www.ewg.org/r...y-Investigation)

We used a 5-stage (with UV) under-sink water filter for a while but the 2-weekly maintenance intervals are boring. It is also nor sure that Thai inhabitants will do this when you are not at home...

So we decided to by an air water generator (AWG30 from Thai Pure Water, http://www.thaipurew...eandoffice.html). The water quality and taste is excellent. The machine is not small, of course...

Wow! Not small refers to the price and running cost too - their claim that it's cheaper than bottled water must compare it to buying Evian in 100cc bottles or something. I'd love to see the figures.

I've got to say that the water we have delivered (Phubin in Chiang Mai, 053 574 948) seems to be excellent - good taste and no ill effects after a couple of years, same day delivery and 15 baht for 25 litres. I'm kind of a believer in the principle of "don't get everything too clean at the expense of lulling your natural immunities into a false sense of security" and am unsurprised at the bottled water report you quoted, having been in the marketing business in a previous life. It's pretty much just ultra lucrative hype. What an amazing feat: get folks to buy plain water that's more expensive than gas (petrol, that is) despite the expensive and complex technology of getting it from the miles below the ocean floor, refining it and delivering it around the world with a safety critical infrastructure to maintain. You couldn't make this stuff up!

I'm going to see what the differences between standard aquarium type pumps and a food grade ones (if there is a difference beyond the quality of the plastic piping) and take it from there.

In the meantime here's a supplier we passed on...

"...and you've met Dr Somchai who heads up the purification and hygiene division

as well as the labelling department." Thailand, 2009

More silly (but true) stuff here

Edited January 29, 2011 by Greenside

[Naam]

So we decided to by an air water generator (AWG30 from Thai Pure Water, http://www.thaipurew...eandoffice.html). The water quality and taste is excellent. The machine is not small, of course...

i always doubted that people like you exist. no more doubts now

[Greenside]

Juehoe, given the lengths to which you have gone to keep your home drinking water supply as uncontaminated as possible, how do you cope when you are out? After all, ice will be made from bulk supplied bottled water (or worse) and cooking done with it in many cases too.

We wash the dishes, boil rice and cook (well, steam) vegetables in (Chiang Mai) tap water which doesn't seem to have done us any harm over a 5 year period. Left to myself I'd probably always use fresh water for the rice and pasta but my wife reverts to the tap if she's cooking so at least 50% of the time that's what we get.

[doglover]

Juehoe, given the lengths to which you have gone to keep your home drinking water supply as uncontaminated as possible, how do you cope when you are out? After all, ice will be made from bulk supplied bottled water (or worse) and cooking done with it in many cases too.

We wash the dishes, boil rice and cook (well, steam) vegetables in (Chiang Mai) tap water which doesn't seem to have done us any harm over a 5 year period. Left to myself I'd probably always use fresh water for the rice and pasta but my wife reverts to the tap if she's cooking so at least 50% of the time that's what we get.

Well.... I side with Juehoe (another one out of the closet Naam ). I think it is fairly obvious that chemicals and drugs are turning up in water sources. So your bottled drinking water will have a large variety of contaminants with the basic filtering performed in Thailand (and abroad). Some people will be out of their house drinking iced tea all day and eating from restaurants and there will be others who spend the majority of their time in the home or yard. I agree that the chronic ice tea drinkers and primarily restaurant eaters might as well not bother with home filtration. However it makes alot of sense (to me) for the usual people who drink and eat mostly from the home . And I don't see why it has to become obsessive. When one is out and about he could simply bring water with him (why pay 10 baht for a tiny bottle from a mini-mart that just piles up more garbage anyway?). And when he does pop in for an iced tea and meal at a restaurant he can know that the majority of his water intake is pure so he is doing alot better than most. Also I am not sure where you live but up here in Issan the water trucks are pickups with no canopy. The sun beats down on those low grade plastic bottles all day releasing contanimants from the plastic into the water. I realize it is mostly morning delivery and as long they are selling out daily it won't be much of an issue. The only way I can see that these contaminants could be removed would be Juehoes contraption or distillation. But anyway, you're opening post was not a request for the way to attain the purest water possible...

Some thoughts I have about your desired setup. If you have an extra cap for your bottled water laying around you could drill an appropriately sized hole through the center and pull a hose through this, maybe with a grommet if you wanted to get real professional. Then you will have a seal on your bottle under your counter in case a cockroach finds himself thirsty. A little aquarium pump as you mentioned would work fine but it would lose it's prime every time you change bottles. I wonder if a mini check valve could be installed at the end of the hose that sits in the bottle? Stop you from losing prime. A slender gooseneck faucet like those used with under counter RO water filtration units would look and act the part. Better yet if you can find something with a valve that can be left open upon releasing it. If you purchased a set of stainless steel holesaws and drilled out a hole in the sink edge to fit the faucet into your sink permanently it would look grand. I would just leave the tap open permanently and install a switch of some sort to turn the pump on an off electrically. A toggle switch would look the part. Just make sure you have your using an electrical circuit with the proper protection for electricution. Actually this is still a little mickey mouse....

