No Water in Sosua

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JD Jones

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Jan 7, 2016
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The water pressure in my part of Maranatha is terrible. Especially after 9AM. I get up at 5 three times a week when I am there. Start filling my 25 gallon bucket in the tub and sump pump the water up to the tinaco. Usually need to pump 600 gallons a week. This takes 2 Hours each morning I do it. House is rented so I’m not going to pay for a more advanced system. But then again whatever water we get is free. No one pays for water yet in this area. To install meters here will be expensive if not almost impossible for a corrupt company. Most days dishes are washed out of two 5 gallon buckets.
I'm surprised you don't have a tinaco on the roof. That is what you should be filling every morning. They're easy to install and would make your life a LOT easier.

Where I live water is also a problem, which is why we have tinacos on the roof.

They provide more than enough pressure to bathe, wash and clean.

(We actually have a complete system with a well, a huge cistern, and a strong pump to keep the entire building at 40 lbs., but it's only used to fill the tinacos at this point due to the water shortage in San Cristobal.)
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Perla Marina sits in a "belly" with higher elevations on the highway to the west at Seahorse Ranch and CocoPalms(Playa Encuentro) to the east. I'm guessing that the old pumps are now "under capacity" due to increased demand and are not able to maintain sufficient pressure to get the water over the hill - even if there is enough supply. They probably determined that replacing the pumps would just be a short-term solution and that's why they're putting in the wells and pumps to the east in Cabarete. Just a guess.
Are they really putting in wells or is that just another "story" like the now non-existent Cabarete Bypass?
 

chico bill

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May 6, 2016
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Are they really putting in wells or is that just another "story" like the now non-existent Cabarete Bypass?
Perla Marina is so close to the ocean I think any well there would be brackish.
I stayed in some villas near Playa Laguna and the owner was proud of drilling a well.
Except the water was so salty as to be nauseating for brushing teeth and the swimming pool was unusable.
Some people like salt water pools but I find them non-refreshing.

And do you want salty water in a washing machine or hot water heater ?
 

cavok

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You think if Seahorse was out of water as long as Perla Marina strings would not be pulled?
Being lower should mean more pressure if the water is not valved off.
Corraplata needs engineers not "Uncle Tito" getting a salary while running a water truck or intentionally drying up neighborhoods then telling residents if they pay him a fee he can turn valves - and yes that happened in my area. (That Corraplata sofflaw since died, but the water is still throttled by his successors)
The pressure would be higher if there were any water in the main. That appears not to be the case(?)
 

cavok

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Perla Marina is so close to the ocean I think any well there would be brackish.
I stayed in some villas near Playa Laguna and the owner was proud of drilling a well.
Except the water was so salty as to be nauseating for brushing teeth and the swimming pool was unusable.
Some people like salt water pools but I find them non-refreshing.

And do you want salty water in a washing machine or hot water heater ?
My condo is on the ocean. Our well is a little than a hundred yards from the shore line. There is no salt in the water.
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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Perla Marina is so close to the ocean I think any well there would be brackish.
I stayed in some villas near Playa Laguna and the owner was proud of drilling a well.
Except the water was so salty as to be nauseating for brushing teeth and the swimming pool was unusable.
Some people like salt water pools but I find them non-refreshing.

And do you want salty water in a washing machine or hot water heater ?

That should make a difference. Probably there are cheaper ones. This one go for over US$7,000.

A few more:

 

DR Solar

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Nov 21, 2016
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That should make a difference. Probably there are cheaper ones. This one go for over US$7,000.

A few more:


We didn't pay near the asking price on these, bought 3 via Amazon almost 5 years ago. Usually run using our brackish well water about 8 hours a day when systern gets low a not enough rain to harvest.
Maintenance not bad and filters last awhile but we do have a large Big Blue pre-filter.
5 years so they do the job and can't complain.
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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How deep did you have to go?
Out of curiosity, I went with the manager to look at it. It's less than 20 feet below the ground. I remember talking with the original developer a couple of years ago and he told me we were very lucky and there was an aquifer not far below our property. I had no idea it was less than 20 feet. He told me a friend of his in Perla Marina had to go down 80 feet to get fresh water.
 

