# Living in Mexico - Water Dilemmas



## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

aggravated once again here in acapulco the costa azul area, 3 days without running water

i have 55 gal plastic drum and 100 gal with my family that last two days, and big inconvenience using the stored water when needed

think its time to build a cistern system to store more water, even considering, it being setup to collect rainwater in emergencies


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

SirRon said:


> aggravated once again here in acapulco the costa azul area, 3 days without running water
> 
> i have 55 gal plastic drum and 100 gal with my family that last two days, and big inconvenience using the stored water when needed
> 
> think its time to build a cistern system to store more water, even considering, it being setup to collect rainwater in emergencies


That is a nuisance. A lot of the older houses in Mexico have both a tinaco (tank on roof), and an aljibe (cistern under a patio). I have an 1100 liter (290 gal) tinaco, a 5000 liter (1320 gal) aljibe and a pump to move the water to the roof. Since I am just one person, I could probably last a month without water from the city.

Maybe you need to put a couple of 600 liter tinacos on the roof. That would give you triple what you have now and would be easier and cheaper than building a cistern.


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

It seems a shame to be burying this sort of info in a thread that obviously is not related but ...

Water is one of the things that has caused us the most loss of sleep over the last year. We also have both a cistern and tineco (in our 15 year old house). I don't know what the capacities are but a 5'8" man can climb into both and extend his arms. 

First we burnt out the 1hp pump that fills the tineco from the cistern (in an emergency). A friend recommended a guy to 'rebuild' the motor. I purchased a new motor (1200 pesos) while he rebuilt the old one (1200 pesos). I pointed out the stupidity of the situation and he dropped his price 100 pesos. So now we have a standby engine collecting dust.

We were so happy with the rainy season when we could turn off the sprinkler system. It is fed by the cistern and probably uses half of the cistern's capacity to cycle through the four zones. The downside is stuff builds up in the pipes when not in use. That is the case with our rather expensive sprinkler pump (17000 pesos). The same guy who charged us for the other pump charged us (2500 pesos) to clean the sprinkler pump.

We also have a gizmo near the tineco which controls the water pressure in the house. We seem to constantly have to go to the roof and give it a bang.

Water - for us that is probably the single most different thing from the states.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lhpdiver said:


> It seems a shame to be burying this sort of info in a thread that obviously is not related but ...
> 
> Water is one of the things that has caused us the most loss of sleep over the last year. We also have both a cistern and tineco (in our 15 year old house). I don't know what the capacities are but a 5'8" man can climb into both and extend his arms.
> 
> ...


I had a similar experience with the pump that moves water from the cistern to the tinaco. When I moved in I didn't understand the water system. One week the city water was off long enough to empty the tinaco. The pump came on automatically. At that time, I didn't even know the pump existed. It had not been used for years and it was dry, so it burned up. I put a new one in and now I run it every once in a while to make sure that it maintains a prime. I also leave it disconnected from power so it can't come on without my being there to check it.


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## sfmaestra (Oct 8, 2013)

Where do you live in México, Ihpdiver? A place where there is lots of sarro in the water? That sounds like a real pain?


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Only 3 days .... we've been two weeks in the past and always have 3-4 day spells. Some of those outages were during construction and cement and mortar uses a lot of water. That's why I have two 1100 liter tinacos and an 11,000 liter cistern .... and a well.

Right now my pump from cistern to tinaco only holds pressure for about 10 minutes .... trouble shooting coming up.

I just reported this on our local message board. We live in the country beyond the pump and reservoirs. 

