Water Filtration

[AmericanSafety]

Looking into purchasing and installing a 5 stage reverse osmosis water filter with UV into my 3BR, 2Bath House. Wife, me and 2 young children. Currently going through 5,000B a month on bottled water which is crazy.

Does anyone have any experience installing and which are the best for in Thailand?

Does anyone know of a water study done on the source for Pattaya?

Trying to primarily eliminate the flagellates, giardia and other bio-nuisances found.

Also trying to see if pre-chlorination is done at the source.

[stoneyboy]

5000 baht on bottled water wow.

Do you bath in it ?

I have 2 kids and a wife also my bill for drinking water is under a 1000 baht.

I use the white bottles for cooking,have a water cooler which I fill with the Nestle pure life 6 litre bottles and have a fridge upstairs with nestle small bottles 50 odd baht a pack.

I can not for the love of me understand why your bill is so high.

[AmericanSafety]

5000 baht on bottled water wow.

Do you bath in it ?

I have 2 kids and a wife also my bill for drinking water is under a 1000 baht.

I use the white bottles for cooking,have a water cooler which I fill with the Nestle pure life 6 litre bottles and have a fridge upstairs with nestle small bottles 50 odd baht a pack.

I can not for the love of me understand why your bill is so high.

Ha ha, no. No bathing.

The 2 kids are still on the bottle and go through a lot of formula. I drink the tall bottles of Singha water, which is our main usage. We got the big 6 liter for cooking.

There might be a case or 2 of Tiger in that bill estimation as well.

[KittenKong]

Get the big blue containers delivered. I pay 50B (incl 10B tip) and I use about 1 per week (on my own).

Saves a lot of hassle and expense.

Edited September 20, 2015 by KittenKong

[KittenKong]

I looked at those domestic water purifying systems. There are lots of brands and models and little real comparative research available. Also you seem to be dependent on the manufacture continuing to make the cartridges and the shop continuing to sell them as none seem to be compatible with other brands or interchangeable.

Also even when filtered your water has probably come out of a tank on your roof or on your condo buildings roof, and who knows what sort of crap is in those?

So in the end I went with the big delivered bottles.

[edd]

I bought a ro filter system

Superb

I have had it for about 4 years

When I bought it they said NO installation so I said forget it.

Then they decided that they would install it free.

It cleans down to 4 ppm.

Bottled water is about 28ppm.

Its saved me a small fortune.

If you want any details you can pm me.

Edited September 20, 2015 by edd

[lopburi3]

I installed this system in Bangkok several months ago when water was starting to taste like the sea. Have been very happy with it and testing with TDS meter shows PPM of tap water in 150-155 range down to 12-14 range. This does not have UV - RO is the key filter system.

http://www.lazada.co.th/colandas-ro-50g-459200.html

[KittenKong]

I installed this system in Bangkok several months ago when water was starting to taste like the sea. Have been very happy with it and testing with TDS meter shows PPM of tap water in 150-155 range down to 12-14 range. This does not have UV - RO is the key filter system.

http://www.lazada.co.th/colandas-ro-50g-459200.html

62% discount and no warranty.

Why does this not inspire me?

[lopburi3]

You really need a warranty on a 2,900 baht purchase? I prefer a good deal - and believe this is a good deal.

[KittenKong]

I come from Europe where a 1-year warranty is the legal minimum for just about everything. The fact that this has no warranty at all makes me doubtful about the future availability of the cartridges and filters.

[WaywardWind]

We have used Berkey filters for over 20 years in several different countries, and found them to be great.

http://www.berkeyfilters.com/

No need for electricity, nor worry about finding compatible cartridges. Free lifetime warranty.

Calculate your daily usage and choose the model with twice that amount in holding capacity. We use about 6 liters a day, so we have the Royal Berkey with a 3 gallon capacity. I added two additional black filters for a total of four, and the sight glass spout. At that level of consumption, our cartridges will last over 20 years. Maintenance is simple: clean the cartridges with a scrub pad every six months.

Amazon US sells them and will ship internationally.

[PattayaClub]

I can't imagine how you could possibly use 5,000 baht worth of bottled water per month. If you are buying the big 20 liter bottles at15 baht a pop, you'd be talking 6,666 liters a month! It must be a typo. If t is not, even taking baths in it would not account for that volume. You must be using it to water the lawn as well.

