# Tinacos (again)



## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

So my wife did a little research and she reports that the black tinacos contain asbestos while the tan ones do not. (Ours is black). Has anyone else heard this ?

Our little wireless rain measuring device (to tell us how much water is on the roof) is the greatest. It has been life-altering.

We are currently gathering quotes on installing a 2500 liter tinaco. They will probably need a small crane to get it up there. 2500 liters should last two people (and pets) a good long time.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

Edit : So - we have a meter at the street. If the water pressure at the street dies, and we have water in the tinaco at the roof, what keeps the water from flowing back out the meter ? Are water meters one way only ? Do they prevent 'back-flow' ?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> Edit : So - we have a meter at the street. If the water pressure at the street dies, and we have water in the tinaco at the roof, what keeps the water from flowing back out the meter ? Are water meters one way only ? Do they prevent 'back-flow' ?





horseshoe846 said:


> So my wife did a little research and she reports that the black tinacos contain asbestos while the tan ones do not. (Ours is black). Has anyone else heard this ?
> 
> Our little wireless rain measuring device (to tell us how much water is on the roof) is the greatest. It has been life-altering.
> 
> We are currently gathering quotes on installing a 2500 liter tinaco. They will probably need a small crane to get it up there. 2500 liters should last two people (and pets) a good long time.


I find it hard to believe that the black Roto-Plas tinacos contain asbestos. They are plastic. I have an old cement tinaco. I am guessing that it contains asbestos. 

About back flow… I never thought about it, but my guess would be that you are correct. The water meter acts as a back flow preventer.

Note added: There is actually not much connection between the street water system and a house water system. At least in my house, the street feeds an float valve in the tinaco, another in an aljibe (cistern), and two faucets. The faucets are separate from the rest of the house water system. Both of the float valves are above the water level in their respective reservoirs. There is no way any back flow could occur from the reservoirs. Any back flow would be limited to the small quantity of water that is in the pipes. But this is still prevented by the meter.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

horseshoe846 said:


> So my wife did a little research and she reports that the black tinacos contain asbestos while the tan ones do not. (Ours is black). Has anyone else heard this ?
> 
> Our little wireless rain measuring device (to tell us how much water is on the roof) is the greatest. It has been life-altering.
> 
> We are currently gathering quotes on installing a 2500 liter tinaco. They will probably need a small crane to get it up there. 2500 liters should last two people (and pets) a good long time.


Today's tinacos do not contain asbestos.Neither the black ones or the tan ones. Asbestos water tanks look like...they were made of cement, light gray color. Yes, you can still see some of those around


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

horseshoe846 said:


> So my wife did a little research and she reports that the black tinacos contain asbestos while the tan ones do not. (Ours is black). Has anyone else heard this ?
> 
> Our little wireless rain measuring device (to tell us how much water is on the roof) is the greatest. It has been life-altering.
> 
> We are currently gathering quotes on installing a 2500 liter tinaco. They will probably need a small crane to get it up there. 2500 liters should last two people (and pets) a good long time.


This is an asbestos one


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

horseshoe846 said:


> Edit : So - we have a meter at the street. If the water pressure at the street dies, and we have water in the tinaco at the roof, what keeps the water from flowing back out the meter ? Are water meters one way only ? Do they prevent 'back-flow' ?


Yes, there must be a back-flow preventer between the water supply at the street and the property. Otherwise the water supply could easily become contaminated.

.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

TurtleToo said:


> Yes, there must be a back-flow preventer between the water supply at the street and the property. Otherwise the water supply could easily become contaminated.
> 
> .


Ah - but this is Mexico - and unlike the 12" or so heavy metal meters meters we had in the US ours here is this rather flimsy thing that is about the size of my fist. (And it is made of plastic).


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> This is an asbestos one


Have you been up on my roof. That looks like mine.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> Ah - but this is Mexico - and unlike the 12" or so heavy metal meters meters we had in the US ours here is this rather flimsy thing that is about the size of my fist. (And it is made of plastic).


