Looking For Advice On Water Tank/pump/filter System For New House

[tuffy]

I am hoping to get some advice on how to plumb my water system for the best results.

Basically the community we are building in has well water, which talking to the neighbors is not to clean and not very reliable.

So what my idea is right now is to have an 1800 Liter underground tank which is filled purely by the pressure from the main water line of the community.

I would like to be able to filter this water before it goes into the tank and then have a pump to feed the house solely from the tank.

The filter system doesn't necessarily have to produce drinking quality water, just filter for debris and high mineral content etc.

My main questions are what do I need to install, such as a pressure tank etc., that will give me steady water pressure so I don't see the constant fluctuation of pressure and the pump kicks on and off at the tap.

Also what pumps are the best and worst to use?

What exactly is a pressure tank and how big does it need to be?

Does this make sense to filter the water before it goes into the storage tank or would it be better to filter it as it comes out, I am thinking that I wouldn't be able to get the volume needed if I am pulling it through a filter between the tank and the house?

What filter systems are recommended? I see a lot of systems for sale around the area....which are recommended and also which to stay away from?

I appreciate your comments and advice.

[Kwasaki]

I hate plumbing maybe a plumber guy will come on to help you better, you are covering a lot of different ways of doing something relatively simple to do when installing at the building stage.

I guess I would look at neighbours systems and install something that will suit your situation.

The underground ones you mention I believe are usually constructed in concrete.

The water to us comes from local government supply which is reasonably clean, so no filter has been installed for incoming, I would use a UV one if it was.

Water supply is mostly always turned off at 10pm until 5am.

That's why we have an Hitachi pump no particular reason for that but it has given no trouble and can pump up to a three storey building height.

The storage tank is external 1500 ltr with pretty patterns on it.

There's a check valve in place.

We have a two cylinder filter jobby in the kitchen for drinking water and cooking.

As for a pressure tank I thought they were the ones that are up very high on a supporting structure.

[luudee]

How big is your house ? How many people will shower/use water at the same time ?

I have a large house and 3 bathrooms which may be used at the same time, as well as,

my maid may be washing dishes and the washing machine might be running ....

So I chose a 1.5 HP Groundfoss Pump and a 200 liter pressure tank. I tried smaller ones

but that just causes the pump to oscillate between on and off. If it's just you and your spouse

sharing one bathroom, you may be better off with one of the compact units from your local

hardware store - motor, pressure tank, all integrated in one unit ...

I too have a well, from which I fill two huge water tanks. Since you have a well, your water

will most likely have high iron content. stay away from the "stainless steel" filters, the

stainless steel you get in thailand is 100% crap. My first two storage tanks (above

ground) where stainless steel and rusted through within 6 months. The Thais would not

honer the 1 year warranty .... The stainless steel filter, rusted through after a year ...

Now I use plastic storage tanks and a fiberglass filter. Make sure the filter can process

the amount of water you will consume without having it to clean every week or months.

Mine is large enough that I have to deal with it only once every 3-6 months ...

In the kitchen we have a dedicated drinking water filter ....

Good Luck,

luudee

Edited February 14, 2013 by luudee

[tuffy]

How big is your house ? How many people will shower/use water at the same time ?

I have a large house and 3 bathrooms which may be used at the same time, as well as,

my maid may be washing dishes and the washing machine might be running ....

So I chose a 1.5 HP Groundfoss Pump and a 200 liter pressure tank. I tried smaller ones

but that just causes the pump to oscillate between on and off. If it's just you and your spouse

sharing one bathroom, you may be better off with one of the compact units from your local

hardware store - motor, pressure tank, all integrated in one unit ...

I too have a well, from which I fill two huge water tanks. Since you have a well, your water

will most likely have high iron content. stay away from the "stainless steel" filters, the

stainless steel you get in thailand is 100% crap. My first two storage tanks (above

ground) where stainless steel and rusted through within 6 months. The Thais would not

honer the 1 year warranty .... The stainless steel filter, rusted through after a year ...

Now I use plastic storage tanks and a fiberglass filter. Make sure the filter can process

the amount of water you will consume without having it to clean every week or months.

Mine is large enough that I have to deal with it only once every 3-6 months ...

In the kitchen we have a dedicated drinking water filter ....

Good Luck,

luudee

Luudee,

Are your plastic storage tanks above ground?

Could you explain a bit more on the fiberglass filter that you use? I am not familiar with those but may be the way to go for me.

My house will have 3 baths, but with just me and the wife and the maid, i wouldn't think that there would be more than 2 showers going at a time other than once in a great while.

