21st floor condo low water pressure issue...need advice

[PGSan 249]

16 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The water tank is at the roof of all high-rise buildings

We have a tank at the top (57th floor) and another on the 26th floor.  It is a classy place.

[natway09 5,068]

I would get the hot water system checked out well first for any partial blockages, filter clear etc.

If only the shower this is the most obvious problem.

As mentioned a shower head with smaller jets or an adjustable head good idea

[DefaultName 919]

22 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Get those braided lines replaced, making sure that higher grade ones are used as cheap ones won't last. Replace the faucet/tap aerators as well. They can be had at Homepro these days.

 

Also, based on the OP saying he found crud in the tap aerator, if those are galvanized pipe nipples between the hidden pipework and the braided hoses, they may be really constricted with calcium build-up as well.

 

As mentioned earlier, placing a pump on a water mains inlet is illegal and you can't do it on MWA or PWA mains. Years ago on my first build in Thailand with chronically low water pressure, I placed my spare water pump on the inlet to fill my storage tank quicker. I had no problems with water pressure but my six neighbors along the cul-de-sac would only get a whistle of air from their taps when my pump was on! I then put a timer on it so that it only kicked on for a few hours overnight. After I was advised it was illegal, I doubled up on my water storage and removed the pump.

 

However, since condominium plumbing becomes the owners business once it is past the unit meter, maybe these booster pumps are permitted? AFAIK, pump-assisted commercial shower units and water heaters aren't available in Thailand. We had them in Myanmar, they were imported from Malaysia.

 

These ARE available (a similar item anyway), I got mine from HomePro last year, about ฿6,500 fitted if I remember correctly.  It makes a big difference.

 

It surprised me just how few of these there are, given the poor water pressure in many places here.

 

 

 

OP.  If there's a filter on your shower heater pipes, try cleaning that out first.

[jobsworth 464]

Chromium will auto translate if you ask it to.

 

[Deli 4,244]

Move to a lower floor

[Andrew Dwyer 14,454]

On 11/28/2020 at 10:14 AM, WaveHunter said:

 

 

Is it possible to get a simple “booster” pump to attach to bathroom water heater inlet from Lazada, that I can simply install myself?  I see a lot of listings for these type of pumps on Lazada and AliExpress, but the product descriptions and buyer feedback are mostly written in Thai and the Lazada site does not auto-translate so I don’t have a clue which ones might be effective for my needs.

 

Take a screenshot photo, open Google translate and in camera mode import and scan the photo, translate from Thai to English.

 

Simple !!

 The hardest part is trying to understand the translation

[LarryLEB 138]

On 11/28/2020 at 12:36 PM, 4reaL said:

Those braided lines look like <deleted>, so if you can remove them and check for crud inside then remove any kinks in the line - maybe  a simple solution to a hard problem.

Just 3 weeks ago, we replaced these braided lines in one of our bathrooms.  We went from zero hot water in the shower to a powerful flow.  (16th floor)  One line had corroded completely solid!

 

Great advice from 4reaL.

Edited November 29, 2020 by LarryLEB

[phantomfiddler 7,327]

You say you just moved into a 21st Floor Apartment, but neglected to say how many floors were above you !  Since most condos have a roof storage tank, if there are 2 or more floors above you the you should be getting loads of pressure, indicating partially blocked sections as many have suggested. I am on the top floor and the pressure is low but usable. Anywhere lower floor should be ok.

[Yellowtail 1,118]

2 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

You say you just moved into a 21st Floor Apartment, but neglected to say how many floors were above you !  Since most condos have a roof storage tank, if there are 2 or more floors above you the you should be getting loads of pressure, indicating partially blocked sections as many have suggested. I am on the top floor and the pressure is low but usable. Anywhere lower floor should be ok.

 

Decent water pressure in a home is about 50 PSI (~3.5 Bar) to get that kind of pressure from elevation alone you'd need about 35m or at least ten floors. 