In any event, I put in a filtration system. Not the one you want; my needs were different, so I won't go into what I did. But I did do A LOT of research and looked high and low. What I determined is that ALL Thai "water experts" are uneducated cretins. If you really get into questioning them, you will find that everything they profess to know comes from 100% rote memory and zero understanding. They know absolutely nothing about water chemistry. So, as with most things here, never trust ANYTHING they say. Do your own homework. It's all on the Internet if you just make the time.

Finally, after examining the equipment available here I concluded it's all a bunch of very expensive junk. I decided that if I wanted trouble free equipment that would give me years and years of problem free service, I would have to bite the bullet, purchase from a reputable Western company and import it. That's what I did and I have not regretted it.

There will be an ample number of people on this forum that will jump up and say I am a fool. My only answer is that after over eight years here, I have grown very disenchanted with what they get away with selling in this country. I like high quality equipment. To each his own.

[PattayaClub]

We have used Berkey filters for over 20 years in several different countries, and found them to be great.

http://www.berkeyfilters.com/

No need for electricity, nor worry about finding compatible cartridges. Free lifetime warranty.

Calculate your daily usage and choose the model with twice that amount in holding capacity. We use about 6 liters a day, so we have the Royal Berkey with a 3 gallon capacity. I added two additional black filters for a total of four, and the sight glass spout. At that level of consumption, our cartridges will last over 20 years. Maintenance is simple: clean the cartridges with a scrub pad every six months.

Amazon US sells them and will ship internationally.

If you can have Amazon ship to a friend or relative in the US, and have that friend or relative reship to you using the Post Office, you will save a bundle in shipping and taxes over Amazon direct.

[PattayaClub]

Get the big blue containers delivered. I pay 50B (incl 10B tip) and I use about 1 per week (on my own).

Saves a lot of hassle and expense.

Wow, here in Phitsanulok, I pay only 10 baht for the big 20 liter bottles and a 5 baht per bottle tip, delivered into the house -- well I used to, before installing my whole house filtration system. Now I can drink the water from every faucet.

I inspected the filling and filtration system for these 20 liter bottles. Best system I have seen in Thailand. They have it all including UV and reverse osmosis. the water tastes like rainwater. The vendors in Pattaya must be making a killing -- or maybe you get the farang price. I absolutely cannot see a Thai paying 50 baht a bottle.

[PattayaClub]

I installed this system in Bangkok several months ago when water was starting to taste like the sea. Have been very happy with it and testing with TDS meter shows PPM of tap water in 150-155 range down to 12-14 range. This does not have UV - RO is the key filter system.

http://www.lazada.co.th/colandas-ro-50g-459200.html

62% discount and no warranty.

Why does this not inspire me?

It does not inspire you because you are obviously not a sucker. And with all those cartridges, look a the neverending expense! Cheaper to go with the 20 liter bottles, delivered, and call it a day.

Even if there was a warranty, warranties in this country are seldom worth the paper they are written on. There's always a catch. Like the 10 year warranty touted on all the washing machines, Motor only. Motors seldom go out. It's the electronics that go, and you are gong to pay through the nose or just buy a new machine -- and so it goes.

[KittenKong]

Wow, here in Phitsanulok, I pay only 10 baht for the big 20 liter bottles and a 5 baht per bottle tip, delivered into the house -- well I used to, before installing my whole house filtration system. Now I can drink the water from every faucet.

I inspected the filling and filtration system for these 20 liter bottles. Best system I have seen in Thailand. They have it all including UV and reverse osmosis. the water tastes like rainwater. The vendors in Pattaya must be making a killing -- or maybe you get the farang price. I absolutely cannot see a Thai paying 50 baht a bottle.

I checked with several places before buying and they all wanted the same price or higher, even if I collected them myself (nuts to that). The 10B tip is optional but as I live in a high-rise building it seems fair to recompense the guy for the time it takes to park outside and wait for the elevator and walk along the corridors.

Yes, it's probably a rip-off (so many things are here) but not exactly one that is likely to have any noticeable effect on my bank balance. I'm more concerned about being charged 80B for a small bottle of water in a pub restaurant, and that I take steps to avoid.

