Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! 
:fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes!
[quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
I hear ya Meesh. We just bought a new water heater with the hope of some semblance of consistency and have succeeded as far as heat goes. But in order to fire the pig up, we gotta now jump start it with the kitchen tap. Even when we turn the tap down to its minimally acceptable level, the pressure in the shower just craps out.
We are gonna try buying a pressure pump for about $3K. Hopefully the plumbing can handle it. I’ll let ya know how that works out.
Even when it seems utterly 3d world, you can always find some great gizmo to put a bandaid on the problem and some wrenchmonkey to make it work, and at 3d world prices. So, throw some money at it and:
Be a :happybiker: and 
[quote=“The Gumper”]
Even when it seems utterly 3d world, you can always find some great gizmo to put a bandaid on the problem and some wrenchmonkey to make it work, and at 3d world prices. So, throw some money at it and:
Be a :happybiker: and [/quote]
You must be dreaming, please stop screaming…
[quote=“sandman”][quote=“The Gumper”]
Even when it seems utterly 3d world, you can always find some great gizmo to put a bandaid on the problem and some wrenchmonkey to make it work, and at 3d world prices. So, throw some money at it and:
Be a :happybiker: and [/quote]
You must be dreaming, please stop screaming…[/quote]
Saaaandman!
Gumper, if you need the tap to jump start your new heater, a pump won’t work. I know a few things you can try first that are free and you can do it yourself in a few minutes. 4 things can cause that. The first: low pressure in the building. Not your situation as when you increase the demand it fires up. Second: bad battery or worn out igniter. It’s new you said so again not your situation. Third: Poor energy saving shower head or old clogged shower head reducing water flow. Fourth: Poor adjustment of the water flow control control switch. In you case, possibly a combination of 3 and 4. If you have a clean non-obstructed shower head, then it’s a matter of setting the flow switch. If you open the cover and look at the heater at the same time as someone opens the tap, you’ll see a switch moving as the water starts to flow. Basically a connector moves and makes contact and it fires up. Reduce the gap on the connector which moves back and forth depending on water pressure. Good quality heaters have a tangible adjustment, it’s very easy. Cheaper ones are pre-set and usually lower pressure on older buildings will not move the water flow control switch far enough. You can still adjust them by simply bending the connector closer to the contact point. Open up the shower head too. Clean the scale out and poke the small holes with a pin. It will restore it if it’s too old or clogged. My shower rocks. I have the connector bent quite a bit and it fires up easily with the tap barely opened.
Hope that helps because I feel for you. No heat in the house and a cold shower. That’s third world no doubt. 
Ha. My old rooftop apartment had no friggin water for 3 days. Needless to say I was fortunate enough that my gf took me to her gym so I could get a shower each day. (Never needed a gym membership, jump rope and stairs always worked for me.)
Even though my new apartment has never had that problem. The building has a big enough cistern that it can supply the building for a day. I’m paranoid enough that I keep 6 - 5000ml jugs of water handy. Used to be bottle water I buy from Wellcome. If nothing else, I am guaranteed a good flush whenever I need it. 
I dont think of Taiwan as 3rd world. It’s a 2nd world. There are things here better than in the west and there are some things that just boggle the mind.
[quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
there is always a 7-11 near you to supply you with enough water
[quote=“robi666”][quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
there is always a 7-11 near you to supply you with enough water[/quote]
Huh?
[quote=“hexuan”][quote=“robi666”][quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
there is always a 7-11 near you to supply you with enough water[/quote]
Huh?[/quote]
Bottled water.
And wherever you are in Taiwan, you’re within quick walking distance of a 7-11.
[quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
I will pass yr concerns to my friend living in Iraq.
Get some perspective.
Outside of Iraq and the other places deemed hell on earth … a consistent water supply, including hot water showers, would certainly seem a basic measure of the standard of living.
In all the places I have lived in Taiwan I can never remember ever having a consistent water supply. Before I moved my current house I lived in a small “modern” building with huge water tanks. Their were mornings that I would turn on the shower and sand would come out. It was absolutely unbelievable.
