Boreholes

[slapout]

Rule of thumb;

If water source level is 10 meter or less from surface a surface pump should surfice.

Our pumps ( 3 inch) are driven directly by the 5 hp petrol engine, weigh about 10+ kilo

Petrol is more expensive to run than electric but cheaper investment to start with.

We have cement pad at surface and use quick connections between well and pump

we also have check valve so water level stays at surface when pump is shut down, (no need to prime pump, although many are self priming

could not access your photo, hope this info helps

I forget the volume the 3 inch will pump, but its plenty for our needs

Edited July 4, 2016 by slapout

[Gary A]

We are about 50 kilometers south of Loei city. There are some cowboy drillers around and they offer cheap prices. My wife wanted to use one of those guys. They may have been alright but I insisted on using a savvy local guy. He quoted a 6 inch well with good water regardless of the depth for 35,000 baht. He hit strong water at 26 meters but he determined that the water was too hard. He kept going and was satisfied with the water at 50 meters deep. I have a 1HP submersible pump down 36 meters. There is no grid electric there and we use 5,000 watt generator. The 2,500 watt generator just couldn't handle the pump's start surge. After pumping about 8 hours straight, the bore hole showed no sign of weakening. I have tasted the water and it is tasteless. I wanted my wife, who knows EVERYTHING, to have the water tested. She says there are chemicals in the water and it is not safe to drink. I don't believe that and the water has never been tested.

I can't advise on your water but do have a question for you.

I am thinking of irrigating about 6 rai of land for farming purposes and from what I have seen most farmers use a surface pump belt driven by a portable deisel engine. You have a submersed electric pump run by an generator. Can you advise if that is better than the surface pump system.

Thanks for any help

The Thai Wife's relatives brought a large piston pump that was powered with the tak tak. I told them they were wasting their time but since they know everything, I let them work on it for two days. After they gave up, I bought the submersible. Surface pumps are great but the water level in the bore hole must stay very high. I may have gotten by with a dual pipe deep well pump but they are not efficient enough.

[Mr Grumpy]

On ‎01‎/‎09‎/‎2006 at 5:20 PM, geoffphuket said:

Anyone have a rough idea how the cost compares to putting in a well. I'm pretty fed up with my water supply being turned off 12 hours a day. I've only a small garden so a bore hole would make a lot of sense.

The well we had bored in Trang goes 20M and is lined with large circular cement blocks. Cost was 8,000 baht and we get crystal clear (after filtering) water for 10 months of the year. the last 2 months of the dry season are touch and go. Water then passes through RO for drinking. As for nitrites and nitrates would be a good idea to check.

[Cashboy]

I have been reading quite a bit about water bores in my spare time.

 

The farm is in Issan - Udonthani - Kumpawpi

 

From all the information I put together I was planning to dig an 8 metre deep pond on 2 rai of the land.

Buy my own bore drilling machine from the USA and drill my own holes  (use Honda trash pump).

Drill down up to 100 metres

Use 200mm plastic water pipe

Use submersible Grunfos pumps

Test with 3 Kw generator (Honda)

Exchange 3 Kw generator to solar panels that would be built as a roof for farm building/cow shed and could then power the Grundfos submersible pump and then also to batteries.

 

This would be a substancial outlay and has to work successfully to get a return.

The idea would be that if the farm can pump out water up to 16 hours per day (free once incorporating the solar panels) would give the ability to grow a lot more on the land and and even use hydroponics.

The pond could be used for storage of water and fish for eating.

 

Here is the concern before I risk it and maybe some of you can give me the advise:

I noticed that some of the houses in the village had water bore holes that are not used anymore.

They were similarly installed about 18 years ago.

They are not used anymore because there is now government water mains.

I asked how deep the bore holes are and they think that they were 30 metres deep.

However, they said that the "water was not good, plants did not grow in the garden".

 

I have read in this forum that areas of Issan are salty or CA and wondering if that is why the plants didn't grow in the garden.  But what contradicts this is that they also stated that the water was very hard.  

I thought that in the west one has a water softner in a house that is basically passing hard water through salt to make it into soft water.