[lopburi3]

I come from Europe where a 1-year warranty is the legal minimum for just about everything. The fact that this has no warranty at all makes me doubtful about the future availability of the cartridges and filters.

Understand - it is ingrained but here such warranty is often worthless paper anyhow - it means waiting for parts from the other side of the world by drifting raft delivery system and upside down installation after sitting in storage for a few weeks - to be followed by almost immediate catastrophic failure.

As using for treated tap water expect filters to last over a year so even if replacements were not available believe investment was worthwhile. If really concerned could buy full set now for about 1k to have ready.

The days of lifetime quality, even in Europe, seem to be ending. Appliance life is going down as it is just more cost effective to buy new than repair most things. Yes not very green; but probably a lot more so in this case then buying throw away plastic bottles. As for 1-year warranty - 99% seem to fail after one year and a day (or a bit more) anyhow.

[ROBINPATTAYA]

I bought a ro filter system

Superb

I have had it for about 4 years

When I bought it they said NO installation so I said forget it.

Then they decided that they would install it free.

It cleans down to 4 ppm.

Bottled water is about 28ppm.

Its saved me a small fortune.

If you want any details you can pm me.

I agree,my tap water is 135ppm & when filtered it is 8ppm. I have measured bottled water at 25ppm so my measurements are not far off the above quoted.

Mine has 5 filters & cost 8,000 installed with a spare set of filters. We have had it for just over 2 years & still on original filters & same readings as when installed.

I would hate to think about how many litres go through the filter, worth every baht.

[KittenKong]

I may get one of those anyway, just to try. It's certainly not much to lose and at worst it should be good enough for cooking water.

As I mentioned, the main thing that puts me off with these domestic systems is that even the big shops that sell them (Home Pro, BigC etc) often dont seem to stock the replacement cartridges. Maybe Thai buyers just dont replace them?

[ignis]

Get the big blue containers delivered. I pay 50B (incl 10B tip) and I use about 1 per week (on my own).

Saves a lot of hassle and expense.

Wow, here in Phitsanulok, I pay only 10 baht for the big 20 liter bottles and a 5 baht per bottle tip, delivered into the house -- well I used to, before installing my whole house filtration system. Now I can drink the water from every faucet.

I inspected the filling and filtration system for these 20 liter bottles. Best system I have seen in Thailand. They have it all including UV and reverse osmosis. the water tastes like rainwater. The vendors in Pattaya must be making a killing -- or maybe you get the farang price. I absolutely cannot see a Thai paying 50 baht a bottle.

No there are different types, I use the 10 baht [gone up to 12 baht] big 20 lt bottles for cooking only, for drinking water those cost 50 baht much better and pure.

put water in a glass and you can see with your own eyes the crap in the 10 baht bottles + the difference to the 50 baht ones... in my Village 63 houses, most buy the 50 baht ones + other than me everyone is Thai, there are 2 different Companies that deliver in big trucks of Saturdays....... Next door bought last year a machine 23,000 baht from Amway. !!! they only ever used the 10 baht water before. so it will never pay for itself.

early 2004 I bought a machine from Home Pro, it was OK, but cost a bit as all filters must be changed 2x year.. motor was replaced within a year, motor was sent back and repaired within 2 years, year 4 the thing had rusted out, worked out then and still of the same mind, it is as cheap to buy the 20 lt bottles, as nothing with breakdown

[lopburi3]

I may get one of those anyway, just to try. It's certainly not much to lose and at worst it should be good enough for cooking water.

As I mentioned, the main thing that puts me off with these domestic systems is that even the big shops that sell them (Home Pro, BigC etc) often dont seem to stock the replacement cartridges. Maybe Thai buyers just dont replace them?

Local stores seem to stock very few replacement parts - try finding vacuum bags and air filters after you buy the units. Most people just re-use forever.

Our unit provides much better tasting water and the TDS tests confirm.

[KittenKong]

early 2004 I bought a machine from Home Pro, it was OK, but cost a bit as all filters must be changed 2x year.. motor was replaced within a year, motor was sent back and repaired within 2 years, year 4 the thing had rusted out, worked out then and still of the same mind, it is as cheap to buy the 20 lt bottles, as nothing with breakdown

I didnt know those multi-filter units pictured above had motors; I thought that the tap water pressure was enough. Or are you talking about some different device?