_Like most towns in Mexico water reservoirs are built on a nearby hill to create gravity pressure. Usually the water source is much lower than the reservoir so it has to be pumped up. The problem today is the pump is broken and they are letting the water run out in the road. In the past rather than having two pumps they can switch the pump has to be repaired. We'll see this time if Melaque runs out of water and for how long._


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

*Hidroneumático de 24 lt con bomba 1/2 HP Shimge*

I am thinking about getting one of these cheap pumps to pump water from a storage tank and to boost pressure in my water line










there is a online site in mexico sell these for 930 peso and free shipping home depot wants over 2300 for the same thing

I live on a very limited income so any work done to my hut is done in baby steps 

Has anyone else used one of these in there house?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Over ten years ago, we installed a submersible pump in our aljibe. It is cooled by the water and shuts off if the water drops to near empty. It provides pressure to a pressure tank, and also fills our tinaco. The tinaco has a check valve which only opens if there is no water pressure from the pump in the event of a power outage or lack of city water. Only once did we have to tap that check valve to get it to open. In over a decade that system has been trouble free and silent, compared to those noisy pumps in most homes.


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## Dray2 (Apr 14, 2012)

A problem that I have is getting a small rock/pebble stuck in the check valve after there has been a broken pipe somewhere up from my house. It holds the check valve open and drains all the water out from my tinaco. This just occurred 30 minutes before making this post. I now have no water at all and am hoping the city water returns tonight. I'm now planning to by a screen like you'll find in your kitchen or bathroom faucet and place it inside the valve to prevent this from happening again. I'll just have to clean it periodically as I do for the kitchen and bathroom faucets.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Dray2 said:


> A problem that I have is getting a small rock/pebble stuck in the backflow valve after there has been a broken pipe somewhere up from my house. It holds the backflow valve open and drains all the water out from my tinaco. .


Sounds similar to mine. I have 2-way check valves that switch from street pressure to gravity pressure. Street pressure is always stronger. I have to bang on the valves sometimes to un-stick them.

Don't like pumps that are on demand. Open a faucet and the pump comes on. No pump and no water.


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

Dray2 said:


> A problem that I have is getting a small rock/pebble stuck in the check valve after there has been a broken pipe somewhere up from my house. It holds the check valve open and drains all the water out from my tinaco. This just occurred 30 minutes before making this post. I now have no water at all and am hoping the city water returns tonight. I'm now planning to by a screen like you'll find in your kitchen or bathroom faucet and place it inside the valve to prevent this from happening again. I'll just have to clean it periodically as I do for the kitchen and bathroom faucets.


maybe something like this will help


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## Dray2 (Apr 14, 2012)

SirRon said:


> maybe something like this will help


A plain 'ol screen filter will just cost a few pesos and instal easy. I'll probably just stick with one of those.


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

dray with all the construction here in acapulco, my water tank on my toilet seems to collect all the dirt rocks and any other trash coming in from the city water, that little screen may need to be cleaned every 3 days 

the picture of the pond pre filter is 8 dollars at home depot and should be almost maintenance free for a long time

my luck i used a couple peso screen in my water system, and no water in the middle of the night, my wife screaming fix it now, i am having a nitemare thinking about it lol


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## Dray2 (Apr 14, 2012)

SirRon said:


> dray with all the construction here in acapulco, my water tank on my toilet seems to collect all the dirt rocks and any other trash coming in from the city water, that little screen may need to be cleaned every 3 days
> 
> the picture of the pond pre filter is 8 dollars at home depot and should be almost maintenance free for a long time
> 
> my luck i used a couple peso screen in my water system, and no water in the middle of the night, my wife screaming fix it now, i am having a nitemare thinking about it lol


I know what you mean but I really only need to clean the filters in the faucets of my kitchen and bathroom about once every three to for months. As far as the toilets...yes, I get alot of sediment that builds up fairly quickly at the bottom of the tank.
I used to have an inline water filter but I took it out because it just turned into a mud pit. It was just the cheap filter that came with my tinaco and I didn't really trust it much anyway.


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

SirRon said:


> I am thinking about getting one of these cheap pumps to pump water from a storage tank and to boost pressure in my water line
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes - we have one of those up next to the tineco. Hard to tell size from the picture. Our's stands maybe 2 feet tall. At the moment we are having trouble with that little brown box that hangs off to the side. That contains the switch. It gets stuck from time to time. It costs about 250 pesos - but the store is out at the moment.


