I live in a landed double storey terrace house (~10 yr old house) in Shah Alam/Klang area, moved in not too long ago and first time home-owner. Very noob.

Let me split this question to 2 parts.

Part 1 - Water Pump:

I find that the water pressure in my house (most importantly outside garden area water outlet, kitchen sinks, toilet bidet, shower) is quite low. Even some contractors who come to my house and fix some things told me this, and apparently nothing much I can do except install water pump.

So, my question what kind of water pump do I need? Do I need to install 1 outside my house? Do I also need to install 1 inside my house since there is a water tank? (I think there is, because when there are water cuts, I can still get water in my toilets even though kitchen no more water).

How are they powered, do I need to do wiring and install new switches somewhere?

Also, any recommendations for water pump? I've been suggested Tsunami before, but never really looked deeper than that (because I don't know what I need).

1 recent problem I've been having also is that stray cats have been coming and leaving their poop at my house. My outdoor hose water pressure is low, so cleaning this is a hassle.

Part 2 - Water Filter:
I plan to install water filter to clean whole house water, because I have eczema (which only started a few months after I moved in this house) and I suspect maybe its because the shower water is unfiltered. I was looking at Nesh, and they recommend for me to install the water pump first before filter.

Any recommendations on water filters? I don't really want to spend a bomb (Nesh is between 2k-3k roughly). They told me filter replacement 5-7 years with proper maintenance, which is between 700-1k. I also browse here and saw some people combo their filters with the cheap 10" PP filter because it apparently helps the filter last longer?

Hope sifus here can give good advice!

This post has been edited by nabzblitz: Jan 2 2025, 08:19 PM

i moved to ~10yrs house too. i dont want to risk any pipe burst in the walls due to the water pump pressure. so i just installed a shower water heater with a built in pump in each bathroom

i suggest u call a handyman/plumber to clean your water tank first. who knows how thick is the sediment inside the tank. if the eczema still didnt go away then maybe can proceed with outdoor filter

Air Selangor does not allow to install water pump at the main supply. So, usually, main supply to the tank. Then, from the tank to the water pump for the distribution to your bathrooms and outlets.

There are two questions you need to find out:

(1) Do your neighbours face the same problem? If yes, the size of the water tank that requred is one issue since your house is a terrace house. Smaller water tank may not be effective if the entire area suffer low water pressure.

(2) What type of piping used in your house. Those 40 years old house use metal piping. The rust caused the problem. However, for 10 years old house, I think it should be poly or pvc pipes. But, you have to check. Some piping cannot take high water pressure. Usually, the water pump seller would try to sell your the powerful one by asking you how many toilets you have. Those formula assumes you use water concurrently. If you take this formula, the water pressure could cause your water pipe to burst.

This post has been edited by ongss: Jan 2 2025, 12:46 AM

I see.. Can any handyman/plumber do water tank cleaning? Or need to find those who can do it specifically? I assume they would also be able to advise if the pipes can withstand water pump pressure?

Also, I'm currently using the Joven shower/water heater, and it does come with built in pump. But still the pressure is quite sad one.

Sorry just to make sure I understand, means got 2 water pumps? 1 from main supply to tank, and 1 from tank to the whole house? Or did you mean only 1 water pump, from the tank to the whole house?

If its the second one, does that mean that only the areas that gets water from the tank benefits? So for example my outdoor hose still low pressure?

(1) Not entirely sure. There was 1 day where I noticed that my water pressure was lower than usual, but when I asked my neighbor, they said theirs is fine.

(2) Yes definitely seen this brought up in other threads as well. Plan to get a plumber to check to make sure.

This post has been edited by nabzblitz: Jan 2 2025, 08:24 PM

No, one pump only, your main supply should flow directly to the water tank. Then, from the water tank, you use water pump to distribute to your bathrooms, kitchen and etc.

Actually, for older design, most of the developer use main supply for outdoor as well as the kitchen. But, this would cause inconvenience whenever there is a water disruption. So, for me, i change the design. My main goes directly to two big tanks. Then, from these two tanks my pump distributes. So, even if there is water disruption, my kitchen and outdoor garden are not affected as my supply in the tanks is able to sustain for 5 days.

Water from the storage tank is technically non-potable to use in the kitchen, while water from the mains is. This is why the kitchen is fed directly from the mains and included as part of the SPAN technical guidelines.


See page 51, clause C.3.1.d the full SPAN pdf https://www.span.gov.my/document/upload/jd0...9LnyhboNj8V.pdf nabzblitz

Ya, thanks for the information, my contractor did tell me that.

Honestly, water directly from main is techinically non-potable. I have to use a battery-power timer to flush out the dirts accumulated inside my water filter everyday. My drinking and cooling water supplies are from filtered dispensers.

Probably i need to send my water for checking.

Sorry, I think you interpret it wrongly. Water from the mains supply is technically potable, ie can be drunk. It may have sediment, but it should be bacteria free (note I said "should be") Water from a storage tank is not guaranteed bacteria free, hence definitely not potable.

You may choose what you believe and take steps to mitigate the risks you perceive, but please don't change proper definitions.

Thanks for the responses @stormer.lyn, @ongss.

So basically what I'm getting is:
1. I can't install an outdoor water pump, as Air Selangor does not allow this.
2. I can install a water pump from the water tank - but if I understand correctly, this will basically only affect my bathrooms, since I think my outdoor hose and kitchen water comes from the main supply.
- Unless I do what @ongss did, and route all my water to the water tank first, then distribute to the house.
- Based on @stormer.lyn's info, water from main supply is "technically" potable while water from tank is not, as not guaranteed to be bacteria free.

Out of curiousity, what is the cost to do something like this? And also wondering why do you need 2 big tanks, and where did you put them? On the roof?

I stay at Damansara area and experienced frequent water disruptions during my renovation, for 2024 e.g.

https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news...duled-water-cut
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024...ys-air-selangor

The above were made public. There were occasional few hours type of unscheduled disruptions. I could see most of my neighbours have big tanks. So, I analyzed my old water bills to see our usage of water. Then, I install tanks with capacity to last for 5 days.

My cost, back in 2022, were around:

- RM 3668 for 2 Kingkong 2300L HS230 tanks,
- RM 4200 for Grundfos CMBE3-62 main water pump
- RM 980 for a CNP PM370S standby water pump
- RM 1100 for PS UF Membrane Filter (including the auto timer for flusing).
- RM 3000 for the labour cost to install all the pipings (this one was extremely expensive as my contractor cut throat).

I have some space at my backyard. So, I placed all these at the back and I can check the cleanliness of the tanks. I also used an auto timer to flush the membrane filter.

stormer.lyn did highlight a valid issue about the risks of growing bacteria in the water tanks. For that, I took mitigations. I use RO water dispensers for drinking and regularly change the filters. As for cooking, I have another water filter under the kitchen sink for cooking. So far for one year, we are healthy. Will find out how to check the levels of bacteria inside the water.

This post has been edited by ongss: Jan 6 2025, 10:55 AM

Just for your information, my main contractor also told me about the risk of bacteria. I did some research, this is one example of information available

https://dwi.gov.uk/consumers/learn-more-abo...s-and-cisterns/

I observed most of the requirements as stated in the above website.

Good for you. If you think that your tanks that store 2 days of usage, and thus take 2 days to refresh is okay, then it is. I'm not the one drinking your tanked water, so you don't have to convince me of anything.

I am not trying to convince you on anything. Anyway, I already alerted TS about your comment about bacteria.

This post has been edited by ongss: Jan 7 2025, 10:58 AM