I was hoping to get by with a all in one sytem including pressure tank, but on your suggestion i will look into a bigger pressure tank as I definitely don't want to deal with the oscillatng situation.

The initial plan was to bury a plastic tank but I have recieved alot of commments sugeesting not to do that for cleaning issues, leaks etc.

What's your take on the underground tanks?

[kamalabob2]

Every Province in Thailand has at least one, if not more than one, water pump specialist who can design, install and maintain your whole house water filtration, storage and economical pumping to maintain a suitable PSI on on any floor. Often the same "Pump Shop" will be the same firm that installed and maintains the "village or community" water supply, not to mention Private Hospitals, schools and local industry. You may find you will save money, get expert advise and can obtain quality water pumps, pressure tanks, water purification solutions and water storage tanks for far less than untrained chain store clerks will attempt to foist on you for the sake of a commission. In Buriram at least one shop will send experienced staff to your home and then draw up a possible water plan for you to consider PRIOR to any purchase. The same firm stocks THOUSANDS of name brand water pumps, water tanks with up to a 20 year guarantee from REAL water tank firms, and the sort of shop local Universities rely on for clean water on campus including student housing. Think about where the most influential Thai Business leaders in your community obtain clean dependable water for their homes or businesses. Check out the web site for the various grades of stainless steel water storage tanks offered by Diamond Brand. LLDPE water tanks from Diamond Brand come in several "lines" at various price points. Quality water pumps such as Grundfos, Hitachi, Luckystar or Mitsubishi can be installed as part of a water supply with or without a pressure or booster tank.

"Bigger is Better" certainly comes into play with your water pipes with regards to PSI and longer life of your water pump. Many people are unaware you can pay a minor difference for larger diameter water supply pipe to your home from even Village water supply systems. The cost for the larger diameter pipe and larger water meter is minor and a one time fee which will reap many benefits. If you ask the successful Thai business owners what "pump shop" they hire to install and maintain their personal residence water supply and/or business water supply you will be pointed in the right direction. The attached photos are typical of such a shop which are located in every province.

[luudee]

Luudee,

Are your plastic storage tanks above ground?

Could you explain a bit more on the fiberglass filter that you use? I am not familiar with those but may be the way to go for me.

My house will have 3 baths, but with just me and the wife and the maid, i wouldn't think that there would be more than 2 showers going at a time other than once in a great while.

I was hoping to get by with a all in one sytem including pressure tank, but on your suggestion i will look into a bigger pressure tank as I definitely don't want to deal with the oscillatng situation.

The initial plan was to bury a plastic tank but I have recieved alot of commments sugeesting not to do that for cleaning issues, leaks etc.

What's your take on the underground tanks?

Hi Tuffy,

yeah my tanks are above the ground. That's how we planned it from the very

beginning (put them in an over-sized garage). And am glad since we had to

replace the original stainless steal ones with plastic ....

The small all integrated constant pressure system, I don't thin the oscillating

will be a problem, specially since it's just two of you and the maid. Try the

ready made solutions first, look for a larger system if you look and special

order it.

The Filter is pretty much standard fiberglass. I'll try to find more info for you

in the next few days. I found that most Hardware stores (in Thailand) and/or

Pool supply stores will carry these. They are about 1.5 meters tall, and

40-50 cm in diameter.

Cheers,

luudee

[tuffy]

Thanks Luudee, i appreciate the info.

[Scoop1]

Every Province in Thailand has at least one, if not more than one, water pump specialist who can design, install and maintain your whole house water filtration, storage and economical pumping to maintain a suitable PSI on on any floor. Often the same "Pump Shop" will be the same firm that installed and maintains the "village or community" water supply, not to mention Private Hospitals, schools and local industry. You may find you will save money, get expert advise and can obtain quality water pumps, pressure tanks, water purification solutions and water storage tanks for far less than untrained chain store clerks will attempt to foist on you for the sake of a commission. In Buriram at least one shop will send experienced staff to your home and then draw up a possible water plan for you to consider PRIOR to any purchase. The same firm stocks THOUSANDS of name brand water pumps, water tanks with up to a 20 year guarantee from REAL water tank firms, and the sort of shop local Universities rely on for clean water on campus including student housing. Think about where the most influential Thai Business leaders in your community obtain clean dependable water for their homes or businesses. Check out the web site for the various grades of stainless steel water storage tanks offered by Diamond Brand. LLDPE water tanks from Diamond Brand come in several "lines" at various price points. Quality water pumps such as Grundfos, Hitachi, Luckystar or Mitsubishi can be installed as part of a water supply with or without a pressure or booster tank.