The old ones were brass and people would steal them for the $50 mxn worth of brass in them. Then it would cost the city $650 mxn to replace them. So they switched to plastic.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I think the backflow preventer is a separate device. We used to have a retired professional plumber on here, but I can't remember who it was. 

The 2500 L rotoplas tinacos on sale at home depot.mx for 4769 pesos (ahorras 530), says it weighs 38.5 kg (empty). They shouldn't need a crane for that if they can figure out how to tie it to the strongest guy's back and send him up a ladder. 

But add 2500 kg for 2500 L of water, and I think you could give a worry to whether the roof is strong enough.

By the way, the HD description says "Ideal para 15 personas".


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

aren't these valves called pichanchas?


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## Bodega (Apr 20, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I find it hard to believe that the black Roto-Plas tinacos contain asbestos. They are plastic. I have an old cement tinaco. I am guessing that it contains asbestos.
> 
> About back flow… I never thought about it, but my guess would be that you are correct. The water meter acts as a back flow preventer.
> 
> Note added: There is actually not much connection between the street water system and a house water system. At least in my house, the street feeds an float valve in the tinaco, another in an aljibe (cistern), and two faucets. The faucets are separate from the rest of the house water system. Both of the float valves are above the water level in their respective reservoirs. There is no way any back flow could occur from the reservoirs. Any back flow would be limited to the small quantity of water that is in the pipes. But this is still prevented by the meter.


Most meters do not act as a back flow preventer. The good news is that, as TG stated here, the water inlet is near the top of the tank, so little water can back flow. The meter will register in either direction, so, any water that does backflow will be deducted from your usage total.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

eastwind said:


> I think the backflow preventer is a separate device. We used to have a retired professional plumber on here, but I can't remember who it was.
> 
> The 2500 L rotoplas tinacos on sale at home depot.mx for 4769 pesos (ahorras 530), says it weighs 38.5 kg (empty). They shouldn't need a crane for that if they can figure out how to tie it to the strongest guy's back and send him up a ladder.
> 
> ...


They used a small crane to get the new gas tank up on the roof. Granted the empty metal tank weighs a lot more than the plastic tinaco - but not only is the tinaco up two stories, it is in a cement 'house' which would mean you need to raise the tinaco up another story. The crane was only like 500 pesos or so. We'll see.

Regarding the number of people vs tinaco size. HD site says the 1100L tinaco is good for 5 people which would mean the 2500L size is good for 11.3 people. There have been weekends (like this one with Monday being a holiday) where we (two people) have run the tinaco dry. We could run the water from the cistern up to the tinaco, but we have a very small cistern - perhaps 1000L - which we use for the sprinkler system. I'm still trying to get a feel : seems like a shower must use about 100L, a load of wash or the dishwasher use maybe 200L each. And we have a separate tank on the roof for water pressure and a tank under the kitchen sink for the RO system - both of those pull from the tinaco. 

If the power goes out - and it did twice yesterday afternoon - the community well needs a person to restart the pump. There won't be anyone here to do that until 8AM Tuesday (today is Sunday).


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

A valvula check (check valve) stops back flow. You can have a number of them

Both black and tan have the same inside liner


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

citlali said:


> aren't these valves called pichanchas?



valvula check ...... a pichancha is a screened valve for the bottom of a cistern


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

That is what our worker called the valved that prevented the water from coming back but I like your version better since a sive is called pichancha..


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I had no idea what any of these words meant but I think Sparks is right except maybe the term "válvula check" is a little too much Spanglish for my taste, "válvula de retención"


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

retención.. way to o technical for my group and check was not used...This happened when we first remodelled and my Spanish was inexistent.. I used to run into an average of 10 words a day I could not find in the dictionary.. I am going to ask the ferreteria what that valve is called..
I did not know then what a pichancha was.. now I know that the clay vessels full of holes called pichanchas are sieves.. so it kind of makes sense that something with a screen would be called pichancha..