 

My questions  to you is:

(1)  What is wrong with the water at 20 - 30 metres?

(2)  If I was to sucessfully drill to say 60 metres to 100 metres; will I be possibly reach a level where I would get clean water that will indeed grow fruit and vegetables and not kill fish?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2016 by Cashboy

[slapout]

4 hours ago, Cashboy said:

I have been reading quite a bit about water bores in my spare time.

 

The farm is in Issan - Udonthani - Kumpawpi

 

From all the information I put together I was planning to dig an 8 metre deep pond on 2 rai of the land.

Buy my own bore drilling machine from the USA and drill my own holes  (use Honda trash pump).

Drill down up to 100 metres

Use 200mm plastic water pipe

Use submersible Grunfos pumps

Test with 3 Kw generator (Honda)

Exchange 3 Kw generator to solar panels that would be built as a roof for farm building/cow shed and could then power the Grundfos submersible pump and then also to batteries.

 

This would be a substancial outlay and has to work successfully to get a return.

The idea would be that if the farm can pump out water up to 16 hours per day (free once incorporating the solar panels) would give the ability to grow a lot more on the land and and even use hydroponics.

The pond could be used for storage of water and fish for eating.

 

Here is the concern before I risk it and maybe some of you can give me the advise:

I noticed that some of the houses in the village had water bore holes that are not used anymore.

They were similarly installed about 18 years ago.

They are not used anymore because there is now government water mains.

I asked how deep the bore holes are and they think that they were 30 metres deep.

However, they said that the "water was not good, plants did not grow in the garden".

 

I have read in this forum that areas of Issan are salty or CA and wondering if that is why the plants didn't grow in the garden.  But what contradicts this is that they also stated that the water was very hard.  

I thought that in the west one has a water softner in a house that is basically passing hard water through salt to make it into soft water.

 

My questions  to you is:

(1)  What is wrong with the water at 20 - 30 metres?

(2)  If I was to sucessfully drill to say 60 metres to 100 metres; will I be possibly reach a level where I would get clean water that will indeed grow fruit and vegetables and not kill fish?

 

contact Boksida a tv member and you can get the knowledge of a expert on your questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cashboy]

I am still doing research before I commit myself to buying a water boring machine from the USA and importing it into Thailand.

The machine is about US$7000 and freight to Bangkok is about US$1,000; so looking at nearly 300,000 bt to run off the PTO of a tractor.

 

Someone in the village (Thai) said to the Thai girlfriend that the water is:  "raw, not treated" ; "that water hole makes people ill".  

What am I supposed to make from that?

I believe that the holes were dug no more than 30 metres depth.

I was looking at buying a machine to go to 120 metres depth.

I have read so much about going deep to get clean water but if I am worried that it then has no minerals and nutrients that benefit the vegetation / crops and pond for fish and tehrefore a total waste of money.

I even got in contact with the company to see if I could attach larger drill bits on it so I could use it for making pile holes for rawbar and concreting but they so far say 10"  (255mm) is the widest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thoongfoned]

cashboy:my 2 cents worth. firstly the area you live in (can not spell name town) the wife knows people who contract farm pigs for the same company she works for, they have a bore (must have because of the volume of water needed for x amount of pigs) and the water is good, must be because its one of the first things the company will test before you start the build. company does on going test every few years, got one coming this year. why not just test someones bore hole water near to your land??

we have a bore on the farm. 6inch plastic pipe that goes down 48 metres. drilled 7 years ago. approx 6/7,000 baht  for hole + plus cost of blue pipe. friend has just had a 35m  bore, 4 inch cost 5,000 baht plus blue pipe. it aint expensive to drill the hole.

we run a franklin 1.5hp sub pump, just replaced the first one lasted just short of 7 years, bought another same size (hope this last as long) pump would run for approx 4 hours every day. said pumps pulls up approx 7,000 litres of water every hour. pump cost 15,000 baht. have to add cost of blue pipe only. water sits in the wifes bore at about 8 metres all year round- very high water table here. (udon thani province)

for me a would just get the local contractors in to do said work ie - bore hole/tractor/digger work. machines per hour/day and labor aint that expensive here but buy this and that soon adds up, mantance, theft, workers the list goes on.

just my thoughts..........

