Water Tank Towers.

[Onemore52]

32 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Hi guys... I will weigh in here just with my plans for the new home...

Currently, in Davao City we are living in a 3rd floor apartment. Water supply is dismal at any time - just a trickle. However, the owner installed a tank on the roof - 750 gallons or thereabouts? Overnight, the tank seems to always eventually fill up. Also, he installed a pump. Any time we draw water, it's supplied from the tank through the booster pump. There is no pressure tank - which I think is a mistake - but we get fairly even pressure always. The downside is that the pump needs service about every six months to remedy short cycling... So I would not recommend that method.

In our new home we plan to install a small tank on the roof - maybe 250 gallons? - enough for showers and toilets for several days, but maybe no laundry unless done by hand. I intend to get a pump with pressure tank to boost the pressure if the mains supply is insufficient or there is a water shortage. I see no issue in a shortage situation with just choosing which water taps to use - shower, kitchen? - but just one at a time. Having the pressure tank eases the use of the pump. And, for some uses, the pump may not even be needed. Here, it definitely is required because the lift from the tank to this floor is really not enough to shower or do laundry.

I personally think that trying to draw water from the mains with a pump is a bad idea. It certainly is anti-social to others... but, as noted, that is not always a consideration here, right? Just not for me - my opinion...

Tommy, I am picking up what you are putting down about the anti-social thing, and I definitely will give it another think if the karaoke that has been going since 8 a.m. this morning does eventually stop sometime tonight, maybe it might but I don't think it will on past experiences.

[Tommy T.]

58 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

So this should give you an idea of how strong your roof needs to be.

Ooppps! Dave.... my apologies to you... I was just referring back to mine and other previous comments here.... I really meant to say a 250 - 500 LITRE tank for our rooftop water tank. Not nearly so heavy....

Thanks for making me think!

[Tommy T.]

46 minutes ago, Onemore52 said:

Tommy, I am picking up what you are putting down about the anti-social thing, and I definitely will give it another think if the karaoke that has been going since 8 a.m. this morning does eventually stop sometime tonight, maybe it might but I don't think it will on past experiences.

I was referring loosely to a comment made a way back by HK about neighbours maybe being not necessarily too concerned about sucking water from the mains to the detriment of other users...

If you have not already read it, there was a thread not too long ago about one member having a disco right across the road from him that blasted from evening until very late at night during most or all of July? 

I have observed some mentality - not universal here, of course - of each man for himself (or person for him/her self to be politically correct?). Sometimes it irritates me. But I am getting used to just going with the flow....even though I try not to act like that...

Edited August 14, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

4 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Thanks Ken, thinking about it everything depends on the supply from the street, I am having a rest day today but tomorrow I will break the line and see what the supply is like.

Another thought for you regarding this statement from you, One...

You might try observing water flow/pressure at different times of the day. In early morning, there is a fair amount of pressure in this area. Late in the afternoon or early evening and it is not unusual for water flow to stop altogether. Guessing it is just cyclic usage - showers, laundry, etc.... all day and running down the supply by late in the day.

Just suggesting you get as much information as you can on your supply situation...

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Onemore52 said:

Tommy, I am picking up what you are putting down about the anti-social thing, and I definitely will give it another think if the karaoke that has been going since 8 a.m. this morning does eventually stop sometime tonight, maybe it might but I don't think it will on past experiences.

I mentioned the anti-social thing - but I'll admit that being considerate to neighbours is a 2-way street so if they're not playing ball then why should you?  That said, it's not necessarily fair to get one over on your "noisy neighbours" and detrimenting everyone else at the same time. It became rather contentious in my area so tread carefully would be my comment. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

I really meant to say a 250 - 500 LITRE tank for our rooftop water tank. Not nearly so heavy

Yes.  Quite a difference.  I used to haul my own potable water in my pick up many years back and the 250 gallon tank had to be brought home twice a week..  So I suspect the size you are looking at would provide a day or two supply.  I was thinking of an 80 liter tank at my house.  Better for weight and cost.  Plus I only need it when we have a brownout.  But its one of those things that I'll get around to one day.