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

sfmaestra said:


> Where do you live in México, Ihpdiver? A place where there is lots of sarro in the water? That sounds like a real pain?


We live in a community which shares a well. The quality of the water is better than Ciel bottled water, but it is high in calcium (blue/white crystals). We have gotten quotes for treating the water but thought it was a little pricey.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

lhpdiver said:


> We live in a community which shares a well. The quality of the water is better than Ciel bottled water, but it is high in calcium (blue/white crystals). We have gotten quotes for treating the water but thought it was a little pricey.


Ah, but the calcium from the well water along with the Vitamin D from the Mexican sun should give you nice, strong bones!


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

ojosazules11 said:


> Ah, but the calcium from the well water along with the Vitamin D from the Mexican sun should give you nice, strong bones!


Yeah - we are both feeling pretty good lately. We are thinking of climbing to the top of Tepozteco. Perhaps one day this week. What a glorious sunrise this morning. Popo looks quiet. You ever been to the town of San Juan ?


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

I presume you're referring to San Juan Tlacotenco? I don't think I've actually been in the town proper, just the outskirts. Our next door neighbours have some land there that they farm.

The Tepozteco is a great climb, although on weekends it can be really busy. Probably better during the week. Take lots of water! A few years ago when we climbed it my young daughter twisted her ankle on the way down. My son and I were taking turns supporting/carrying her, when a couple of delightful Mexican _jovenes _stopped and offered to help. The young man carried my daughter piggy back the rest of the way down, and then we all had a nice cold _michelada_ at the bottom (well, except for the kids).

Did you know that in Santo Domingo Ocotitlan (also near Tepoz) they have strung zip lines (tirolesas) from mountain to mountain? My kids and sobrinos went on them last spring and had a blast. Quite the panoramic view. On the longest one (730 meters long, 140 m high) my daughter's weight wasn't quite enough to keep her "zipping" to the other side, and again a young man to the rescue - one of the workers had to go out hand over hand to her and pull her to the end. I wasn't quite brave enough to do the zip line - maybe next time... It's a community project and the money raised is for the town, and it also provides employment for local youth, which I really like.


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

Thanks for that info - I had known of one of those zip-line things in the area of the airport/piramids south of Cuernavaca but not something closer to Tepozlatan. Keeping in line with the George Bush Sr attitude - perhaps we will need to give it a try - not so sure of my wife,


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I have two inline filters right after my street shut off valve. Filters are cleanable and/or not expensive to replace. Keeps all the large stuff out but "hard water" still a problem. Buy plastic shower heads to avoid the chemical buildup.


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## Bobbyb (Mar 9, 2014)

Although I empathize with all the posters I am pleased that I am not alone!! One would think that water is optional in Mexico. Even big cities have problems. I have seen them drilling and installing pumps for wells and it is no wonder the systems go down so often. When we moved into our house it had 2 Tinacos with no pressure system. The check valves were the flapper type and I had to bang them every day! After 6 months of this nonsense I installed an evans pump, 2 filters, brass check valves and a bunch of new schedule 40 pipe. It worked well for 2 years and while still under warranty EVans replaced the pump. It went another 2 years and I replaced it with a 3/4 HP 220 volt high end Italian pump. Still going strong. Those little pumps are throways. Most do not last more than one year. The yuk gets into the pump and it stalls and burns out the motors. 220 volt motors have more "oomph". Most of the water departments are heavily unionized and they do not work very hard! The repairs are mickey mouse. All part of the "fun".


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

everyone seems to have a tank built in the ground, that is filled by city or well water, then that is pumped up to a smaller tank on the roof.

why pump water to roof?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

SirRon said:


> everyone seems to have a tank built in the ground, that is filled by city or well water, then that is pumped up to a smaller tank on the roof.
> 
> why pump water to roof?


Consistent water pressure. The tank is there to provide water when the city water supply is not there. The tank is on the roof so that gravity can carry it to the faucets. 