[Gary A]

I have posted this once before but maybe it is worth posting again. I insisted on my wife using a local driller who has drilled hundreds of wells around this area. My wife is guilty of trying to save money and finding a better price. I still insisted on the local driller. He promised good water for a price of 35,000 baht regardless of the depth. I don't know how he determined the exact spot but it was about 50 meters from where I wanted. He hit strong water at 26 meters but by tasting the water he decided that the water had too many minerals and rust. He ended up at 49 meters deep. I bought the submersible pump and it is down the 6 inch casing 36 meters. The water is tasteless and the one HP pump cannot pump it dry. I wanted to have the water tested but my wife, who knows everything, insists that the water is not safe to drink. Since we just use the water for irrigation, I just forgot about testing it. I do drink it when I am there. I think it is fine but the Thais don't trust bore holes even though our village water comes from a bore hole and many of the villagers drink it from the tap. At home we drink filtered rain water since she says the village water is not safe to drink. I might add that rain water off the house roof is also no good. She fills the 1,500 liter fiberglass tank from a galvanized steel roof over the outside kitchen. That water goes through 18 liters of activated charcoal then through two small filters and the final filter is ceramic.

[somo]

Been looking into drilling for water here in Chayaphum
The costs seem pretty steady at 40k Baht for the drilling with water guarantee for one year.
That price includes all the piping in the shaft.
I also came across a couple of young bright guys that supply a solar cell system.
6 cells, DC/AC converter and 1hp Franklin pump for 100k
With the drilling total is 140k. Quite a layout but then free water for quite a few years.
Nearer Songkran when the water table will be at its lowest I will probably install this set up.
It can be set up to automatically switch on pump all day then switch off. This combined with a pond means unlimited water at no daily cost or need to even go to the land everyday.
One of the reasons I like this system is that I have been told that it is inadvisable to pump water from the ground straight onto crops as the water needs to be allowed to rest for a while first.
Not sure what this resting period achieves but I think it gets rid of excessive minerals or something.

If anyone has heard of the need to leave the water to rest please let me know. It may just be superstition for all I know.

 

As a matter of interest we have also irrigated 6 rai of bamboo without drilling a well. We set up 3x 3000 litre blue plastic water tanks and have water delivered by truck then pump it 
through the pipes using a simple 5000 Baht portable pump. 6000 litres of water cost 400 Baht and about 10Baht of petrol to pump around the 6 rai so quite economical. We only need to go once/week and it takes just 25 mins to irrigate the lot. We may have to do it more frequently once it gets hotter but for now it has saved our bamboo which in just 3 weeks has been totally rejuvenated.

Edited January 7, 2017 by somo

[Cashboy]

On 1/6/2017 at 3:15 AM, thoongfoned said:

cashboy:my 2 cents worth. firstly the area you live in (can not spell name town) the wife knows people who contract farm pigs for the same company she works for, they have a bore (must have because of the volume of water needed for x amount of pigs) and the water is good, must be because its one of the first things the company will test before you start the build. company does on going test every few years, got one coming this year. why not just test someones bore hole water near to your land??

we have a bore on the farm. 6inch plastic pipe that goes down 48 metres. drilled 7 years ago. approx 6/7,000 baht  for hole + plus cost of blue pipe. friend has just had a 35m  bore, 4 inch cost 5,000 baht plus blue pipe. it aint expensive to drill the hole.

we run a franklin 1.5hp sub pump, just replaced the first one lasted just short of 7 years, bought another same size (hope this last as long) pump would run for approx 4 hours every day. said pumps pulls up approx 7,000 litres of water every hour. pump cost 15,000 baht. have to add cost of blue pipe only. water sits in the wifes bore at about 8 metres all year round- very high water table here. (udon thani province)

for me a would just get the local contractors in to do said work ie - bore hole/tractor/digger work. machines per hour/day and labor aint that expensive here but buy this and that soon adds up, mantance, theft, workers the list goes on.

just my thoughts..........

Thank you for your opinion.

