Filtered water ok to drink?

[IMHO]

The good news about bacteria is, you don't need to think about it once you have a properly sized UV irradiation system. Even better is, because these drinking water filters already have low flow rates, they're cheap to add too: http://www.duan-daw.com/category/43/uv-ยูวี-2

Probably as cheap as a test kit you wouldn't need if you had one

thanks IMHO! the 80 Watt unit i use for my pool is soon due to be replaced, cost 32,000 Baht any input from the resident experts to replace the unit with 3 x 25 or 3 x 30 Watts and saving a bundle?

if yes, how would you install... series or parallel? plumbing is not a problem. my assistant and i plumb anything that's not up on a tree by the count of "three"

The primary consideration for a pool is flow rate. You'd definitely run them in parallel so the overall flow rate calc is just simple addition - in series the net effect would be less flow rate than a single unit, and hard to predict exactly.

The 30W ones do 30L/min which is 1800L/hour. In theory that should mean 4 of them in parallel do 7,200L/hour. I'm not sure on your pump/filter and pool size, but that could still be marginal.

[Naam]

The primary consideration for a pool is flow rate. You'd definitely run them in parallel so the overall flow rate calc is just simple addition - in series the net effect would be less flow rate than a single unit, and hard to predict exactly.

The 30W ones do 30L/min which is 1800L/hour. In theory that should mean 4 of them in parallel do 7,200L/hour. I'm not sure on your pump/filter and pool size, but that could still be marginal.

thanks again. i realised already that my "in series" thought was a mental flop. but then the old grey cells don't work as they used to.

my pool is rather small ~8.50x3.60 but deeper than usual, volume 43,000 liters. as i don't get any external contamination (location indoor) my pump running time is rather low (3 hours/day) increased only during the cool season due to more heating demand (solar panels).

as far as the capacity is concerned i don't consider flow rate but compare the existing 80 watts with a potential replacement by three times 30 watts. thinking mistake because different efficiency small/big units?

[rapom]

I have a 5 stage drinking water filter system. It does not have UV or reverse osmosis. After installing, I let about 5 gallons flow through the system. Letting the system set overnight, I then used an approve water test kit I bought from Amazon. The results of the tests were all within US water standards with the exception of water hardness, being a little high. This was corrected by adding an alkaline filter. The water is from the local village well 9 km's NE of Surin.

unfortunately the most important criterion, namely harmful bacteria, can't be checked with a water testing kit.

I have being following this thread with great interest . It is a subject that I am concerned with in Thailand,right now not a problem, as I only spend a few months at the time in Thailand, but in a couple of years when I retire and spend more time there, certainly a subject I need to get better educated on,

a lot of good information in this thread, and I like to say I appreciate it.

I did a search on google "water bacteria test" and it seems that there are a lot of inexpensive bacteria testing kits. not sure how available in Thailand.

Any way, great thread.

You are correct about water test kits checking for bacteria. The kit I purchased from Amazon was a 9 step kit including tests for ph, water hardness, pesticides, nitrate/nitrite, lead, chlorine, hardness, iron/copper and bacteria.

[bazza40]

I have being following this thread with great interest . It is a subject that I am concerned with in Thailand,right now not a problem, as I only spend a few months at the time in Thailand, but in a couple of years when I retire and spend more time there, certainly a subject I need to get better educated on,

a lot of good information in this thread, and I like to say I appreciate it.

I did a search on google "water bacteria test" and it seems that there are a lot of inexpensive bacteria testing kits. not sure how available in Thailand.

Any way, great thread.

You are correct about water test kits checking for bacteria. The kit I purchased from Amazon was a 9 step kit including tests for ph, water hardness, pesticides, nitrate/nitrite, lead, chlorine, hardness, iron/copper and bacteria.

I can believe most of the tests mentioned can be done with a test kit. However, a test for pesticides really strains belief.

Pesticide testing involves preliminary reverse phase extraction or the like to concentrate the sample. Initial concentrations are in the ppb or ppt range ( Parts per billion or parts per trillion ). The extract is analysed for individual pesticides by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry. Such instruments cost in excess of 100,000 USD. There are not many laboratories in the world which are fully accredited to test for pesticides; in most countries, they have to be government funded due to the cost of setup and testing.