"Bigger is Better" certainly comes into play with your water pipes with regards to PSI and longer life of your water pump. Many people are unaware you can pay a minor difference for larger diameter water supply pipe to your home from even Village water supply systems. The cost for the larger diameter pipe and larger water meter is minor and a one time fee which will reap many benefits. If you ask the successful Thai business owners what "pump shop" they hire to install and maintain their personal residence water supply and/or business water supply you will be pointed in the right direction. The attached photos are typical of such a shop which are located in every province.

Hey all, what is the largest poly tank you can get in Thailand , i cant seem to find anything bigger than 5000 litres

cheers

Scoop

[luudee]

Hi Tuffy,

this is the filter I used:

http://www.pratooautanomati.com/id11.html

If you don't find the filter locally, just give these guys a call.

Make sure you get the ZeoPlus filter material .... they will deliver.

The good thing about these filters, is all the connections are 'union'

style, meaning you can unscrew them all and take the filter out for

easy maintenance.

If you are in the Chonburi area, I'll be happy to show you my setup ...

building 'larger' a constant pressure system is not quite trivial, and

it took me many years to get it right !

luudee

[luudee]

Hey all, what is the largest poly tank you can get in Thailand , i cant seem to find anything bigger than 5000 litres

cheers

Scoop

Scoop,

I haven't seen anything larger either. I use 2x 5000 liter tanks myself ...

Regards,

luudee

[tuffy]

Hi Tuffy,

this is the filter I used:

http://www.pratooaut...i.com/id11.html

If you don't find the filter locally, just give these guys a call.

Make sure you get the ZeoPlus filter material .... they will deliver.

The good thing about these filters, is all the connections are 'union'

style, meaning you can unscrew them all and take the filter out for

easy maintenance.

If you are in the Chonburi area, I'll be happy to show you my setup ...

building 'larger' a constant pressure system is not quite trivial, and

it took me many years to get it right !

luudee

Luudee,

I will take you up on that offer, I would like to see your setup, it might save me a lot of headache in the future. I still have time before i put it in to get it right the first time.

[masuk]

Has anyone come across an in-line water filter for sale? I've used such a thing in Australia quite often, to filter out grit from water coming into my rain water tanks. The inner core filter can be one of many, charcoal for smells, fibre glass for grit.

It's just that the showers in the house here house clog up with particles of charcoal, and a basic, cleanable filter would be fine.

Any place in Chiang Mai I could try?

[kamalabob2]

Most every chain hardware Store and the better independent "pump shops" sell in line water filters. Prices really can vary for not just the filter housing, but any cartridges. A VERY common item in Thailand.

[tuffy]

I have a pretty good Idea on how I am going to build my system now thanks to Ludee and a few others.

I do have one question....I modified the drawing found on this forum (from Crossy i think) to describe my question. Basically if I put the Main water supply to the house through the filter first will there be enough pressure to the house (assuming normal city watre pressure) to use or will the filter reduce the pressure to an unusable pressure? This would be in the case of a power outage where I wouldn't be able to use my pump? See the picture below.

[tuffy]

The main reason I want to do this is to keep all the junk , minerals and little bits out of the house water system...shower heads etc.

[bankruatsteve]

You will need a cut-off valve between your pump and the house if you want to use the "city" water to supply the house. IE; versus the pump. Otherwise, looks good.

And obviously, the valve labeled "Filter, tank,, pump bypass" is not bypassing the filter.

And, what is the purpose of the valve in front of the filter?

[tuffy]

I just modified the original drawing to have the water supply which bypasses the pump go through the filter before going to the house. I am just wondering if the filter will restrict the pressure too much or not.

[masuk]

If there is a storage tank, the filter is no doubt going in line before the tank, and after that the pump will deliver its normal pressure through to the house.

[tuffy]

What about if the power is out and I can't use the pump?

[bankruatsteve]

Depends on the type of filter you have but normally not be a problem as long as the city pressure is adequate otherwise.

[IMHO]

What about if the power is out and I can't use the pump?

Most whole-house filters will indeed drop mains pressure - but how much depends on how good the mains is, and how big, and indeed how clogged up the filter is.

If you're concerned about water pressure during power outages, you may want to add an additional bypass pipe + valve from the inlet to the outlet of the filter, so it can be effectively taken out of circuit if needed.

[tuffy]

Thanks again for the input, the house is getting closer to finished, can't wait to move in!

[masuk]

What about if the power is out and I can't use the pump?

Maybe you need to build in a by-pass such as my previous house had, and work on town pressure until the power returns. In fact we only had two outages in a year, and we almost never used the pump as we had good pressure from the town supply.

The water supply was off more often than the power, and we just used the tank. more than enough for a day or two.