[ChaiyaTH 980]

Maybe your upstair neighbour is that Thai youtuber who puts jacuzzi's in his condo.

[The Theory 662]

Have you checked pressure before water heater ? If pressure is good at faucet and toilet then you have missed something.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by The Theory

[ericthai 1,301]

On 11/28/2020 at 5:23 AM, Dmaxdan said:

Would you like me to give you another analogy as to why forcing water through a smaller space increases pressure?

Picture this, a slow, meandering river suddenly flows through a narrow rocky gorge. What happens? any guesses? No? Okay, I will enlighten you. You get rapids. This is because the same amount of water is now being forced through a smaller space.

Not actually correct. The pressure increase will result in flow loss, so the volume of water is reduced. 

Then you still need to consider friction, elevation, etc. I'm not going to go into details on hydrodynamics.

 

[whaleboneman 2,725]

On 11/28/2020 at 2:30 AM, Cake Monster said:

Placing any kind of Pump, or restricting the Shower Head Etc with small holes will certainly give you more pressure.

Unfortunetley the down side to this, is that here will be considerably more back pressure in the Water pie, which could lead to leaks and possible ruptures.

You will then be responsible for the Repairs, and this could be to several other Condo Apartments.

My advice is because the Room is Rented by you, the Landlord is responsible. Get him to sort the issue out, or terminate the contract citing poor water supply.

There would be more pressure when shower is off then when the tiny shower head holes are opened. And nothing is bursting then. Shower head hole size makes no difference to water supply system.

[WaveHunter 1,302]

On 11/28/2020 at 2:31 PM, NanLaew said:

Get those braided lines replaced, making sure that higher grade ones are used as cheap ones won't last. Replace the faucet/tap aerators as well. They can be had at Homepro these days.

 

Also, based on the OP saying he found crud in the tap aerator, if those are galvanized pipe nipples between the hidden pipework and the braided hoses, they may be really constricted with calcium build-up as well.

 

As mentioned earlier, placing a pump on a water mains inlet is illegal and you can't do it on MWA or PWA mains. Years ago on my first build in Thailand with chronically low water pressure, I placed my spare water pump on the inlet to fill my storage tank quicker. I had no problems with water pressure but my six neighbors along the cul-de-sac would only get a whistle of air from their taps when my pump was on! I then put a timer on it so that it only kicked on for a few hours overnight. After I was advised it was illegal, I doubled up on my water storage and removed the pump.

 

However, since condominium plumbing becomes the owners business once it is past the unit meter, maybe these booster pumps are permitted? AFAIK, pump-assisted commercial shower units and water heaters aren't available in Thailand. We had them in Myanmar, they were imported from Malaysia.

 

@NanLaew You’re solution sounds like the best one, all things considered, though I sincerely appreciate all the advice from everyone who has replied.

 

I want to ask you:

 

1) have you actually used them, and do they work well at increasing pressure and heat (my present water heater is pretty weak)

 

2). I noticed in the description that the unit is DC powered.  Does this mean it is battery powered?  If so, how long does a charge last, and how is it recharged.

 

[WaveHunter 1,302]

On 11/28/2020 at 5:23 PM, Dmaxdan said:

Would you like me to give you another analogy as to why forcing water through a smaller space increases pressure?

Picture this, a slow, meandering river suddenly flows through a narrow rocky gorge. What happens? any guesses? No? Okay, I will enlighten you. You get rapids. This is because the same amount of water is now being forced through a smaller space. The exact same principal applies to shower heads. The smaller the holes, the more the pressure increases. Like it or not, that is a scientific fact. 

No offense but I think your analogy is flawed.  Fluids are not compressible.  Decreasing the diameter of shower holes will only increase pressure at the expense of volume.  

The only reasons rivers flow faster through confined areas is because volume is not restricted.  Instead, it is able to rise in height as it passes through narrow sections, thus volume is not impeded.

Edited November 30, 2020 by WaveHunter