Village venting

[Enoon]

In my dwelling place in Thailand there is a yard.

If it was my yard I would be very concerned about what happened in/to it and how much it cost me.

Happily it is not my yard.

[Rookiescot]

From the sound of things are you using a centrifugal pump?

If you are then I am astonished you are getting anything at all with it.

What you need is a positive displacement pump.

http://www.pumpschool.com/intro/pd%20vs%20centrif.pdf

[zyphodb]

you could have lifetime of water drilling experience in the rest of the world, backed with degrees in engineneering and earth sciences.

but old somchai and his four simple relatives will always know better than a farang.

welcome to issan.

Exactly, I couldn't have put it better myself, to even suggest that you know better than the villagers is a complete no no as having made their pronouncement for them to be wrong is an impossible loss of face, as is a farang knowing more about anything than a Thai...

Face, the curse of Thailand, If you cannot admit to making mistakes it is impossible to learn anything....

[canuckamuck]

In the last 6 years I have completed many projects and fixed many problems for other people. I would say I am fairly competent DIY guy. People seem impressed with my solutions, and often I am copied.

Nevertheless, when a problem arises, my input will not be considered if any of the villagers have chimed in with a plan of their own. At that point you got to watch it fail, or tolerate a meagre result.

There is no way to establish credibility here. Every day you are reset to square one, a foreigner that knows nothing. The only thing I have going for me is I am getting older and therefore there is more pressure to listen to me based on age.

Perhaps it is the fact that I refuse to accept the local standard of excellence, which is: Doing things with the least amount of cost and effort to achieve a minimum result. I always spend more and work harder to exceed the minimum.

Low tech example : When a blue PVC pipe cracks, the accepted thing to do is to wrap it with inner tube rubber and a bit of wire. Then watch it leak for 6 months to a year leaving a big muddy spot. Rewrap the leak only if the loss of pressure becomes too great. Do this regardless of the puddle being on a footpath or other inconvenient location.

Farang solution. Buy a 5 baht connector, cut off the leak, reconnect the pipe. Glue if necessary.

9 times out of ten, the inner tube is the method of choice.

[macksview]

the new farang toilet had been installed, time to fit the seat, said to wife tell dad to screw in slowly, so not to over tighten, would not let me do it.

wife says nothing, tighten tighten, farang saying saa saa, desired result cracking thread

moral of the story, you can not stop them.

[Stray]

Not tomorrow, but the next tomorrow we're getting our well drilled, so it looks as though I'm doing a lot better than you.

Maybe, then again my whole problem was related to well drilling. You may have jinxed yourself.

But I won't have a village committee offering their wisdom, and there is no mother in law to worry about.

No mother-in-law to worry about?

Have you already filled in one well and mother-in-law mysteriously vanished around the same time?

Fully understand the frustration related to delays in when you first request having something done, reminding people, reminding people, reminding people, reminding people, reminding people, reminding people, (blowing your top) REMINDING PEOPLE and finally having the task completed.

Ice cold beer, remote location down the back paddock (overlooking the fishpond), shady trees, hammock . . . tomorrow's another day.

All been said and done, wouldn't trade this life for anything!

[ThaiKneeTim]

UPDATE: Her indoors has suggested the drilling team might want to still anywhere other than where I want it, my job is to convince them that I want the shortest pipe run possible, and not at the other end of the property.

Hopefully it won't be too difficult, I've been fairly successful with most contractors so far, but that's based on me having the money and then wanting a share of it. I'm pretty sure the need to feed a family overrides loss of face in most circumstances.

As an aside; We had about 2500 litres of water delivered this morning, hopefully that will last until our borehole supply is up and running. The town supply also made an appearance overnight, but not enough pressure to reach the float valves on the tanks, maybe tonight! :-)

[impulse]

In the last 6 years I have completed many projects and fixed many problems for other people. I would say I am fairly competent DIY guy. People seem impressed with my solutions, and often I am copied.

If it's anything like China, they just get a kick out of seeing a white guy turning a wrench. You'll attract a huge audience that can't believe the way you're doing it (wrong, of course). Stories will be told and retold for years, over endless bottles of booze...

Edited April 18, 2016 by impulse

[Dakling]

I wouldn't worry too much about the pipe run provided it is a pressure line rather than a suction line. Just make sure you can put the pump close to the borehole and that you have a power source available.

The drillers will most likely need some of the 2500 liters for drilling mud, they will also likely make a hole few meters around and a few feet deep to use as a mud pit.

If your ground water is more than 6m deep think about investing in a down hole pump, having some kind of hole casing that goes down most of the way is a good idea too, most of the drillers only want to put it down for the first 4m to collar the hole.

If I were to do my tank and automatic pump over again I would want it farther from the house, as it is now I can hear the pump cycle when the bedroom window is open.

[macksview]

having a wall built a few pre songkrans ago, good job was being done.

songkran arrives, waiting for workers to return.

no workers, i eventually found out, 2 were in police lock up and the others were still pissed.

they did finish the job albeit about 5 days longer than expected.

[Gonsalviz]

I have seen some strange stuff here but This is phenomenal.

[Gonsalviz]

When my house was built they installed threaded (amazing) water taps but for 5/8 inch hose. Well, everything I have needs 1/2 inch hose. (not Thai 1/2 inch which is 3/8 inch in the rest of the world). I went to the local hardware store and found valves that I could take apart and make 1/2 inch taps so I didn't have to start cutting PVC.

I borrowed tools from them, got the valves, split them and converted the taps to 1/2 inch. All the while they are telling me it can't be done. When I finished, They said, "Good idea".

Funny buggars.

[ThaiKneeTim]

I wouldn't worry too much about the pipe run provided it is a pressure line rather than a suction line. Just make sure you can put the pump close to the borehole and that you have a power source available.