In Guadalajara, the city water pressure is normally high enough that it flows to the tank on the roof directly. I only have to pump it when the city water is off.


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

From what I am learning every person situation to attack the water issue at your home here in mexico is different from person to person, one thing is clear for sure, we all have the same problem when it comes to water in general

once again, expat living on very limited monthly budget, trying to have hot and cold water all year long hassle free

here is what i have to work with so far:

1 55 gal plasitic drum with no lid 

1 100 gal plastic tub thingy with lid have no ideal what it is called

1 roto plass tank ( spelling it wrong, do not know the size its been ordered and waiting for delivery 

1 instant on hot water heater that only provides service for one

I live 3 blocks up the hill from the main tourist strip, ( this reason we always have running water to fill the tourist needs BUT ! )

my 3 lots are 1 lot at street level and two connecting lots behind which is about 15 storys up from the street, my house up

many days, I have no water from 11am until about 8pm, then pressure returns and it is able to make it to my hut on top of the hill

seems like i go threw 2, 2 or 3 day spats with no water at all a month 

haha I told all my neighbors, that i been waiting for the mail man to bring me my new hot water heater, they all say i am crazy, why do you need a hot water heater when Acapulco is always hot

shocking its the year 2014 and it's still NOB thinking to need hot water !


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## Dray2 (Apr 14, 2012)

"haha I told all my neighbors, that i been waiting for the mail man to bring me my new hot water heater, they all say i am crazy, why do you need a hot water heater when Acapulco is always hot"

Exactly my thought. During the summer months I curse the hot "city" water that comes out when I'm taking a shower. I want cold water to cool down. Now, during the "winter" months I just shower during the late afternoon. If I wait until the sun goes down it can be an eye opening/breath taking experience.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

SirRon said:


> From what I am learning every person situation to attack the water issue at your home here in mexico is different from person to person, one thing is clear for sure, we all have the same problem when it comes to water in general
> 
> once again, expat living on very limited monthly budget, trying to have hot and cold water all year long hassle free
> 
> ...


The standard Rotoplas tinaco is 600 liters, about 150 gals. There are larger ones. I don't know which you ordered. Put it on a roof, it will fill at night when there is city water pressure, and you will have water. Need more capacity? Get a second one. It is cheaper and easier than building a big underground tank (aljibe) and pump system.

Many people in Mexico only turn the hot water heater on when they take a shower and leave it off the rest of the time. My old water heater didn't even have a thermostat so you had to turn it off when you weren't using it. I installed solar hot water. In villages they often have small solar systems that only feed a shower. Mine is a little bigger and I use as much hot water as I want.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Many people in Mexico only turn the hot water heater on when they take a shower and leave it off the rest of the time.


I used to keep it on all day, but as the price of gas has gone up and up, I generally only turn it on before I want to shower or wash the dishes.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

SirRon said:


> everyone seems to have a tank built in the ground, that is filled by city or well water, then that is pumped up to a smaller tank on the roof.
> 
> why pump water to roof?


Just to give you an idea of the difference this makes, we have the classic cisterna (called "albije" in some parts of Mexico) to store larger amounts of water, which is then pumped up to the tinaco on the roof. The system is not pressurized, just gravity fed. The water pressure in the house was pretty low, so my husband built a base to lift the tinaco up about 4 more feet. Just that additional elevation resulted in a significant improvement in the water pressure in the house (especially noted in the shower). 

We also have an on demand electric hot water heater. At first it wasn't heating much. Apparently there was some air in the line. Once the air was purged, it's been working great.


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## lhpdiver (Jul 30, 2014)

For us - when water comes in from the street (under pressure) it goes to the tineco on the roof first. There is a floatador which shuts off the water when the tineco is full. Next the water from the street fills the cistern (also with a floatador). If the water is turned off at the street (some weekends, sometimes to run the sprinklers on the other side of the complex) AND the tineco needs water our pump kicks in and sends the water from the cistern to the tineco. If I hear the pump I know something is wrong.