The place is a village 10 kms from Kumpawapi town, Udonthani Province about 200 mteres from the main Bangkok to Udonthani town main road.  It is about 10 kms from the lakes and so I would have think the water table was reasonably high but was thinking of digging to say 100 metres to get very clean water.

I was going to use that blue plastic pipe (225  mm diameter) using glued joints.  I worry that those pipes are in 6 metre lengths meaning about 16 lengths and worry if the glue bonding will hold as I add more and more lengths.

Did you only use glue to connect your blue pipe?

I was looking at Grundfos Submersible Pumps.

Can you please tell me what model number of Franklin pump you have and the outlet and where you bought this pump from because 15,000 bt seems cheap? 

I was looking at importing a Grunfos from Europe with 1.1 Kw (1.5 HP ) and I was looking at paying 50,000 bt and then a control box is another 10,000 bt.

I was looking at driving this off a generator at first and then if successful from solar panels and put the excess water into a ponds totalling  2 rai x 8 metres deep.

I was looking at using the water for being able to water the farm land and also  keeping Tilapia fish and aquaponics growing vegetables as well as being able to grow more crops on the farm land.

[thoongfoned]

i know the area you live/stay in.  re: blue pipe you can get the thin walled all thicker walled stuff, we have the thicker stuff. yes just glued together, used the thai pipe brand glue, not the cheaper copy stuff sold in most village shops. yes managed to pull all the pipe up/out in one peice, then back down a few days later. pipe lenght just short of 45 metres. the glue must be very strong because when we pullled it out the bore it was still full of water and had the pump attached -  ie very heavy...it had been down the bore for nearly 7 years as stated before.  i would have thought the pipe would have broken but the people that helped us were sure it would come out in one piece, and it did...........

the franklin pump we bought at a small shop in udon thani. 15,000 baht is very cheap yes. alot of hunting about to find this shop.  this incudes everything even the cover for the bore hole and new electric cable and water proof tape for conecting electric. top half pump made in mexico bottom half made in taiwan, that is why it is cheaper then the made in mexico models. these start at about 22,000 baht and have seen them in some shops at 35,000baht for same size. 1.5hp.

pump electric box number: 2823508110. pump/submersible model: hurricane. come in one peice. i have seen different pumps and submersibles sold separte also. the first franklin pump we had was the tri seal model, same electric control box, this is about 20,000 - 25,000 bah t depending where you buy.

shop we used is : if you come into udon from the fly over end going past big c, makra ect until you get to the turn for the central shopper centre traffic lights (have large tv on side wall to the right hand side) go straight over these lights, along this road you have a load of chinese shops, go along till the end of road , come to round about . just beforet the round about on the opposite side you are driving from is said shop. it has no signs ect. it sits inbetween a belt/parts shop and a rice store if i rememeber correct. hope this can be of some help.

[thoongfoned]

just re read. to make clear that 15,000 baht all in for pump/subersible1.5hp hurricane model, electric control box, electric cable,cover for bore and the tape to join electric. i was told by a friend (thai) that we should have haggled more on the price has they have bought said pump a little cheaper........

[Boksida]

On 1/7/2017 at 10:49 PM, Cashboy said:

 

I was going to use that blue plastic pipe (225  mm diameter) using glued joints.  I worry that those pipes are in 6 metre lengths meaning about 16 lengths and worry if the glue bonding will hold as I add more and more lengths.

 

 

I can't see any reason for using 8" casing for a well with a low water supply. Thai Pipe make a 4" nominal diamter pipe specifically for water wells. The dimensions are larger than standard so that a 4" submersible pump can be installed.

 

Note that all PVC pipe produced in Thailand is in 4 metre lengths. The solvent will normally hold it together but drillers often use "Tek" screws (3 or 4 per joint) for added insurance for long strings-just have to make sure that the ends don't protrude through to the inside of the casing or they can snag the insulation on your pump cable.

 

 

I doubt if drilling a well to metres will do you much good in Kumphawapi. There is a lot of underground rock salt in that area and your well would probably get saltier with depth. I don't know what Tambon you are in but, for example, the average depth of previous water wells drilled in Tambon Kumphawapi is 36 metres. Kumphawapi is near the southern boundary of a potash concession and all of that will have salt.