Sorry, but a pesticide test in a kit from Amazon is ridiculous. My bet is you'd never get a positive result unless the test sample was absolutely saturated in pesticide.

Without more information on the bacteria test, I can't say if the test kit technology is valid. Most kits would give a total bacteria count, without being able to specify if any bacteria present were pathogenic.

I'm not aware of any water test kit that detects viruses.

[JAS21]

Just buy an over priced Amway unit.

We seem to go through a massive amount of drinking water. The unit lasts about a year.

But we do cook with tap water ... we are only a few kms from the water works.

Edited March 27, 2016 by JAS21

[sappersrest]

The good news about bacteria is, you don't need to think about it once you have a properly sized UV irradiation system. Even better is, because these drinking water filters already have low flow rates, they're cheap to add too: http://www.duan-daw.com/category/43/uv-ยูวี-2

Probably as cheap as a test kit you wouldn't need if you had one

thanks IMHO! the 80 Watt unit i use for my pool is soon due to be replaced, cost 32,000 Baht any input from the resident experts to replace the unit with 3 x 25 or 3 x 30 Watts and saving a bundle?

if yes, how would you install... series or parallel? plumbing is not a problem. my assistant and i plumb anything that's not up on a tree by the count of "three"

Why are you replacing the unit ?has the controls failed all you need is a new germicidal tube, clean the quartz tube and a few o rings.Those units will be to small for a pool the flow will be severely restricted as the inlet connections are too small looks like

3/4 inch on the larger unit which at a good design velocity of 2m/second will give a flow of approx 1.5 m3 per hour per unit ,assumming your existing unit has 2 inch connections it should be capable of delivering 14m/3 per hour, obviously if the flow rate is increased the flow will go up roughly, double the flow i.e. 4m/second 3m/3 etc.if you need any more advice pm me

Edited March 27, 2016 by sappersrest

[sappersrest]

Uv does destroy the dna string of giardia and crypto, filters only catch them and the they have to maintained well. UV is now recognized as the leading way to destroy these bugs ozone is good as well but expensive to maintain, I spent the last ten years of my working life installing these UV units specifically for that purpose,to cope with flows up to 750m/3 per hour UV is also good at breaking down combined chlorine.

[ThaiKneeTim]

Not sure how these kits test for bacteria, I'm not an industrial chemist, but when I used to commission new water mains we took several samples for various tests. The bacteria sample took at least three days as they had to use a Petri dish to cultivate the bacteria to count and identify.

Chlorine we could test on site, but this was only to make sure that the high concentration we used for disinfection had been properly flushed out.

I'm sure there will be some high tech analysing equipment around by now, but too expensive for home use I imagine.

[bazza40]

Uv does destroy the dna string of giardia and crypto, filters only catch them and the they have to maintained well. UV is now recognized as the leading way to destroy these bugs ozone is good as well but expensive to maintain, I spent the last ten years of my working life installing these UV units specifically for that purpose,to cope with flows up to 750m/3 per hour UV is also good at breaking down combined chlorine.

I stand corrected - thanks.

[Naam]

The good news about bacteria is, you don't need to think about it once you have a properly sized UV irradiation system. Even better is, because these drinking water filters already have low flow rates, they're cheap to add too: http://www.duan-daw.com/category/43/uv-ยูวี-2

Probably as cheap as a test kit you wouldn't need if you had one

thanks IMHO! the 80 Watt unit i use for my pool is soon due to be replaced, cost 32,000 Baht any input from the resident experts to replace the unit with 3 x 25 or 3 x 30 Watts and saving a bundle?

if yes, how would you install... series or parallel? plumbing is not a problem. my assistant and i plumb anything that's not up on a tree by the count of "three"

Why are you replacing the unit ?has the controls failed all you need is a new germicidal tube, clean the quartz tube and a few o rings.Those units will be to small for a pool the flow will be severely restricted as the inlet connections are too small looks like

