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Mexberry

Apr 16, 2011, 6:30 AM

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Municipal water pressure

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We live in a casa in Nuevo Vallarta and each night from about 11pm through to 7am the following morning we have a noticeable drop in water pressure to the point where the toilet tank will not refill itself after a flush. A gringo neighbour told me that turning down the water pressure at night happens all over Mexico. Is this correct and if so why ?
Mexberry.

Vichil

Apr 16, 2011, 6:44 AM

Post #2 of 12 (4491 views)

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Re: [Mexberry] Municipal water pressure

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Your neighbor is wrong it is not the same all over Mexico. It varies according to each municipality and sometimes according to the seasons.
In our house the water gets delivered at night with great pressure and we have no water during the day so we all have aljibes or tinacos . We have a pressure tank so same pressure day and night .

morgaine7

Apr 16, 2011, 7:09 AM

Post #3 of 12 (4479 views)

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Re: [Mexberry] Municipal water pressure

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It also depends on the local water supply. I'm in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and we have a shortage at the moment owing to lack of rainfall for more than a year. Normally our situation is as Vichil describes, but now the city water is only coming three nights a week or so after 11, for 3-4 hours and at low pressure. Most people have roof tanks, but those without in-ground cisternas as well are having to ration, and some resort to ordering water delivery in pipa trucks. Rainy season comes in late summer if at all, so we're unlikely to get much relief before August.

Kate

raferguson

Apr 16, 2011, 9:33 PM

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Re: [Mexberry] Municipal water pressure

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A root cause of the poor quality and delivery of Mexican city water is underinvestment, driven by public policy that does not turn off the water to those who do not pay. Even well off people may not pay their water bill.

Without reliable and adequate income from water users, Mexico's water system will remain as it is, unreliable and lacking in quality.

Tanks or "tinacas" are found on the roof of many, if not most, Mexican homes. Sometimes there is a tank at ground level filled by the city water, and then a pump to move it to the tank on the roof, where it is delivered by gravity to the home. Not ideal from a sanitation standpoint, but increases reliability of the water supply.

In the US, the water pipes are always kept pressurized to keep ground water or sewage from entering the drinking water piping.

One reason for the ground level tank is that the city pressure may not be adequate to deliver water to the roof.

It is a little surprising to me that a nice house would not have a water tank on the roof. Probably somebody trying to save a few bucks, perhaps the water supply was more reliable when the house was built.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

Casa

Apr 16, 2011, 10:54 PM

Post #5 of 12 (4389 views)

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Re: [raferguson] Municipal water pressure

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In Reply To

It is a little surprising to me that a nice house would not have a water tank on the roof. Probably somebody trying to save a few bucks, perhaps the water supply was more reliable when the house was built.

Many “nice houses” that do not have Tinacos because they may have cisiternas or underground tanks with a pressure pump that supplies the house with pressurised water directly from the underground cisterna, thus avoiding the need for a tinaco

Mexberry

Apr 17, 2011, 4:35 PM

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Re: [Casa] Municipal water pressure

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Thanks to all for your responses. it seems that a pressurized water system is the way to go.
Mexberry.

Reefhound

Apr 17, 2011, 4:40 PM

Post #7 of 12 (4320 views)

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Re: [Mexberry] Municipal water pressure

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Several of my relatives in Celaya have the same deal, no water after about 9pm until morning. They seem to just accept it as the way it is. They think it's because the water system has so many leaks that they are trying to mitigate the losses when consumption is low. I've always wondered why all the residents don't march at the courthouse demanding better service.

chinagringo

Apr 17, 2011, 5:09 PM

Post #8 of 12 (4313 views)

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Re: [Casa] Municipal water pressure

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Kind of a "catch 22" pressurized water system and no need for a tinaco. No power and thus no pressure - would it be handy to have a full tinaco for gravity fed water? Kind of like having at least one old style phone for emergencies as opposed to all wireless phones?
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

morgaine7

Apr 17, 2011, 6:07 PM

Post #9 of 12 (4301 views)

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Re: [chinagringo] Municipal water pressure

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One of my friends has a "nice house" with an underground cisterna and no tinaco. If the power fails, her only way of getting water into the house is to haul it by the bucketful. My place has both. If there's no power (or the pump fails), I can open a couple of valves on the roof and use gravity feed from the tinaco. It's not very strong because my house is a one-story, but at least the toilets fill, and water comes out if I turn on a faucet.

Kate

chinagringo

Apr 17, 2011, 6:20 PM

Post #10 of 12 (4293 views)

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Re: [morgaine7] Municipal water pressure

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I was being a bit cocky with my statements earlier. We had a two story home with a tinaco but no pressurized system. It was all well and good when the pump to the tinaco was working but I don't wish to admit how many mornings that required a scream: "NO AGUA"!
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

tashby

Apr 17, 2011, 8:50 PM

Post #11 of 12 (4272 views)

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Re: [morgaine7] Municipal water pressure

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Definitely the best solution is to have both, if it's workable and you can afford it. Our friend at the beach, in a somewhat water-challenged pueblo, just built her house and has an ample aljibe, plus the back-up tinaco on the roof. She has the luxury of being a bit of a water pig, frankly.

We rent a "nice house" in Ajijic. We have an aljibe, but no tinaco even though there's plenty of room on our nice flat roof. We've been forced to go on the bucket brigade a couple of times in the three years we've lived here. All in all though, we're lucky that our water supply is fairly regular and ample since we're right in town. Electricity gets a bit dodgy during the storm season, and we live and die by it, waterwise.

surebought

Apr 18, 2011, 9:52 AM

Post #12 of 12 (4212 views)

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Re: [tashby] Municipal water pressure

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I think that the reason the pressure goes down at night and varies over all is not for any to the reasons above. I know from having a completely independent off the grid water system out at the Ranch built 60 years ago, that if I don't shut the water off at the pila, I risk losing all the water to slow leaks and I return to no water at all. Then I have the stress of starting the pumping system and filling the pila again because I forgot to shut the valve. I am sure that if you trace your water to its source, you will find a pila also. With no one keeping an eye on the water level(like at night), a few leaking toilets can empty even the biggest of pilas. So if they don't shut it off, everyone wakes up to no water at all. Be patient with this. It is not going to change. The remedy is each house has it's own pila and pressure tank. Then you can have some control.