[lopburi3]

RO systems have a motor as they pump in/out through the membrane in the filtration process. Just a very small unit about the size of a Coke can.

[PattayaClub]

I bought a ro filter system

Superb

I have had it for about 4 years

When I bought it they said NO installation so I said forget it.

Then they decided that they would install it free.

It cleans down to 4 ppm.

Bottled water is about 28ppm.

Its saved me a small fortune.

If you want any details you can pm me.

I agree,my tap water is 135ppm & when filtered it is 8ppm. I have measured bottled water at 25ppm so my measurements are not far off the above quoted.

Mine has 5 filters & cost 8,000 installed with a spare set of filters. We have had it for just over 2 years & still on original filters & same readings as when installed.

I would hate to think about how many litres go through the filter, worth every baht.

What are you folks talking about, ppm? Iron, manganese, calcium, particulates? Every chemical or metal contaminant can be measured in parts per million, and I am not sure to which specific contaminant this conversation is referring. Bacteria, like E. coli, are normally measured in numbers of bacteria per ml.

Filters do not usually state filtering down to some certain number ppm. Normally they are stated in particle size, measured in microns. Bacteria can be rather large and will get caught where very small viruses may slip through.

What, exactly (specifically) are you folks measuring when you refer to ppm?

[PattayaClub]

Get the big blue containers delivered. I pay 50B (incl 10B tip) and I use about 1 per week (on my own).

Saves a lot of hassle and expense.

Wow, here in Phitsanulok, I pay only 10 baht for the big 20 liter bottles and a 5 baht per bottle tip, delivered into the house -- well I used to, before installing my whole house filtration system. Now I can drink the water from every faucet.

I inspected the filling and filtration system for these 20 liter bottles. Best system I have seen in Thailand. They have it all including UV and reverse osmosis. the water tastes like rainwater. The vendors in Pattaya must be making a killing -- or maybe you get the farang price. I absolutely cannot see a Thai paying 50 baht a bottle.

No there are different types, I use the 10 baht [gone up to 12 baht] big 20 lt bottles for cooking only, for drinking water those cost 50 baht much better and pure.

put water in a glass and you can see with your own eyes the crap in the 10 baht bottles + the difference to the 50 baht ones... in my Village 63 houses, most buy the 50 baht ones + other than me everyone is Thai, there are 2 different Companies that deliver in big trucks of Saturdays....... Next door bought last year a machine 23,000 baht from Amway. !!! they only ever used the 10 baht water before. so it will never pay for itself.

early 2004 I bought a machine from Home Pro, it was OK, but cost a bit as all filters must be changed 2x year.. motor was replaced within a year, motor was sent back and repaired within 2 years, year 4 the thing had rusted out, worked out then and still of the same mind, it is as cheap to buy the 20 lt bottles, as nothing with breakdown

I guess I am pretty lucky where I live. The 10 baht water is filtered through about 8 different processes, including

RO and UV. Clear as a bell and very drinkable -- tastes like snow water.

I will never ever recapture the cost of my whole house filtration system. It was purely a quality of life issue. I wanted to be able to drink from every tap and hose bib (American style) with the least amount of maintenance and ongoing expense, I have little ongoing expense as the media only needs to be changed every 6-8 years, but I would have to live to be 500 years old to break even on the initial cost! So with a pure economic analysis, not cost effective at all. But I sure love it.

[PattayaClub]

I may get one of those anyway, just to try. It's certainly not much to lose and at worst it should be good enough for cooking water.

As I mentioned, the main thing that puts me off with these domestic systems is that even the big shops that sell them (Home Pro, BigC etc) often dont seem to stock the replacement cartridges. Maybe Thai buyers just dont replace them?

Local stores seem to stock very few replacement parts - try finding vacuum bags and air filters after you buy the units. Most people just re-use forever.

Our unit provides much better tasting water and the TDS tests confirm.

I bought a dishwasher. Keep in mind, I do not live in Pattaya Farangland. Imagine my angst when I went out and could not even find dishwasher detergent. I finally found it at HomePro -- for a very premium price.