 

I have previously bought submersible pumps from Thai Pipat hardware store in Udon but the small single phase pumps are also usually available at Homepro, Global House etc.

[Cashboy]

On 1/8/2017 at 2:58 AM, thoongfoned said:

i know the area you live/stay in.  re: blue pipe you can get the thin walled all thicker walled stuff, we have the thicker stuff. yes just glued together, used the thai pipe brand glue, not the cheaper copy stuff sold in most village shops. yes managed to pull all the pipe up/out in one peice, then back down a few days later. pipe lenght just short of 45 metres. the glue must be very strong because when we pullled it out the bore it was still full of water and had the pump attached -  ie very heavy...it had been down the bore for nearly 7 years as stated before.  i would have thought the pipe would have broken but the people that helped us were sure it would come out in one piece, and it did...........

the franklin pump we bought at a small shop in udon thani. 15,000 baht is very cheap yes. alot of hunting about to find this shop.  this incudes everything even the cover for the bore hole and new electric cable and water proof tape for conecting electric. top half pump made in mexico bottom half made in taiwan, that is why it is cheaper then the made in mexico models. these start at about 22,000 baht and have seen them in some shops at 35,000baht for same size. 1.5hp.

pump electric box number: 2823508110. pump/submersible model: hurricane. come in one peice. i have seen different pumps and submersibles sold separte also. the first franklin pump we had was the tri seal model, same electric control box, this is about 20,000 - 25,000 bah t depending where you buy.

shop we used is : if you come into udon from the fly over end going past big c, makra ect until you get to the turn for the central shopper centre traffic lights (have large tv on side wall to the right hand side) go straight over these lights, along this road you have a load of chinese shops, go along till the end of road , come to round about . just beforet the round about on the opposite side you are driving from is said shop. it has no signs ect. it sits inbetween a belt/parts shop and a rice store if i rememeber correct. hope this can be of some help.

Thank you for that information; a great help.

The location of the village is  Tambon Huai Keang, Amper Kumphawapi.

I have no idea if you are near to this if you are familiar with the area.

You say that you are using a submerisble pump; what is the diameter (external/internal) of this pipe you are using and what is the diameter of the submersible pump and the length of your submersible pump out of interest?

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Cashboy

[Cashboy]

17 hours ago, Boksida said:

I can't see any reason for using 8" casing for a well with a low water supply. Thai Pipe make a 4" nominal diamter pipe specifically for water wells. The dimensions are larger than standard so that a 4" submersible pump can be installed.

 

Note that all PVC pipe produced in Thailand is in 4 metre lengths. The solvent will normally hold it together but drillers often use "Tek" screws (3 or 4 per joint) for added insurance for long strings-just have to make sure that the ends don't protrude through to the inside of the casing or they can snag the insulation on your pump cable.

 

 

I doubt if drilling a well to metres will do you much good in Kumphawapi. There is a lot of underground rock salt in that area and your well would probably get saltier with depth. I don't know what Tambon you are in but, for example, the average depth of previous water wells drilled in Tambon Kumphawapi is 36 metres. Kumphawapi is near the southern boundary of a potash concession and all of that will have salt.

 

I have previously bought submersible pumps from Thai Pipat hardware store in Udon but the small single phase pumps are also usually available at Homepro, Global House etc.

My idea of drilling 100 metres deep was to get to clean water but you are suggesting that if I drill deep I will hit the potash.   Now I am totally confused because you say that potash has a lot of salt and I believe that to be correct.

I believed that salt would kill vegetation.

However, I understood that potash was used for making fertilisers in farming but if potash is salt rich, surely everything would die.

I was under the impression that the bore holes in the village (approximately 30 metres deep) produced water that killed the vegetation.

And then the thai girl tells me that the water is hard which contradicts salt content as salt is used in water softners.

 

You gave me pictures of 4" grey water bore pipe; do they do a 5" as I see that the spiral slotted does a 5" ?

With the diagrams you gave me, I notice that the spiral slotted diameters do not match each other; so how do you connect them together?  Are there adaptors/connectors or something?

