Why is water pressure/flow always so low in Thai buildings? Any way to improve it?

[SS1]

Why is it that in almost every Thai building water pressure is very low? I have had this experience in a Bangkok Town house, various Chiang Mai and Bangkok condiminiums / hotels (ranging from 2-17th floor) and almost every time there water pressure is very low in taps and showers compared to Europe. I had almost forgotten what a proper shower feels like until visiting Finland for holidays, where every shower and tap has a lot of water coming out. I realise the systems are a little different here as instead of a central boiler they use just a cold water pipe and electric shower, but this itself shouldn't be causing low pressure. 

 

We recently bought a newly built condo on Sukhumvit 64 and when inspecting the unit, already found the water pressure was quite low in the shower. We asked the construction manager / building staff about this and they told us that the water is running at low pressure until the project is finished. Suprise surprise, it is exactly the same as before. We have opened the valve to the max from the closet in the corridor but no help. This is on floor 2 so the height shouldn't be causing any issues. 

A nice morning shower is one little important thing in my life for properly waking up along with a freshly brewed double espresso.. 

 

Why is this and is there any DIY way to improve it? Maybe some additional pump installed somewhere? 

[RichCor]

You should take a look at how the water is being delivered, reservoired, and distributed throughout the condo unit.

Then read a couple of articles:

 

High rise water distribution

www.phcppros.com |  Peter Kraut, licensed mechanical engineer, USA

 

Water has the unfortunate quality of being heavier than air. In fact, it weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. This mass requires a pressure of 0.433 psi to lift water one foot (62.4 lbs/144 in in ft). To put it another way, one psi will lift water 2.31 feet (1/0.433). In a single story building with 70 psi in the street, this can be insignificant. In a high-rise building, this factor will drive the design of both the hot and cold water systems.

 

 

What To Do About Low Water Pressure

www.plumbingsupply.com  |  sales literature

[KittenKong]

The pressure in my high-rise building is very high. So high that I daren't actually turn the main stopcock on full or it would make the taps noisy. Our water is stored in a huge tank on the roof.

[Destiny1990]

6 hours ago, KittenKong said:

The pressure in my high-rise building is very high. So high that I daren't actually turn the main stopcock on full or it would make the taps noisy. Our water is stored in a huge tank on the roof.

Watertank on the roof then the Higher floor units good pressure lower floor units very  low pressure...need a pump better but developers skip that very annoying problem.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Destiny1990

[KittenKong]

28 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Watertank on the roof then the Higher floor units good pressure lower floor units very  low pressure...need a pump .....

 

No. With a tank on the roof the pressure is lower at the top of the building, not the bottom. But in my building the pressure is OK at the top also.

[Destiny1990]

7 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

No. With a tank on the roof the pressure is lower at the top of the building, not the bottom. But in my building the pressure is OK at the top also.

Seems lower units always have the weakest water pressure while tank on top.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Seems lower units always have the weakest water pressure while tank on top.

 

Not according to Newton.

[johng]

 
Not according to Newton.

Dont remember if Newton did the pressures thing but certainly lower floors should get higher water pressure with a tank on the roof.

[KittenKong]

8 minutes ago, johng said:

Dont remember if Newton did the pressures thing ....

 

No, but gravity was all his doing, so water flows downhill thanks to him. And between his third law and Archimedes' levers and fulcra, the rest of the calculation is largely covered too. Blaise Pascal is just the icing on the cake. Or the froth on the latte if you prefer.

[kamalabob2]

You can look in the pump room of various buildings to see how they have invested in proper pumps, or not done so. The Buritel Hotel in Buriram has a Mitsubishi Super Pump on each floor. I've been in resorts, such as Jack's Resort in Buriram,  that also use this series of professional water pumps. A much larger building would have significantly larger water pumps. Not to mention pumps that control the fire sprinklers. 

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, kamalabob2 said:

You can look in the pump room of various buildings to see how they have invested in proper pumps, or not done so. The Buritel Hotel in Buriram has a Mitsubishi Super Pump on each floor. I've been in resorts, such as Jack's Resort in Buriram,  that also use this series of professional water pumps. A much larger building would have significantly larger water pumps. Not to mention pumps that control the fire sprinklers. 

 

My building has very large pumps to raise the water to the roof storage, but none are needed to distribute the water as gravity does that. Pumps for sprinklers would be a particularly bad idea as they might fail if the electricity supply was interrupted during an emergency. So our sprinklers are entirely gravity fed.