Correction I asked my plumber who says it is a válvula de no regreso..at least in Ajijic it is called pichancha..


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

The english wikipedia article titled "backflow prevention device" has a list of 9 different types, of which a check valve is one. It notes that a check valve is usually not a legally approved method of backflow prevention, but of course it's not talking about Mexico.

For tinacos, I think the air gap method would be simplest and easiest.

link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backflow_prevention_device


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

So our herrero finally made it out here this morning. We looked at our tinaco together. He is a VERY sharp guy. He says that we would have no problem weight wise with a 2500L tinaco - but we should replace the current (smaller diameter) cement base with a metal base. 

After he left my wife tells me - actually his first reaction was - why don't you just put in a larger cistern ? Much simpler... That has been my wife's point all along but I have been resistant. I know that the first year we were here we rented and the house had 2 cisterns and a tinaco. That house did not have a sistema de riego (ours does now). What is entailed in 'daisy chaining' two cisterns ? 

If we were lucky we might get a bobcat in to dig the hole. We do have the space. Perhaps I could take advantage of having a bobcat here to dig up the fosa septica as well since it is probably about time to service that as well.

We do have a glorietta in the neighborhood which has one of those massive Hawaiian palms in the center. The road was terribly cracked due to the roots. They recently dug it all up using a jack hammer. The cement was nearly a foot thick - but aside from the hammer they did it all by hand.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> So our herrero finally made it out here this morning. We looked at our tinaco together. He is a VERY sharp guy. He says that we would have no problem weight wise with a 2500L tinaco - but we should replace the current (smaller diameter) cement base with a metal base.
> 
> After he left my wife tells me - actually his first reaction was - why don't you just put in a larger cistern ? Much simpler... That has been my wife's point all along but I have been resistant. I know that the first year we were here we rented and the house had 2 cisterns and a tinaco. That house did not have a sistema de riego (ours does now). What is entailed in 'daisy chaining' two cisterns ?
> 
> ...


My first thought about daisy chaining two cisterns would be to connect them with a pipe near the bottom if the top and bottom levels of the two cisterns are the same. Alternatively, just treat them independently with separate fill lines and separate pumps and lines to the tinaco.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

horseshoe846 said:


> So our herrero finally made it out here this morning. We looked at our tinaco together. He is a VERY sharp guy. He says that we would have no problem weight wise with a 2500L tinaco - but we should replace the current (smaller diameter) cement base with a metal base.
> 
> After he left my wife tells me - actually his first reaction was - why don't you just put in a larger cistern ? Much simpler... That has been my wife's point all along but I have been resistant. I know that the first year we were here we rented and the house had 2 cisterns and a tinaco. That house did not have a sistema de riego (ours does now). What is entailed in 'daisy chaining' two cisterns ?
> 
> ...


Personally, I would go with the larger, second cistern option. It will also likely increase your property value by more than the new tinaco on the roof, if that matters to you. Also if there were ever an earthquake, I'd rather a cistern in the ground than an extra-large tinaco on the roof! 

In terms of having it dug out by hand, I never cease to be amazed by the efficiency of a crew of Mexicans with shovels.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Your wife is right, of course.

If you have two cisterns and connect them with a pipe below the waterlines, the water level in the two will equalize. You can also equalize the water level with a siphon even if you can only run a pipe into them from above. In that case you might want some kind of hand-pump to restart the siphon if air gets in the siphon pipe. You don't need an electric pump to move water between the cisterns unless you want the water level in one to be higher than the water level in the other.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

I've got to be honest - physics was never my strong suit. If we were to put in a new cistern 3 times large than the current one - right next to the current cistern, and run a PVC pipe between the two at say a height of 1 foot (above the sprinkler system draw) - would the water be pulled from both cisterns equally (on-level) or is it possible that the cistern which has the 'plumbing' (the float switch, sprinkler draw etc) be favored over the new appendage cistern ? Is it possible that the water in the new cistern would stagnate ?