[Onemore52]

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

I mentioned the anti-social thing - but I'll admit that being considerate to neighbours is a 2-way street so if they're not playing ball then why should you?  That said, it's not necessarily fair to get one over on your "noisy neighbours" and detrimenting everyone else at the same time. It became rather contentious in my area so tread carefully would be my comment. 

my comments about sucking the guts out of the water line were tongue in cheek, as I have access to as much water as I want from 2 wells next door at our factory, but comments about our anti-social neighbours (squatters) in the community of squatters were not, they could not give a rats a.rs. about anyone.

I buy all my building supplies from a family owned hardware store about 100 metres down the road to keep things local, who by the way does not have any water at all, his property being down the road from us, so when I was looking for some labourers to assist me in some work I thought he would know someone, so my approach to him was that I needed some workers for a few days to move some soil, 400 pesos a day meals provided, hours from 8 a.m. till 5 pm. A week later I am still moving the soil by myself, ever so slowly.

 

[Tommy T.]

8 hours ago, hk blues said:

I mentioned the anti-social thing - but I'll admit that being considerate to neighbours is a 2-way street so if they're not playing ball then why should you?  That said, it's not necessarily fair to get one over on your "noisy neighbours" and detrimenting everyone else at the same time. It became rather contentious in my area so tread carefully would be my comment. 

Agreed, HK... For me, above all, is to try to keep a low profile. I am still a guest here so realize the need to just be cool as possible always. And I do remember some people back when I lived in USA who were noisy, inconsiderate or just downright nasty. There was no "winning" against them either. People who would stay awake late night making noise and disturbing others somehow can sleep through whatever noise you (or me) might make at 6 or 7 am... And I don't like confrontation either - to me it's pointless and dangerous - especially in a land where P5k can cost someone their life?....

Lastly, maybe I am deluded, but I just try to do the right thing because it is the right thing, to maybe set an example if anyone else notices... 

[robert k]

1 hour ago, Onemore52 said:

my comments about sucking the guts out of the water line were tongue in cheek, as I have access to as much water as I want from 2 wells next door at our factory, but comments about our anti-social neighbours (squatters) in the community of squatters were not, they could not give a rats a.rs. about anyone.

I buy all my building supplies from a family owned hardware store about 100 metres down the road to keep things local, who by the way does not have any water at all, his property being down the road from us, so when I was looking for some labourers to assist me in some work I thought he would know someone, so my approach to him was that I needed some workers for a few days to move some soil, 400 pesos a day meals provided, hours from 8 a.m. till 5 pm. A week later I am still moving the soil by myself, ever so slowly.

 

Maybe you should have tried some different places? Or possibly let your wife look for some workers? Or specifically hire women. In my experience women generally don't use as big a shovel as I do, nor would they throw it as far but they get there eventually and they might like to make men's wages. Used to have a girl worked with us on St. Thomas who we just called Dirt Dawber. A thought occurs to me, maybe they didn't like your hours? If I had some grueling labor to be done, I would be starting when there is enough light to see and knock off for the day 11am or noon, wages adjusted accordingly. Another thought, is it booming in Daet as it is in Naga? If so P400 a day might be on the low side. Someone must want to earn money, you just need to change the equation until you find them

[Mike J]

11 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

The downside is that the pump needs service about every six months to remedy short cycling

If it requires maintenance for short cycling it must be a booster pump plus an expansion (pressure) tank.  When a pressure tank loses some or most of its air volume it begins to short cycle because the low volume of air in the tank loses pressure very quickly.  A booster pump works by "pulling" water from the supply source and "pushing" it down the service lines at a higher pressure.  You can add an expansion tank to a booster pump system that will prevent the pump from running each time a faucet is opened.  The expansion tank is what would be causing the short cycling.  That would make sense in an apartment building where water is being turned on/off on a very frequent basis.