Much better if you keep all the electrical under the counter and install a pressure switch and then you can open and close from the tap.

[Retired2]

I have this type system. Three years ago, I had a friend from the USA, buy and send a Shurflo pump.

Shurflo is a 12 volt pump, used primarily in recreational vehicles and motorhomes in the US.

It cost about 75 dollars, US.

Next to it (under the sink) is a 10 amp 12 volt transformer.

We use the large bottles of water to pump out of........ with a separate faucet on top of the counter.

I was never able to find a similar pump in Thailand, although I looked.

The system works very, VERY well.

[Greenside]

I have this type system. Three years ago, I had a friend from the USA, buy and send a Shurflo pump.

Shurflo is a 12 volt pump, used primarily in recreational vehicles and motorhomes in the US.

It cost about 75 dollars, US.

Next to it (under the sink) is a 10 amp 12 volt transformer.

We use the large bottles of water to pump out of........ with a separate faucet on top of the counter.

I was never able to find a similar pump in Thailand, although I looked.

The system works very, VERY well.

That's precisely what I have in mind - it's good to know it works as well as it should. Thanks for the picture.

It does seem to me that this could be something that many people would buy if offered as a simple DIY package with, as Doglover says, an attractive auxiliary tap to fix through the counter. I have had both small manual and electric pumps on a boat and both served their purpose well.

Doglover, I think everyone would agree with the principle of minimising consumption of water with contaminants - it's just that the Scare Report asserting that almost nothing is safe, coupled with the appallingly high cost of buying and running that machine smack a bit of a snake oil setup. I had a brother in law who swore to me that our drinking water in the UK wasn't safe and spent hours trying to get me to install a "trial" filter system that Amway or some similar setup was promising would make his fortune. That was about 20 years ago if I recall and no-one I ever knew has keeled over from drinking it.

They say our Chiang Mai tap water is OK to drink but that's a step further than I'm prepared to go at the moment. Big bottles of Dringing Water are fine for me, thanks.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Greenside

[doglover]

"I think everyone would agree with the principle of minimising consumption of water with contaminants - it's just that the Scare Report asserting that almost nothing is safe, coupled with the appallingly high cost of buying and running that machine smack a bit of a snake oil setup."

....Guess I should have read the report. I hear ya..... And Naam's comment did give me a good laugh.

Retired 2 that is a nice little setup. Is there a check valve of some sort on the end of that hose that sits it the water jug? Or is the pump just capable of sucking a little air each time the bottle is changed?

[Retired2]

Listing a few features of the pump, probably would have been helpful.

The pump is self priming. It usually takes about 3 seconds to prime, after changing tanks.

We have an attractive tap or faucet on the sink top...... about 12 inches from the regular water faucet.

The pump operates on a pressure switch. Turn the tap on - the pump goes on...... the pump goes off

when you turn the tap off.

It pumps a surprising amount of water in a very short time.

[craigt3365]

Listing a few features of the pump, probably would have been helpful.

The pump is self priming. It usually takes about 3 seconds to prime, after changing tanks.

We have an attractive tap or faucet on the sink top...... about 12 inches from the regular water faucet.

The pump operates on a pressure switch. Turn the tap on - the pump goes on...... the pump goes off

when you turn the tap off.

It pumps a surprising amount of water in a very short time.

And as you say, they are used in RVs. My father was a full timer for 8 years. He had one of these connected to his large water tank under the bed and it worked great. Never had a problem. Used it for showers, dishes, etc. Very reliable.

[xtr3mx7]

We bought the stiebel water filters from HomePro last year and we're happy with it. The tap water before had a strange taste and now with the stiebel filter, we no more have to go a buy big bottle of water or refill them.

Edit: Got the brand name wrong, corrected now

Edited February 4, 2011 by xtr3mx7

[MisterMan]

Great topic as I am thinking of getting a water filter.

It should be mentioned here that those large bottles of water are devoid of any minerals.

I buy Minere now and would like to stop contributing to all the wastefulness of plastic..

I have a good source of well water that my landlady says she drinks as her mother does too. But I would like a filter ..and would like to know what other options people use.

Will look into the stiebel

[katabeachbum]

Listing a few features of the pump, probably would have been helpful.

The pump is self priming. It usually takes about 3 seconds to prime, after changing tanks.

We have an attractive tap or faucet on the sink top...... about 12 inches from the regular water faucet.

The pump operates on a pressure switch. Turn the tap on - the pump goes on...... the pump goes off

when you turn the tap off.

It pumps a surprising amount of water in a very short time.

This Shureflo pump or similar is available in most marinas and chandlery stores. Would have be even simpler to use as a 220V AC but havent seen any around

I assume this set up would work just fine with a fridge/cold water/icemaker as well