I spend half of my life trying to find things. Like medium sized screw-in hooks. Never have found them here.

[ignis]

early 2004 I bought a machine from Home Pro, it was OK, but cost a bit as all filters must be changed 2x year.. motor was replaced within a year, motor was sent back and repaired within 2 years, year 4 the thing had rusted out, worked out then and still of the same mind, it is as cheap to buy the 20 lt bottles, as nothing with breakdown

I didnt know those multi-filter units pictured above had motors; I thought that the tap water pressure was enough. Or are you talking about some different device?

As Lopburi3 said and picture shows a small motor sitting on the top..

on his other picture also shows the Tank, this has a rubber bladder inside which also need replacing from time to time, on mine at the end the tank itself rusted and the bladder popped out...

At the end of the day could have bought a cheap Made in China one, but thought would be better, the far more expensive one made in USA..

= made for the rubbish tip within 6 years.... would have been cheaper by a long way to have used the 20 lt bottles, as they say live and learn..

of course my unit could have been made on a off day [in UK we say made on a Friday afternoon, everyone thinking of the weekend and not on there job]

[lopburi3]

I bought a ro filter system

Superb

I have had it for about 4 years

When I bought it they said NO installation so I said forget it.

Then they decided that they would install it free.

It cleans down to 4 ppm.

Bottled water is about 28ppm.

Its saved me a small fortune.

If you want any details you can pm me.

I agree,my tap water is 135ppm & when filtered it is 8ppm. I have measured bottled water at 25ppm so my measurements are not far off the above quoted.

Mine has 5 filters & cost 8,000 installed with a spare set of filters. We have had it for just over 2 years & still on original filters & same readings as when installed.

I would hate to think about how many litres go through the filter, worth every baht.

What are you folks talking about, ppm? Iron, manganese, calcium, particulates? Every chemical or metal contaminant can be measured in parts per million, and I am not sure to which specific contaminant this conversation is referring. Bacteria, like E. coli, are normally measured in numbers of bacteria per ml.

Filters do not usually state filtering down to some certain number ppm. Normally they are stated in particle size, measured in microns. Bacteria can be rather large and will get caught where very small viruses may slip through.

What, exactly (specifically) are you folks measuring when you refer to ppm?

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) which is measured in PPM by electric conductivity (pure water is an insulator as unbelievable as it sounds). This is a very good measure of how clean the water is although there is no world standard - in practice the lower the better. Meters are actually quite inexpensive and work well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291410058187?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=590512740930&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[lopburi3]

I bought a dishwasher. Keep in mind, I do not live in Pattaya Farangland. Imagine my angst when I went out and could not even find dishwasher detergent. I finally found it at HomePro -- for a very premium price.

I spend half of my life trying to find things. Like medium sized screw-in hooks. Never have found them here.

Screw hooks are available, both curved and right angle - have found several size by sending maid to local hardware stores.

Got the same "can buy anywhere" when bought first dishwasher unit from Central many years ago. Have used these for last five years.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DISHWASHER-TABLETS-60-Per-Box-Brand-New-45-15-FREE-SHIP-/220672068956?hash=item3361148d5c

[PattayaClub]

I bought a dishwasher. Keep in mind, I do not live in Pattaya Farangland. Imagine my angst when I went out and could not even find dishwasher detergent. I finally found it at HomePro -- for a very premium price.

I spend half of my life trying to find things. Like medium sized screw-in hooks. Never have found them here.

Screw hooks are available, both curved and right angle - have found several size by sending maid to local hardware stores.

Got the same "can buy anywhere" when bought first dishwasher unit from Central many years ago. Have used these for last five years.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DISHWASHER-TABLETS-60-Per-Box-Brand-New-45-15-FREE-SHIP-/220672068956?hash=item3361148d5c

thanks for that! Might be better deal than the stuff from HomePro.

As for the hooks, if i had a maid to send, i would probably have better luck, but i am always going alone. Though armed with pictures and the ability to speak a little Thai, I get the mai mii quite often. I'll keep looking. Can't say I miss the US, but sometimes i sure do miss not being able to walk into a hardware store and see the complete selection. We have a HomePro, Thai Watsadu and Global House, but selections are limited and out of stock is the norm. Then a trip out into the jungle of small shops is indicated.