My current house suffers from fluctuating pressure … I’m sure when someone in Taoyuan flushes there toilet it effects my shower in Hsinchu.
I’ve had better showers trekking in Nepal.
In Hsinchu at least the government prefers to support flashy projects like a virtual zoo instead of the unglamorous infrastructure improvements that actually improve peoples quality of life.
This is one of those annoyances that I feel I must accept or leave.
:bravo: 
If you live in a big building, sometimes they turn the water off to do maintenance, or whatever it is people do when they turn the water off (other than laugh sadistically at foreigners running down to the 7-11, foaming at the mouths with toothpaste which couldn’t be rinsed out due to the lack of water) but the notice they put in the lift is usually in Chinese.
The worst water experience I’ve had here was when I woke up from a dream (in the dream it was raining) to discover that the ceiling was leaking. Not just in the bedroom, but also in the bathroom, laundry, kitchen and Japanese room. Apparently the pipes had been damaged in that big earthquake several years ago and decided to wait a couple of years, then call it quits while I was sleeping. Charming.
[quote=“Chris”][quote=“hexuan”][quote=“robi666”][quote=“mesheel”]Why the :fume: is there all of a sudden no water coming out of my tap?
One moment I am filling my water kettle and the next moment I cannot rinse my mounth full of toothpaste??!!! :fume: :fume:
Gosh, I really hate Taiwan sometimes![/quote]
there is always a 7-11 near you to supply you with enough water[/quote]
Huh?[/quote]
Bottled water.
And wherever you are in Taiwan, you’re within quick walking distance of a 7-11.[/quote]
That’s hardly much of a substitute for a water supply. I mean what about bathing…
FWIW, when I lived in the south of England the water was so hard I couldn’t drink it, or even use it in the kettle (fur). It knackered a brand new washing machine in 6 months (needed new heating element).
I wouldn’t say it’s third world here, but I would say Taiwan has a third world government (inasmuchas this place actually has a government). I don’t know about you guys, but I live in pretty cheap housing. The nice new expensive places do have a proper electricity supply (220V and an earth), a dependable water supply, and you aren’t expected to run after a bin lorry during office hours (!) to dispose of your garbage.
[quote=“hexuan”]I wouldn’t say it’s third world here, but I would say Taiwan has a third world government (inasmuchas this place actually has a government)…
The nice new expensive places do have a proper electricity supply (220V and an earth), a dependable water supply, and you aren’t expected to run after a bin lorry during office hours (!) to dispose of your garbage.[/quote]
hear hear! :bravo:
until the childish squabbling overpaid cretins who pass for government get their priorities straight this island will never begin to pass for 1st world…
Well, I do read Chinese and there was no note at all in the building. I went to the gym for a shower and when I came back, water was back again…
I’ve never experienced water shortage longer than a day in Taiwan. I was lucky to be in Japan for a week during the big typhoon in September 2001. Friends were out of water and electricy for about 4 days in TAipei. It would have killed me…
I feel for your friends in Iraq, but this is not Iraq and that’s why I’m complaining…
:bravo: [/quote]
With the water quality here, it would be something like: when someone flushes the toilet, the water pressure shoots up suddenly.
You guys sure get bad luck then. In the 4 different places I lived I never had a problem with water pressure. My biggest drama was intermittent cable access, thats it.
I could have also mentioned 5 friends that have left uni to go back to Indo, Thailand and Sri Lanka to help with reconstruction efforts… but all I was trying to say is get some perspective - it isnt the end of the world. The KMT never set up the appropriate infrastructre of any description, then came the 5 level apartment blocks and as a result it has been impossible to fix a lot of basic problems.
I live in Australia and brown outs happen all the time - eek - we are slipping to a developed country. 
These comparisons aren’t so meaningful any more - look at the transport and medical care situation in the UK, for example. No thanks to that!
As for living standard I can’t complain about my own country