We recently installed a GAS on demand hot water heater. Took a little getting used to. When you walk up to the sink or shower you have to turn on the hot water only. A few seconds later the water starts heating up. Soon thereafter the water will get too hot and you have to start adding a very little cold water. We save about 25% on the gas bill with the new heater.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lhpdiver said:


> For us - when water comes in from the street (under pressure) it goes to the tineco on the roof first. There is a floatador which shuts off the water when the tineco is full. Next the water from the street fills the cistern (also with a floatador). If the water is turned off at the street (some weekends, sometimes to run the sprinklers on the other side of the complex) AND the tineco needs water our pump kicks in and sends the water from the cistern to the tineco. If I hear the pump I know something is wrong.


I have exactly the same system. However, I shut off power to the pump normally and only turn it on when the tinaco is empty. That way, I don't have to worry about the pump running without being primed and burning up. That happened to me the first time. I suppose it depends on the type of pump. If the pump is submerged in the aljibe (cisterrn), that would not be a problem maybe. But mine sits above the aljibe and the line between the pump and the aljibe has to be full of water for the pump to work. I also run it once in awhile to maintain the prime.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

In Tepoztlan different parts of town get municipal water sent to them intermittently, at different times on different days, not necessarily predictable. The houses I've been in generally have cisterns or very large _pilas_ to store the water (plus the roof tinacos.) Our part of town in Tepoz isn't yet hooked into municipal water. Hopefully it will be at some point, but in the meantime we have to buy a "pipa" - the big water tank truck comes and fills our cistern. In the rainy season the water from the roof is channelled into the cistern. We also have a second mini-cistern to collect grey water from the shower, sink, etc. which we use for things like watering the garden. 

Nothing like living in a water-stressed area to motivate water conservation. Here in Toronto we sit right on huge Lake Ontario, and it's easy to take water for granted - never a wise idea.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

SirRon said:


> everyone seems to have a tank built in the ground, that is filled by city or well water, then that is pumped up to a smaller tank on the roof.
> 
> why pump water to roof?


Street water fills my tinacos on the roof and cistern in the ground .... and is the house pressure when we have street water. When we don't have street water the tinacos are the gravity pressure. Check valves switch according to pressure in the pipes. I don't like having a pump come on every time you open a faucet and what do you do with no electric.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

sparks said:


> I don't like having a pump come on every time you open a faucet and what do you do with no electric.


When I was living in the D.F. I once changed apartments, changed buildings, because the bomba, which was close to one of my bedroom windows, seemed to run constantly at night and it was annoying and made it difficult to sleep. After that, I always checked to see where the pump was before renting someplace. Now, when I travel in Mexico, I always ask hotel staff where the pump is ... before agreeing to rent a particular room.


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## Bobbyb (Mar 9, 2014)

Lots of good ideas. They are all different as the water situation is different. Our city water is turned off most nights from about 10 pm to 6 am. There are also many days when the Ayuntamiento is doing repairs. We have 2 Tinacos on the roof. All city water goes to the Tinacos which have floats and a device that shuts off the pump if the water is too low in the tanks. Our pump provides 35 to 45 lbs. of water pressure. There is a bladder tank connected to the pump to eliminate constant cycling. This is similar to what a country dweller NOB with a well would use. If there is no electricity the city water goes to the house. We have 2 filters that take out the "rocks" And a water softener that feeds all the inside faucets. Gardens are plumbed with city water only. I have one "soft" line that I can use to wash vehicles . Works for me.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Just a note on the economics of solar hot water…

I spent around $15,000 pesos buying and installing a 150 liter, 20 tube solar hot water system. About half of the cost was the device, the other half was copper pipes and valves to install it. I put in lots of valves so that I can run straight solar, solar preheat to a pass-through boiler, or straight boiler.