As far as I know this is standard practice in high-rise buildings.

 

Those 10,000B pumps/tanks pictured in your photo are the sort of thing one might install if there is no roof storage, or very little, or if the building relies on pumps to actually supply the water to various parts. So more for sprawling low-rise buildings, or individual houses. I do know someone who installed one in a condo unit in my building as he particularly wanted a monsoon rain shower in his bathroom. It does give him that.

[CGW]

24 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

 So our sprinklers are entirely gravity fed.

As far as I know this is standard practice in high-rise buildings.

This is my understanding, believe this is also one of the reasons roof top pools are popular as they are also fed into the sprinkler system?

[VocalNeal]

3 hours ago, kamalabob2 said:

The Buritel Hotel in Buriram has a Mitsubishi Super Pump on each floor. I

Not a bad idea as there are more than a few taps and more than 3 floors?

 

I used to live in a three storey place with a tank and a pump on the roof.

[Destiny1990]

21 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Not according to Newton.

On other hand it's possible in mine condo topfloor units got pumps and lower floors don't. 

[KittenKong]

3 hours ago, CGW said:

This is my understanding, believe this is also one of the reasons roof top pools are popular as they are also fed into the sprinkler system?

 

Yes, that's my understanding also.

[Proboscis]

To answer the original question, if all that matters is your shower, then get a shower unit that incorporates a pressure pump. You can purchase the pump as a separate unit. You or your plumber would need to first check the water source to see that there is a tank large enough to hold water for a shower. If there is a doubt, you can have a small water tank (usually made of plastic) installed in your unit and have the pump work off that.

[dotpoom]

Some people simply attach a pump to the inlet pipe to solve the problem.

[TechnikaIII]

You get what you pay for.

 

[RichCor]

1 hour ago, Proboscis said:

To answer the original question, if all that matters is your shower, then get a shower unit that incorporates a pressure pump. You can purchase the pump as a separate unit. You or your plumber would need to first check the water source to see that there is a tank large enough to hold water for a shower. If there is a doubt, you can have a small water tank (usually made of plastic) installed in your unit and have the pump work off that.

 

1 hour ago, dotpoom said:

Some people simply attach a pump to the inlet pipe to solve the problem.

 

While I was tempted to suggest adding just a pressure assist pump, doing so *might* cause negative pressure on the condo plumbing (stealing water availability from other users, possible even creating a backflow conditions that could contaminate the line). 

 

I think Proboscis has the better idea of either verifying the existence of a nearby tank, or the OP putting in his own, where an added pressure pump could be guaranteed to draw banked water from for a full shower. 

[Joe4284]

If you are looking at improving shower pressure without any additional mods you can take a look at Happybath Thailand. The showerheads have really small perforations where the water comes out. Pretty much the same concept as putting your finger over a garden hose to increase the jet distance. 

[holy cow cm]

Have a house, control the pump. I have a house. Condo, good luck! I was just at a resort in Hua Hin 2 days ago till today; shower temperature was weak; pressure not so bad but the wanting (needing) a pounding hot shower left it to a warm shower only. Just bearable. Life goes on..

[themerg]

This is Thailand, not your home country.

Water pressure is not important to life, prioritize instead of complain.

Look at Thai people, they are happy with low water pressure. Why aren't you happy?

Tests have proven complainers die younger than non-complainers.

You are in the most beautiful country on earth with cheap and abundant food.

Relax, enjoy, and count your blessings often.

[Destiny1990]

1 hour ago, themerg said:

This is Thailand, not your home country.

Water pressure is not important to life, prioritize instead of complain.

Look at Thai people, they are happy with low water pressure. Why aren't you happy?

Tests have proven complainers die younger than non-complainers.

You are in the most beautiful country on earth with cheap and abundant food.

Relax, enjoy, and count your blessings often.

How u know thais are  happy with low water pressure? 

[VocalNeal]

13 hours ago, dotpoom said:

Some people simply attach a pump to the inlet pipe to solve the problem.

Most people in our soi !

[sawadee1947]

well, in many "Guest Houses" they did not install a private pump to get a good pressure. Just to safe money. And the public water pressure is low because of same reasons

[VocalNeal]

Could be that public water pressure is enough to get water to all the local residences. After that one can do what one likes. Same as the electricity. No transformer near you. Well you have to buy your own.

 

Most houses have a 2m high tank so the pressure only needs to be 2m plus height of highest residence plus flow losses. Up country the pressure is probably the height of the local water tower, less flow losses.