[thoongfoned]

when i say "i know the area" i mean i have been there many times over the years, the wife  also knows people who work for the same company as she does that farm around there......

ok, the thai pipe size on the side of the pipe says 1. 1/2 inch but it is a 2 inch pipe. i think a number 2 size pipe. we use this size pipe because it is the same size as the screw fitting for the pump... the submersible pump is just over a metre long, and fits down the 6 in bore pipe ok, with a little room to spare it think. i do have the old sub pump somewhere but it seems to have grown legs..... in do home/home pro ect... i have seen the same sub pump (1.5hp) that are alot thinner than the one we have, looks like they could go down a 4 inch bore with ease. these pumps seem to start at 30,000 baht..... maybe because of the small size.

if you google franklin sub pump hurricane it will give all the info you will need......

yes udon has large potash deposits in the land,  boksida sounds like the man with good info regarding drilling for water.....

[Boksida]

6 hours ago, Cashboy said:

My idea of drilling 100 metres deep was to get to clean water but you are suggesting that if I drill deep I will hit the potash.   Now I am totally confused because you say that potash has a lot of salt and I believe that to be correct.

I believed that salt would kill vegetation.

However, I understood that potash was used for making fertilisers in farming but if potash is salt rich, surely everything would die.

I was under the impression that the bore holes in the village (approximately 30 metres deep) produced water that killed the vegetation.

And then the thai girl tells me that the water is hard which contradicts salt content as salt is used in water softners.

 

You gave me pictures of 4" grey water bore pipe; do they do a 5" as I see that the spiral slotted does a 5" ?

With the diagrams you gave me, I notice that the spiral slotted diameters do not match each other; so how do you connect them together?  Are there adaptors/connectors or something?

Sorry to cause any confusion and hope I can clear it up.

 

Underneath the Khorat Plateau there are vast rock salt deposits. Usually there are three layers but in some areas the top one is missing. This may be the case in Kumphawapi as a lake is sometimes formed where groundwater has got to the top layer and dissolved it, causing subsidence. The potash is  only near the top of the bottom layer. Drilling into the salt deposits can cause you some problems if drilling with water or mud: the salt will be dissolved causing a cavity. There is no reason to drill into these as there will be no water anyway (otherwise the salt would not be there).

 

Re the casing/screen, the normal method is to machine one of the glue-on couplings to make a crossover between the tubewell casing and the screen. The screen is probably an unnecessary expense. Most of the drillers will hand slot casing with a saw to make slots. Pre-slotted pipe is also available on the market if you need it.

If you can tell me what Tambon you are in (in Amphur Kumphawapi), I will see if I can get records of wells drilled in the vicinity by the Government. 

 

[Cashboy]

16 hours ago, Boksida said:

Sorry to cause any confusion and hope I can clear it up.

 

Underneath the Khorat Plateau there are vast rock salt deposits. Usually there are three layers but in some areas the top one is missing. This may be the case in Kumphawapi as a lake is sometimes formed where groundwater has got to the top layer and dissolved it, causing subsidence. The potash is  only near the top of the bottom layer. Drilling into the salt deposits can cause you some problems if drilling with water or mud: the salt will be dissolved causing a cavity. There is no reason to drill into these as there will be no water anyway (otherwise the salt would not be there).

 

Re the casing/screen, the normal method is to machine one of the glue-on couplings to make a crossover between the tubewell casing and the screen. The screen is probably an unnecessary expense. Most of the drillers will hand slot casing with a saw to make slots. Pre-slotted pipe is also available on the market if you need it.

If you can tell me what Tambon you are in (in Amphur Kumphawapi), I will see if I can get records of wells drilled in the vicinity by the Government. 

 

Thank you for the information you have given me.

 

I must admit that layers of potash and salt appears to complicate things.

From reading articles, I really  thought I just drilled until I hit rock and more than likely a water table was there.

I have not seen any water bore holes on the farm land but saying that there is no electric supply.

The whole area seems to be sugar can and cassava and the smaller farms like ours (20 rai) is sugar cane and rice and sometimes plants a bit of corn and other vegetables.