3/4 inch on the larger unit which at a good design velocity of 2m/second will give a flow of approx 1.5 m3 per hour per unit ,assumming your existing unit has 2 inch connections it should be capable of delivering 14m/3 per hour, obviously if the flow rate is increased the flow will go up roughly, double the flow i.e. 4m/second 3m/3 etc.if you need any more advice pm me

thanks for the heads up but Thai reality is that i can't get a replacement tube only and therefore have to buy a new unit.

the unit has not failed but served approximately 6,500 hours out of an estimated lifetime of 8,000 hours (i was told when it was installed).

my present estimated flow rate is ~9m³/h. so what do you think is a feasible solution?

please elaborate as i don't understand "new germicidal tube / clean the quartz tube". are you talking of TWO tubes?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/792161-my-new-saltwater-pool-in-surin/page-4#entry9749238

Edited March 27, 2016 by Naam

[sappersrest]

The lamp is encased in a quatrz glass tube basically a giant test tube, these often get fouled up and should be cleaned regularly at least once ever six months as UV works best on at least a 90% transmisity (large commercial unit have automatic .wipers) there are lots of manufactures out there that make lamps in the germicidal range phillips are probably the best. The manufacturer should be able to supply a new lamp plus service kit. The life expectancy of the lamp is 8k hours but remember frequent switching will reduce this considerably, .I will try and find some photos and brochures to explain.I live in Chiang Mai so if you are local I could pop over. I am retired and have no connections with any pool company in the kingdom. All you need to do is source a 30 watt lamp, loads in china but phillips are the best.

[IMHO]

The good news about bacteria is, you don't need to think about it once you have a properly sized UV irradiation system. Even better is, because these drinking water filters already have low flow rates, they're cheap to add too: http://www.duan-daw.com/category/43/uv-ยูวี-2

Probably as cheap as a test kit you wouldn't need if you had one

thanks IMHO! the 80 Watt unit i use for my pool is soon due to be replaced, cost 32,000 Baht any input from the resident experts to replace the unit with 3 x 25 or 3 x 30 Watts and saving a bundle?

if yes, how would you install... series or parallel? plumbing is not a problem. my assistant and i plumb anything that's not up on a tree by the count of "three"

Why are you replacing the unit ?has the controls failed all you need is a new germicidal tube, clean the quartz tube and a few o rings.Those units will be to small for a pool the flow will be severely restricted as the inlet connections are too small looks like

3/4 inch on the larger unit which at a good design velocity of 2m/second will give a flow of approx 1.5 m3 per hour per unit ,assumming your existing unit has 2 inch connections it should be capable of delivering 14m/3 per hour, obviously if the flow rate is increased the flow will go up roughly, double the flow i.e. 4m/second 3m/3 etc.if you need any more advice pm me

thanks for the heads up but Thai reality is that i can't get a replacement tube only and therefore have to buy a new unit.

the unit has not failed but served approximately 6,500 hours out of an estimated lifetime of 8,000 hours (i was told when it was installed).

my present estimated flow rate is ~9m³/h. so what do you think is a feasible solution?

please elaborate as i don't understand "new germicidal tube / clean the quartz tube". are you talking of TWO tubes?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/792161-my-new-saltwater-pool-in-surin/page-4#entry9749238

UV.jpg

I just noticed the brand of your UV is "Hydrostar".. Have you tried contacting AEU Intertrade? Several of their products carry the Hydrostar brand: http://www.aeuintertrade.com/

[sappersrest]

A couple couple of videos showing how to maintain a small uv unit enjoy.

[Naam]

thanks, but my problem is not how to change a bulb or cleaning the unit. my problem is where to get the bulb?

[sappersrest]

try these people they seem to have a good selection you will need power output and length, and possibly a picture of the end connects , uvc tube, or contact phillips in Thailand for a dealer.

http://www.aquarich.co.th

[User3]

Not sure if this is of any help as they seem to top out at 36 watts. But they might be able to source an 80w for you?

http://www.duan-daw.com/

[puuchaibaa]

​​​During all my years living in Thailand I never had consistently regular bowels until I installed a water purifier just over a year ago. And all those years I used to drink only branded water like Minere, Sprinkle, Nestle, etc.