Edit - I guess you would want the base of the new cistern to be a little higher than the older one so that you could 'drain' it.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> I've got to be honest - physics was never my strong suit. If we were to put in a new cistern 3 times large than the current one - right next to the current cistern, and run a PVC pipe between the two at say a height of 1 foot (above the sprinkler system draw) - would the water be pulled from both cisterns equally (on-level) or is it possible that the cistern which has the 'plumbing' (the float switch, sprinkler draw etc) be favored over the new appendage cistern ? Is it possible that the water in the new cistern would stagnate ?
> 
> Edit - I guess you would want the base of the new cistern to be a little higher than the older one so that you could 'drain' it.


Water would be pulled from the cistern with the sprinkler system draw. And it would be replaced by water flowing from the new cistern and, at the same time, by water from the street. If the pipe connecting the two systems was large, most of the replacement water would come from second cistern. When the sprinkler shut off, the incoming replacement street water would push water back to the second cistern. Consequently, the water in the second cistern would probably turn over more slowly than in the original cistern, but it would not be stagnant.

The height of the base of the new cistern is pretty irrelevant. With a pipe connecting the two of them, the level of the top of the water in both would be equal.
Correction: If by "drain it", you mean cutting off the supply and pumping water out of the first cistern, then you are correct, the base of the new cistern would have to be equal or above the old cistern. And the connecting pipe would have to be very close to the base of both cisterns.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

Thanks - I just like to think these things out a little up front. btw - isn't this related to how you made your living at some point (I'm relying on my fading memory here)...


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> Thanks - I just like to think these things out a little up front. btw - isn't this related to how you made your living at some point (I'm relying on my fading memory here)...


Well the word "physics" does appear in the title to my profession, geophysics. However, it is more related to what I seem to be spending time on currently. Last week I joined the local plumbers union here in Guadalajara.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> Well the word "physics" does appear in the title to my profession, geophysics. However, it is more related to what I seem to be spending time on currently. Last week I joined the local plumbers union here in Guadalajara.


In nearly five years I have never had any contact/knowledge of a formal technical trade organization in Mexico - and we live in a decent sized city. I know professionals with advanced degrees from various universities but that is it. Our excellent herrero started life as an albanil. Our plumber is also an electrician. 

Does someone in a plumber's union hold themselves to a higher standard ? Is there a certification or training process ? Do you have to go through an apprenticeship ? To me it almost sounds a little scary. We just about always ask friends for referrals - but if someone touted that they were in a union - I would assume they would cost more to get the job done.

From time to time we have consulted with a civil engineer and even an architectural engineer - but once again they had educational degrees/certifications.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> In nearly five years I have never had any contact/knowledge of a formal technical trade organization in Mexico - and we live in a decent sized city. I know professionals with advanced degrees from various universities but that is it. Our excellent herrero started life as an albanil. Our plumber is also an electrician.
> 
> Does someone in a plumber's union hold themselves to a higher standard ? Is there a certification or training process ? Do you have to go through an apprenticeship ? To me it almost sounds a little scary. We just about always ask friends for referrals - but if someone touted that they were in a union - I would assume they would cost more to get the job done.
> 
> From time to time we have consulted with a civil engineer and even an architectural engineer - but once again they had educational degrees/certifications.


There was some amount of exaggeration in my claim to be a member of the plumber's union. The man who has worked for me helping with a lot of repairs and maintenance is primarily a plumber. We are good friends and I often attend plumber activities with him. At the last one they put my name and contact info in their database. They have evening events once a month or so where one or two manufacturer's representatives show up and do a show and tell about their products and how to use them. Once a year Urrea sponsors a whole day event that draws about 500 plumbers from all over central Mexico. They put on a tour of the Urrea factory, demonstrations of products, a free meal, free beer and tequila, and a lucha libre show.

As far as credentials, I really don't know. I see some younger men at the events who appear to be with their fathers.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

Is there the concept of a permit for larger projects in Mexico, in the larger cities ? I don't see them hanging from posts like in the States. All I ever see are giant signs that read 'Suspencion'. I figure someone didn't pay someone off...

