# Costs new connections



## hanneman (Mar 9, 2013)

Goodday,a newbie greets you all.
i'm wondering about howmuch a new water and electricity connection might cost me.
Location southern Cebu and the distance is 150 meters.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

There's usually a concrete pillar made for the reading unit to mount close to the house and that will cost about 4000 peso's for Meralco to make or a local skilled handyman I wasn't here at the time but the wife told me that the cost was about $100 for the whole hook up.

Water? We have our own deep well and so the cost to have a plumber was about the same to have him drill down and ready that so about 4,000 peso's but the addition of a manual pump about 2,500 peso's outside and a "quality" electrical pump with steel tank mounted just outside the house was about 10,000 peso's, we used mostly real metal pipe because the blue plastic piping really sucks and we don't drink the water anyway it's used for washing or taking shower ect.., the metal pipe comes in I think 15 foot sections at around 1,000 peso's each, if you already have a manual pump the plumber will just attach another pipe from it to your house and electric pump, so even cheaper.

If you're hooking up to city water then I guess it all comes down to the pipe you use and length needed just to get it to your house and labor costs, Plumbers can run anywhere from 300 peso's to I think the average price is 1000 peso's a day for the head plumber and his worker would probably be anywhere from 300 - 500 peso's a day with meals but we have never had city water thank God, I used to green water in Subic Bay and the water was rationed and not alway's running.

If you have to hook up a deep well I would hook it up right the first time even if it takes longer and cost more, lessons' I have learned over at least a decade of messing with an electric pump and many nights calling the plumber to make quick fixes, not fun and a drain on the pension.


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

mcalleyboy said:


> There's usually a concrete pillar made for the reading unit to mount close to the house and that will cost about 4000 peso's for Meralco to make or a local skilled handyman I wasn't here at the time but the wife told me that the cost was about $100 for the whole hook up.
> 
> Water? We have our own deep well and so the cost to have a plumber was about the same to have him drill down and ready that so about 4,000 peso's but the addition of a manual pump about 2,500 peso's outside and a "quality" electrical pump with steel tank mounted just outside the house was about 10,000 peso's, we used mostly real metal pipe because the blue plastic piping really sucks and we don't drink the water anyway it's used for washing or taking shower ect.., the metal pipe comes in I think 15 foot sections at around 1,000 peso's each, if you already have a manual pump the plumber will just attach another pipe from it to your house and electric pump, so even cheaper.
> 
> ...


In 99% of the instances outside of a major metropolitan area, a deep well is a must. You cannot depend on the local government for a reliable, much less potable water source. I also recommend front loading a little extra money in getting your deep well a little deeper than the neighborhood and properly setup. That way if the aquifer gets low you still have water and most likely no bacteria. The automatic pump and tank is a blessing, especially if you have rolling brown outs in your area. That way you always have at least what water is in your tank when you have no power, driven by gravity through your system. I am sure that between the inconveniences and additional plumber visits, that little bit of extra cost will pay for itself if not by convenience alone....


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

My manual pump is no longer working it's rusted inside out from 3 floods now, so I need to find another new one I think they run about 2,500 peso's. I use the manual pump when there's black outs or heavy storm damage and no power or just watering the plants and tree's, it really saves money.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

jon1 said:


> In 99% of the instances outside of a major metropolitan area, a deep well is a must. You cannot depend on the local government for a reliable, much less potable water source. I also recommend front loading a little extra money in getting your deep well a little deeper than the neighborhood and properly setup. That way if the aquifer gets low you still have water and most likely no bacteria. The automatic pump and tank is a blessing, especially if you have rolling brown outs in your area. That way you always have at least what water is in your tank when you have no power, driven by gravity through your system. I am sure that between the inconveniences and additional plumber visits, that little bit of extra cost will pay for itself if not by convenience alone....




You make many good points, I know our water is pretty good because the family members have issue's with there's but so far our deep well has been awesome.

I was stationed in Subic Bay and lived off base in Bario Baretto, OOoh boy, man the water was green sometimes or odd colors and the pressure was never good along with water rationing, so I learned the lessons back in the middle 80's just how important water is here, also during some dry seasons I noticed Manila and other area's were rationing water or waiting for water in large lines and then you need to carry the bucket all the way home, what a nightmare for someone to deal with in the heat.


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

mcalleyboy said:


> You make many good points, I know our water is pretty good because the family members have issue's with there's but so far our deep well has been awesome.
> 
> I was stationed in Subic Bay and lived off base in Bario Baretto, OOoh boy, man the water was green sometimes or odd colors and the pressure was never good along with water rationing, so I learned the lessons back in the middle 80's just how important water is here, also during some dry seasons I noticed Manila and other area's were rationing water or waiting for water in large lines and then you need to carry the bucket all the way home, what a nightmare for someone to deal with in the heat.


I had the deep well dug at our house in Mindanao as the local municipality wanted a couple hundred bucks to tie the house into the local water distribution. And then could not guarantee water every day to boot! Not to mention that the water pressure was very weak.

That is one of the amenities about the Subic Freeport that I love. There is always high water pressure and I have yet to endure any water rationing.


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## sysop32 (Mar 17, 2013)

Here it cost Php 5000 for the water meter and around Php 50 per meter pipeline, and you have to fix it all yourself or get a handyman - they only set up the meter.

It might be cheaper in Cebu area.

Electricity (Meralco) cost Php 4000 for the meter and they do the wiring outside.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

That make sense the handyman are plenty in every area the cost shouldn't be more than 500 peso's for the head handyman and then his worker wouldn't be more than 300 peso's with meals, merrienda.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

mcalleyboy said:


> That make sense the handyman are plenty in every area the cost shouldn't be more than 500 peso's for the head handyman and then his worker wouldn't be more than 300 peso's with meals, merrienda.


Water hookup is not so critical as is electrical. When having ANYTHING electrical done, for safety, it's best to get a recommendation from another expat on what handyman you use. Doing otherwise can put you in danger...


Gene


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

mcalleyboy said:


> That make sense the handyman are plenty in every area the cost shouldn't be more than 500 peso's for the head handyman and then his worker wouldn't be more than 300 peso's with meals, merrienda.



I got involved some in the electrical area over the years we used to have the old style fuse that looks like dynamite till it exploded on me once, that was a wake up call, just about all hardware stores now sell the new circuit breaker panels with the switches also I made sure once we started with concrete that I wanted the orange-colored flexible plastic tubing for the wires ran in the middle of the concrete supports, walls and thick gauged wires also that can handle heavy electrical use, I have the air conditioner, fridges and the electrical pump, so we have several circuit breakers within the steel box to handling the load, we had a family member who is an electrician connect everything so yes a good idea to have a very experienced electrician hook up your house right the first time that includes sockets, there are better ones out there along with the light switches other wise what nightmare, just about all our wires are internally installed with the plastic tubing it's just more safe and if you need to fix something or add somethign you can run the wires also our house used to be bamboo but now is all block and concrete the bamboo house was a chore to keep up so it wasn't much more to just start changing it to concrete and no more spending money on wood and bugs.


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