NanSanPedro

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Boca Chica
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Out of curiosity, I went with the manager to look at it. It's less than 20 feet below the ground. I remember talking with the original developer a couple of years ago and he told me we were very lucky and there was an aquifer not far below our property. I had no idea it was less than 20 feet. He told me a friend of his in Perla Marina had to go down 80 feet to get fresh water.

I'm happy for you. I would never have guessed 20 feet only so close to the sea.
 

cavok

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I'm happy for you. I would never have guessed 20 feet only so close to the sea.
CORAAPPLATA was so bad(low pressure and brown water from silt after heavy rains), that we cut it off two years ago. They still send us a monthly bill. We've been using our well and cistern plus rain water from the roofs since then. The manager thinks that the billing company that was just fired was at least a big part of the problem.
 

JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
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CORAAPPLATA was so bad(low pressure and brown water from silt after heavy rains), that we cut it off two years ago. They still send us a monthly bill. We've been using our well and cistern plus rain water from the roofs since then. The manager thinks that the billing company that was just fired was at least a big part of the problem.
CORAAPLATA is supposed to charge for all water, regardless of the source.

When I had my farm, they came and tried to collect a monthly charge for the water from my well. I told them I wouldn't pay, they shrugged their shoulders and left.

When I sold the farm, I had to get a doc from them stating I was up to date with my payments. I had to pay a few thousand pesos to get that certification.

I'm not saying that will happen to everyone, but in my case I had to pay.
 

chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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That should make a difference. Probably there are cheaper ones. This one go for over US$7,000.

A few more:

Might be pricey?
We had desalination plants in Saudi Arabia taking water directly from a sea water canal, not a well. The water tasted terrible.
For two months Sosua and a great part of North Coast is without water and no one in the press or govrnment appears to even notice it, much less do somthing about it.
If word gets out and potential DR tourists think there is no water in hotels for a shower - then they likely could cancel vacation plans.
Let's hope that doesn't happen.
I recall checking into a hotel in Mallorca Spain in 1981 that had no water and a toilet that did not work. Checked into another and they had water but only certain hours.
Checked right back out the next morning and got the first boat back off that miserable place.
 
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Olly

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And it is not just Sosua : from Facebook Page : Cabarete Sano Sano
Attention Cabarete and all its communities sectors all the President of the Board of Neighbors of the Lane of Loma Jesus Maria Aponte invites all Cabarete to a great peaceful walk due to the lack of water this coming Friday from 10 a.m. from the Alley ROUND to PROCAB entrance.
🚰
NO #WATER
 

USA DOC

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Feb 20, 2016
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Are they really putting in wells or is that just another "story" like the now non-existent Cabarete Bypass?
Well now... probably another expired promise...soon to be forgotten , by just about everybody but the people in Sosua...........
 

chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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So Corraplata was up here two days ago trying to fix one of their pipes.

They came by my place with 6' of the thin walked (schedule 20) 2" PVC. They asked if I had 6' of "tubo de presión". I did and cut him 6' with tubing shears which he acted like he had never seen. (he had been asking all the neighbors too.

He offered to trade me his thin wall piece.

I told him keep that, I only keep schedule 40 or better around the house.

I then I said to him in parting. Does it mean once you fix your pipe will we get some water?

Just a shrug
 
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cavok

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They're fixing a pipe in the Callejon, too, because many people don't have water. Sounds like a big part of the problem are old, cracked pipes(?).
 

Seamonkey

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Oct 6, 2009
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So Corraplata was up here two days ago trying to fix one of their pipes.

They came by my place with 6' of the thin walked (schedule 20) 2" PVC. They asked if I had 6' of "tubo de presión". I did and cut him 6' with tubing shears which he acted like he had never seen. (he had been asking all the neighbors too.

He offered to trade me his thin wall piece.

I told him keep that, I only keep schedule 40 or better around the house.

I then I said to him in parting. Does it mean once you fix your pipe will we get some water?

Just a shrug
They did something right cause yesterday I got water for about 8 hours. Pressure wash higher than normal. Let's hope it lasts.
 

chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
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They did something right cause yesterday I got water for about 8 hours. Pressure wash higher than normal. Let's hope it lasts.
High pressure for Corraplata is like someone with high blood pressure - An Aneurism in their system is just waiting to happen, pipes bursting like balloons at a child's birthday party.
 
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