We do have architectural blueprints for our house - now as to how accurate they are (like in terms of the plumbing/fosa septica) I don't know.

edit : I do know that you really have to go through some hoops to get approval in our area to cut down a tree. There is a very difficult approval process. There are very hefty fines if you don't get approval. Also - last year our community ran an 18" drainage tube (buried) along the outside wall on our property. Around here water is almost worshiped. They really had to come up with a rather extraordinary design to assure that the water was simply being deferred and that it all would still make its way back into the aquifer. That took about three months (but it is working great).


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Talk to me about permit to cut trees.. A jacaranda , a big one from out property split in half and fell on our car.. it took me a week to get a permit to remove the thing and get the car and the roof fixed.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

I have seen a two lane road divided to go around a La Ceiba tree as they are sacred and protected in parts if not all of Mexico.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

Zorro2017 said:


> I have seen a two lane road divided to go around a La Ceiba tree as they are sacred and protected in parts if not all of Mexico.


And yet they have just completed a new 10 lane highway through Cuernavaca with no regard for anything. It rivals I95 through the city of Miami. People simply have to have a quicker commute to Acapulco from Mexico City. I don't remember the exact number but I think since construction began like 18 months ago, there have been 40 traffic related fatalities and 200 injuries.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> Have you been up on my roof. That looks like mine.


You have to replace it 
Go for a Rotoplas


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> You have to replace it
> Go for a Rotoplas


Why? It doesn't leak. I have no problems with it.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> Why? It doesn't leak. I have no problems with it.


It contains asbestos, asbestos is toxic, moreover, it is a carcinogenic substance


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> It contains asbestos, asbestos is toxic, moreover, it is a carcinogenic substance


Only when inhaled.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Here is a paper from WHO: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/asbestos.pdf that basically says there's no established connection between drinking asbestos in water and cancer.

The US EPA has nevertheless established a "safe" level, because they feel that the clean water act requires them to establish safe levels of chemicals that _may_ cause a problem, even if there is no conclusive scientific evidence that those chemicals _do_ cause a problem.

https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-contamination/asbestos-removal-water.htm

I bet TundraGreen is drinking only bottled water anyway.

I would question whether, once disolved in water, asbestos can regain its fibrous nature. For example, if you take a shower and splash the water around, when the water drops on the side of the shower dry, do they release asbestos fibers into the air? I sort of doubt it, but I'm no chemist.

This page on toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicity describes different types of toxicity, and asbestos is given as an example of something that is physically toxic due to its fibrous nature. Even if the water had extremely high levels of dissolved asbestos in it, there's no known toxicity from sitting in a bath of that water for hours.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> Only when inhaled.


Nope
Water coming out of those tinacos do have asbestos, and then you drink it...
Why do you think nobody sells them anymore?
I would not take any risk, how much is a Rotoplas tank anyway?
Much easier to clean, and does not have any asbestos


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

GARYJ65 said:


> Nope
> Water coming out of those tinacos do have asbestos, and then you drink it...
> Why do you think nobody sells them anymore?
> I would not take any risk, how much is a Rotoplas tank anyway?
> Much easier to clean, and does not have any asbestos


I agree, when you wash then rinse your hair and it dries if your water contains asbestos it could be released. If your wife uses a blow drier it could blow the particles everywhere. Maybe just a little but over time it could be substantial. I plumbed my own tinaco with a pressure tank and a bypass valve so I would still have flow when the electricity goes out, it isn't hard or expensive. I can post pictures if you wish.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Zorro2017 said:


> I agree, when you wash then rinse your hair and it dries if your water contains asbestos it could be released. If your wife uses a blow drier it could blow the particles everywhere. Maybe just a little but over time it could be substantial. I plumbed my own tinaco with a pressure tank and a bypass valve so I would still have flow when the electricity goes out, it isn't hard or expensive. I can post pictures if you wish.