I am really looking at making it into a small holding for sle sufficiency.

I was thinking if I could put in a large water bore hole and pump water outwith solar panels would transform the use of the land for fish and vegetables and fruit trees and to grow food for feeding the cows we have. 

 

I can see that a lot of the  houses in the village had water bore holes that are no longer used once government put a water mains supply in.

The village that I live in is: Tambon Huai Keang, Amper Kumphawapi, Udon Tani ,post code 41110  300 metres from the main road.

The locations of the two farms are within 2 kms of the village house in Tambon Huai Keang both about 500metres from the main road (No 2) one on each side of the main road.

One of which I am trying to buy once I get the right price.

 

It sounds as if you might not be far from this area.

Where are you out of interest?

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Cashboy

[Boksida]

I have information on 4 wells which I think are in your area.

Kumphawapi Tambon Huai Gerng.pdf

The translations are mine from the government website so don't blame them if I have it wrong.

 

I have worked extensively in Isaan but now live in the north of Thailand.

 

[Cashboy]

12 hours ago, Boksida said:

I have information on 4 wells which I think are in your area.

Kumphawapi Tambon Huai Gerng.pdf

The translations are mine from the government website so don't blame them if I have it wrong.

 

I have worked extensively in Isaan but now live in the north of Thailand.

 

Boksida,

 

Thank you for that information.

Litres per hour seem low or is that down to the type of pump they are using?

Do you have a link to the government web site that you used so the Thai girl can look at the site please?

She is getting into farming now and looking forward to getting a tractor.

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Cashboy

[Boksida]

The yield is in cubic metres per hour. I am guessing that was probably recorded during airlift development.

 

Website is http://app.dgr.go.th/newpasutara/xml/Krabi.files/

[Issangeorge]

I can't see any reason for using 8" casing for a well with a low water supply. Thai Pipe make a 4" nominal diamter pipe specifically for water wells. The dimensions are larger than standard so that a 4" submersible pump can be installed.

 
Note that all PVC pipe produced in Thailand is in 4 metre lengths. The solvent will normally hold it together but drillers often use "Tek" screws (3 or 4 per joint) for added insurance for long strings-just have to make sure that the ends don't protrude through to the inside of the casing or they can snag the insulation on your pump cable.
 

 
I doubt if drilling a well to metres will do you much good in Kumphawapi. There is a lot of underground rock salt in that area and your well would probably get saltier with depth. I don't know what Tambon you are in but, for example, the average depth of previous water wells drilled in Tambon Kumphawapi is 36 metres. Kumphawapi is near the southern boundary of a potash concession and all of that will have salt.
 
I have previously bought submersible pumps from Thai Pipat hardware store in Udon but the small single phase pumps are also usually available at Homepro, Global House etc.

I have been reading quite a bit about water bores in my spare time.
 
The farm is in Issan - Udonthani - Kumpawpi
 
From all the information I put together I was planning to dig an 8 metre deep pond on 2 rai of the land.
Buy my own bore drilling machine from the USA and drill my own holes  (use Honda trash pump).
Drill down up to 100 metres
Use 200mm plastic water pipe
Use submersible Grunfos pumps
Test with 3 Kw generator (Honda)
Exchange 3 Kw generator to solar panels that would be built as a roof for farm building/cow shed and could then power the Grundfos submersible pump and then also to batteries.
 
This would be a substancial outlay and has to work successfully to get a return.
The idea would be that if the farm can pump out water up to 16 hours per day (free once incorporating the solar panels) would give the ability to grow a lot more on the land and and even use hydroponics.
The pond could be used for storage of water and fish for eating.
 
Here is the concern before I risk it and maybe some of you can give me the advise:
I noticed that some of the houses in the village had water bore holes that are not used anymore.
They were similarly installed about 18 years ago.
They are not used anymore because there is now government water mains.
I asked how deep the bore holes are and they think that they were 30 metres deep.
However, they said that the "water was not good, plants did not grow in the garden".
 
I have read in this forum that areas of Issan are salty or CA and wondering if that is why the plants didn't grow in the garden.  But what contradicts this is that they also stated that the water was very hard.  
I thought that in the west one has a water softner in a house that is basically passing hard water through salt to make it into soft water.
 