The purification system I have now costed very little and annual maintenance is reasonable. At the heart is a portable purifier ($50 General Ecology First Need XLE filter) normally used for camping. Crazy right? But it lasted almost a year in a household with 4 adults. Note that we also have a GE whole house filter ($40 housing+$10 filter) for sediment and a GE 5µm carbon filter ($15 housing+$5 filter) for taste feeding into the portable purifier. Also note that our water supply is from the local utility in town which supplies generally clean water.

To extend the life of the purifier, I recently added a cheap Sistema 3-stage filter (Bt 900 which was 50% off due to a broken connector which Sistema replaced for free) to feed into it. I tossed the crappy polypropylene filter and replaced it with a fine ceramic filter (Bt 500). I'm hoping this will extend the life of the purifier by at least another year. If all goes as hoped, the annual maintenance should be $25 ($50/2yrs) for the purifier + roughly Bt 2000 for all the other filters.

The reason I am using the General Ecology purifier is because it has been independently tested to remove nearly all nasty microbes. It has also received overwhelming positive feedback all over the web. The only problem is that they are not sold here in Thailand.

If you want a local solution I suggest you get an ultra-fine (UF) system which can remove 0.01µm or smaller. Based on my experience UV and RO are not necessary. UV is more expensive and the lamp must be replaced every year. RO is more expensive still, removes all healthy minerals and you have to deal with the waste water. I'd go with a 4-stage UF system -- sediment-carbon-ceramic-UF or a 5-stage one for an extra carbon filter. These types of systems start from ~Bt 4000 up.

[Naam]

Not sure if this is of any help as they seem to top out at 36 watts. But they might be able to source an 80w for you?

http://www.duan-daw.com/

thanks, will give it a try.

[Naam]

try these people they seem to have a good selection you will need power output and length, and possibly a picture of the end connects , uvc tube, or contact phillips in Thailand for a dealer.

http://www.aquarich.co.th

[IMHO]

Not sure if this is of any help as they seem to top out at 36 watts. But they might be able to source an 80w for you?

http://www.duan-daw.com/

thanks, will give it a try.

That's the same one I already linked you to

[bazza40]

​​​During all my years living in Thailand I never had consistently regular bowels until I installed a water purifier just over a year ago. And all those years I used to drink only branded water like Minere, Sprinkle, Nestle, etc.

The purification system I have now costed very little and annual maintenance is reasonable. At the heart is a portable purifier ($50 General Ecology First Need XLE filter) normally used for camping. Crazy right? But it lasted almost a year in a household with 4 adults. Note that we also have a GE whole house filter ($40 housing+$10 filter) for sediment and a GE 5µm carbon filter ($15 housing+$5 filter) for taste feeding into the portable purifier. Also note that our water supply is from the local utility in town which supplies generally clean water.

To extend the life of the purifier, I recently added a cheap Sistema 3-stage filter (Bt 900 which was 50% off due to a broken connector which Sistema replaced for free) to feed into it. I tossed the crappy polypropylene filter and replaced it with a fine ceramic filter (Bt 500). I'm hoping this will extend the life of the purifier by at least another year. If all goes as hoped, the annual maintenance should be $25 ($50/2yrs) for the purifier + roughly Bt 2000 for all the other filters.

The reason I am using the General Ecology purifier is because it has been independently tested to remove nearly all nasty microbes. It has also received overwhelming positive feedback all over the web. The only problem is that they are not sold here in Thailand.

If you want a local solution I suggest you get an ultra-fine (UF) system which can remove 0.01µm or smaller. Based on my experience UV and RO are not necessary. UV is more expensive and the lamp must be replaced every year. RO is more expensive still, removes all healthy minerals and you have to deal with the waste water. I'd go with a 4-stage UF system -- sediment-carbon-ceramic-UF or a 5-stage one for an extra carbon filter. These types of systems start from ~Bt 4000 up.

Let me suggest bowel regularity is not dependent on the composition of the water you are drinking. It's related to your food intake.

Rice, white bread and cake are most likely to cause irregularity or even constipation. Spiced food such as sai ua ( northern thai sausage ) will have the opposite effect.

The best natural laxatives readily available in Thailand are corn ( khao pud ) and okra ( ga dtiap ).