Before the solar system, gas cylinders lasted 4 months. I only turned the water heater on for about 10 minutes a day to take a shower. Now gas cylinders last 5 months; they only run the stove.

So from an economic standpoint it was not a very good investment. The savings in gas is around $20 pesos/month. At that rate it will require 80+ years to recoup the investment. However, the real value is that now I have hot water all the time, without having to start and stop the hot water heater.

Solar electric has a similar dismal economic analysis. But in the case of electric there is no convenience incentive to factor in. Electric from CFE is already convenient. Consequently, I haven't invested in solar electric, yet. 

If one's use of hot water or electricity is higher than mine, then the economics are, of course, different.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

My water setup is similar to that of lhpdiver and Tundra Green, except that our city water is off most days and comes on for a limited time at night. Maybe once a week we get city water at reasonable pressure during daylight hours. In addition to a pump to raise water from the cisterna to the tinaco, I have an on-demand pump that supplies pressure to the house. If the pump or electricity fails, I open a bypass valve and a vent valve on the roof to use the gravity system. Gravity is adequate except for showers, though watering the garden also becomes really time-consuming.


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

update: My Instant On Hot Water Heater ( LP Gas )

Club Premiere ( AeroMeixco ) called me today 

My Spanish still so/so, my understanding: sounded liked she wanted to confirm i really placed the order, I said si, then she talked a long time, only part I think I caught, my hot water heater is back ordered and was it ok if i get it some time in December, I said si

and that was the end of the call

just hope me saying saying si and not understand everything she said

I just pray to god i don't get something strange in the mail instead

still shocked I was able to buy a instant on gas hot water heater, using my about to expire aeromexico airline miles, and 401 one peso ( I was short a few miles so I had to pay 401 peso) 

the 29 dollars and some change has been charged to my creditcard, i even called my creditcard company to make sure the charge goes threw, fingers still crossed, if this all works out, it will be my first success story getting something cheap in mexico

also soon as i get my water issues settled, I plan on starting my solar energy project, and will start maybe a blog or a separate thread here within the forums, with pictures and videos as i go


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

my instant on hot water heater shopped from aeromexico finally arrived today

the hot water heater bounced around acapulco fedex centers for a week till it finally arrived at my house

the few times i used used fedex here in acapulco, it has been horror story

first time, when it took a month to get a document that was sent over night

anyways 

this expat is gona bite the bullet and go to home depot to get the supplies needed to install it
even tho it will cost me 3x more just to avoid full day shopping 20 mom and pop stores


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## SirRon (Nov 4, 2014)

next question: metered water vs unmetered ? 


someone please explain this to me how this works in mexico, as my family are telling me i need to pay a huge lump sum of money now for the next year for water useage

we have two lines one metered and one un-metered 

seems i am being blackmailed by the father to pay his meter line in order to keep my unmetered line hush hush ( which he installed himself over 40 years ago not me )

now I want to be certain i only pay for my households use of water not the entire block 

please help


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

SirRon said:


> next question: metered water vs unmetered ?
> 
> 
> someone please explain this to me how this works in mexico, as my family are telling me i need to pay a huge lump sum of money now for the next year for water useage
> ...


It sounds like there might be two things going on here: a metered and an unmetered line; and annual versus monthly payments.

Where I live, you have an option of paying for a year in advance. If you do you get a discount of about 10%. Every month they calculate the cost and take it out of the your annual payment. At the end of the year they adjust the difference.

As far as metered versus unmetered, I don't know anything about that. I know here (Guadalajara), meters are often stolen and people can go unmetered until they replace the meter, which sometimes takes awhile.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

SirRon said:


> someone please explain this to me how this works in mexico, as my family are telling me i need to pay a huge lump sum of money now for the next year for water useage
> 
> we have two lines one metered and one un-metered
> 
> ...


What is a "huge lump sum"? Here we pay $1100 pesos a year for water without meters. It would be $1600 if we had sewer. If the property is yours why not convert to a meter since it sounds like you're going to pay anyway


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