My questions  to you is:
(1)  What is wrong with the water at 20 - 30 metres?
(2)  If I was to sucessfully drill to say 60 metres to 100 metres; will I be possibly reach a level where I would get clean water that will indeed grow fruit and vegetables and not kill fish?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cashing, for your info, if you are thinking of using solar, check out amorn solar, they have a 3,000 watt setup for ฿103,000. http://www.amornsolar.com/en/index.php

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[thoongfoned]

just for reference. Friends have just bought franklin submersible 1hp pump (all in) for 8,000baht. they purchased 3 and must have got discount......cheap me thinks....

[Nick ZepTepi]

Has any one used dowsing? Are there any dowsing contractors?

 

[khwaibah]

On 3/6/2017 at 10:41 AM, thoongfoned said:

just for reference. Friends have just bought franklin submersible 1hp pump (all in) for 8,000baht. they purchased 3 and must have got discount......cheap me thinks....

 

Franklin Pumps are a good units but the pumps sold in Thailand are made in China. Beware.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Electric

[4raiKohChang]

Hello, 

 

This is my first post and I am very happy to have found this community and thread.

 

I recently purchased 4 rai on land on Koh Chang and intend to live there sustainably.  Although there is piped water from the local mountain river at this particular location, I believe that having a backup source of water for the dry season would make a whole lot of sense. 

 

The photo of the well was taken at my neighbours' place last month (October).    Based on this and the collective knowledge on this forum I am hoping to get some advice on how best to proceed with my own well next dry season (digging at the end of the dry season seems to make the most sense).

 

The land already has many old coconut palms and some young banana established.  In the future, I intend to fill the understory with mainly many varieties of fruit trees in an attempt to create a sustainable food forest.  Thank you.

[thoongfoned]

if you have a look on youtube there are mainy vids of thai people hand digging these type of wells.... ( i have seen the children watching them) try search for "primitive tech thai digging well" loads of interesting stuff from all over the world on there....

boksida looks like he knows about water/wells..............

[MikeN]

17 hours ago, 4raiKohChang said:

Hello, 

 

This is my first post and I am very happy to have found this community and thread.

 

I recently purchased 4 rai on land on Koh Chang and intend to live there sustainably.  

 

Judging by your English you are not Thai, so how, as a foreigner, did you manage to purchase land ?

[MrTrip]

Has anyone had any experience with solar powered pumps direct from the borehole?

 

We bought 1000 coffee plants so that FIL had something with hopefully a little better return than cassava, rubber and rice that they currently grow.

We had a borehole drilled for irrigation in the dry season. FIL pumps from the borehole into a lined pond and then pumps from the pond to the pipe system around the plants. Electric is costing around 1500 to 1600bt per month.

 

My wife has suggested water tanks so that we pump direct from the borehole to the tanks and then gravity feed the plants. This should reduce the electricity cost hopefully.

We’ve also seen solar powered pumps but not sure of the power required to pump from minus 40-50mtrs to plus 5m above ground.

 

What is general set up or most cost effective set up for irrigation from the borehole?

 

 

 

 

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[khwaibah]

11 hours ago, MrTrip said:

Has anyone had any experience with solar powered pumps direct from the borehole?

 

We bought 1000 coffee plants so that FIL had something with hopefully a little better return than cassava, rubber and rice that they currently grow.

We had a borehole drilled for irrigation in the dry season. FIL pumps from the borehole into a lined pond and then pumps from the pond to the pipe system around the plants. Electric is costing around 1500 to 1600bt per month.

 

My wife has suggested water tanks so that we pump direct from the borehole to the tanks and then gravity feed the plants. This should reduce the electricity cost hopefully.

We’ve also seen solar powered pumps but not sure of the power required to pump from minus 40-50mtrs to plus 5m above ground.

 

What is general set up or most cost effective set up for irrigation from the borehole?

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

This was done for a school in Surin about 11k baht. Panel, pump, controller and cage. Company is from Krasang Buriram. https://www.facebook.com/kksolarcell/