The drillers will most likely need some of the 2500 liters for drilling mud, they will also likely make a hole few meters around and a few feet deep to use as a mud pit.

If your ground water is more than 6m deep think about investing in a down hole pump, having some kind of hole casing that goes down most of the way is a good idea too, most of the drillers only want to put it down for the first 4m to collar the hole.

If I were to do my tank and automatic pump over again I would want it farther from the house, as it is now I can hear the pump cycle when the bedroom window is open.

I wouldn't have anything other than a borehole pump, it will be configured to fill the tanks upon demand, and supply the network while inhibiting the booster pump via relay logic.

As part of the property is undeveloped I already have an area set aside for the mess they're going to create.

I'm quite happy to have a collar going down as far as is needed to stabilise the soil, too far and the groundwater won't reach the borehole, or it will cause erosion around the pipe.

I've already established that we're getting a 6" pipe for the collar, room for the pump and a bit more!

[manxninja]

Great story OP, thanks for sharing.

[bermondburi]

Not water related, but reminds me of when I wanted to make a hedge. The Thais said that people don't make hedges. I would have to get some barbed wire and make a fence using that and some posts.

I said I didn't want that. They said ferrang ba.

Anyway, I bought about 300 small stems at about 2 baht each. They were three or so inches high. It's the same stuff they make the ornamental shapes from in the central reservation in any thai town.

Fast forward quite a few years, and I have a two metre high, one metre thick hedge that no one is coming through without a ladder. Doesn't take much looking after, and it looks nice.

Also, on a drive around on my last visit, I noticed that quite a few other people in the village now have their own hedges. I saw one old guy taking great pride in the pruning he was doing.

No one calls me crazy anymore for my hedge.

[ThaiKneeTim]

Well update:

The well was drilled exactly where I wanted it. The drilling guy had a walk around the garden with his divining rods, but her indoors was talking to him and they set up the rig where I wanted the well. All through the drilling she was a little tense, although she didn't say I think she was worried that they wouldn't find water.

Anyway, we got the new pump today and it's going underground tomorrow.

EDIT: I sodding hate the autocorrect on this phone!

Edited April 20, 2016 by ThaiKneeTim

[Dakling]

Not water related, but reminds me of when I wanted to make a hedge. The Thais said that people don't make hedges. I would have to get some barbed wire and make a fence using that and some posts.

I said I didn't want that. They said ferrang ba.

Anyway, I bought about 300 small stems at about 2 baht each. They were three or so inches high. It's the same stuff they make the ornamental shapes from in the central reservation in any thai town.

Fast forward quite a few years, and I have a two metre high, one metre thick hedge that no one is coming through without a ladder. Doesn't take much looking after, and it looks nice.

Also, on a drive around on my last visit, I noticed that quite a few other people in the village now have their own hedges. I saw one old guy taking great pride in the pruning he was doing.

No one calls me crazy anymore for my hedge.

I love the hedge idea we have one as well. The one thing I regret not doing is laying barbed wire and threading it through the hedge as it was growing. I will do so on the section of hedge we have yet to extend. The reason why I regret not doing it is I have a heck of a time keeping dogs, chickens, neighbors, etc. from trying to force paths through the hedge. The neighbours all seem to think it is supposed to be decorative and not for privacy. They figure if we don't want people to cut a path through it we should have built a wall........

[kannot]

I wonder how many locals you could bury in 16 meters.

not enough!!

[norfolkc]

Rule of thumb centrifugal pump max pump can suck is 26feet this can change a bit depending on atmospheric press

Rule of thumb for submersible pumps static head press is 10mts per bar (14.5psi)

So if you are down 10mts you need a pump that has a discharge press of greater than 1 bar

[Speedo1968]

A brave man with a lot of patience - interesting story - may I wish you good luck.

Doesn't any one go dowsing any more ??? Seriously, or is this too extreme for the locals ........?

I dug, by hand using a spade, my own well to a depth of about 8 metres, where I found sweet water whilst farming in South America - many years ago.

The top section of the well was brick lined to help prevent collapse.

Every summer I would be lowered by hand, dig out a few more centimetres and enjoyed sweet water ( potable ) every year, every season. Enough for my small number of livestock and market garden vegetables.

Used a floating pump and, was careful not to 'dry pump' the well by mistake. I wonder if your gung-ho locals dry pumped the well they put in your garden, or is there just no water ?

Here, on the outskirts of the small town I live in the local pond ( small underground spring which has now dried up ), which had fish and the water could at least be used for bathing, flooded late last year with effluent from a local pig farm following a cloud burst. The flooding could have been prevented. Local building materials from demolished houses and other waste has / is now being dumped around and being blown in to the pond. The pond is of course now 100% dead, as is its neighbouring pond.

Bring back the dowser

[Asheron]

Like many very stupid people, the Thai are mainly experts at everything. They know everything, and are the best at everything.

Still, my hat's off to a 4th grade graduate living in a house and driving a car funded collectively by 4 or 5 of the most educated men in the world.

Who, of course, know nothing about each other- or her brother who lives in the house with her.

Cunning != intelligence.

[macksview]

minor vent

found out our switched on young welder/small projects man, has fallen in love with a lao waitress at the new laab shop.

so no more welding etc, he is now a laab cook so he can be with her all day.

as for welders small project men, the choice is back to somchai and his simple sons, or other various village drunks.

[emma12055]

IN the moutains of India,amongst the wilderness, where leopards and vultures roam, they do have water services just by dialing a telephone number. Also in the poorest state of Bihar, when there is a power outage, the homes and business have a backup generator good enough to power all the ac of the hotel rooms. But in this land of fake smile.... NOOOOOO!