I have neither a wife nor a blow dryer.  Replacing my tinaco is pretty low on my list of priorities.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

As TG has pointed out, asbestos is only carcinogenic if the tiny micrometre fibres are inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lung), other forms of lung cancer, or asbestosis (a kind of chronic progressive pulmonary fibrosis/scarring of the lung tissue). 

Asbestos doesn't dissolve in water, so no risk from blow-drying hair. 
Here are some quotes from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (bolding mine): 
"All forms of asbestos are resistant to heat, fire, chemical, and biological break-down. *Asbestos does not dissolve in water or evaporate.* These properties mean that asbestos fibres do not burn, do not undergo significant reactions with most chemicals, and do not break down significantly in the environment. " 

"There are no significant health risks if the materials containing asbestos in your home or work are:
- Tightly bound in the original product, and it is in good condition.
- Sealed behind walls and floorboards.
- Isolated in the attic.
- Left undisturbed. "

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/asbestos/whatis.html

So leaving that asbestos tinaco undisturbed is probably the safest thing to do right now. Cutting it or breaking it up COULD expose the asbestos and potentially release the tiny fibres into the air where they could be inhaled.


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

Not to mention that if TG were to consider replacing his asbestos tinaco the actual workers who would do that for him would have no regard for asbestos.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

horseshoe846 said:


> Not to mention that if TG were to consider replacing his asbestos tinaco the actual workers who would do that for him would have no regard for asbestos.


Unless you just let it be, remaining full of water but cut off from the system and installed a new plastic one for the water supply if he was worried about it which obviously he is not.

My point was that if asbestos is being released into the water as Gary was saying that eventually this water dries, blow drier or not and then the fibers would be free to fly not only from your body but from the shower floor, walls, kitchen sink, etc. 

But hey, if he is not worried neither should we be. I drink tequila and people will tell me that this is not good for my liver but at my age I know the risks and don't really want to be told about it so... shower away. :tea:


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Zorro2017 said:


> Unless you just let it be, remaining full of water but cut off from the system and installed a new plastic one for the water supply if he was worried about it which obviously he is not.
> 
> My point was that if asbestos is being released into the water as Gary was saying that eventually this water dries, blow drier or not and then the fibers would be free to fly not only from your body but from the shower floor, walls, kitchen sink, etc.
> 
> But hey, if he is not worried neither should we be. I drink tequila and people will tell me that this is not good for my liver but at my age I know the risks and don't really want to be told about it so... shower away. :tea:


I also am of an age where I suspect other activities will get me long before the asbestos. Hiking alone in the mountains, riding a motorcycle, walking around on the streets of Guadalajara, probably all pose a bigger risk to me.


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## CasaColibri (Jul 5, 2017)

A cautionary tale about automatic-fill/city water tinacos: Most have a float switch mechanism (electronivel) to regulate the inflow. I lived for a while on a hilly street where the houses were all tooth by jowl. One day I came home from work to find my house flooded! The tinaco was over-flowing, and apparently had been for some time and there was a WATERFALL coming down my sala wall. I raced to the roof patio, bucket in hand and started bailing. Of course, that was futile since the tinaco continued to overflow. The WORST, though, was when I heard a holler from next door. Unknowingly, I'd been bailing into my NEIGHBOR' roof patio, and she'd just stepped out to trim her roses.... Even though I'd drenched her, she called her husband, and he knew what the problem was (float mechanism stuck, probably corroded), sprang into action and stopped the flood. Many apologies and and loaf of homemade banana bread the next day helped smooth that incident over. Fifteen years ago, I built my own house. I DO NOT have auto-fill, as convenient as it may be most of the time. I have the electronivel rigged up to red/green indicator lights where I can easily see them and I fill the tinaco with a flip of the breaker. I got a timer with a good loud alarm and set that to the fill-time. Flip of breaker when filled. Done.


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## CasaColibri (Jul 5, 2017)

P.S. I live in the country, have a rainwater collection system with 14-3000ltr. cisterns (the black poly kind). A couple of good rain days and I'm set for the whole year.


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