What Would it Take / To Pull Up Stakes ? (Water Shortage)

Lucas61

Lucas61

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How about social turmoil due to price gouging (trucked water) because water is limited and demand exceeds supply? Call this a foreshadowing of the future . . .

As far as I can tell, drinking water aside, the water that is necessary for daily functioning: bathing, the toilet, washing dishes and clothes, cleaning, etc. come in two forms in the D.R. One is that you have a well (cisterna) where water is always available IF the water table is sufficient. The other is that the water is supplied by the city and you have a faucet (llave) that you connect to your pump (bomba) to fill your tenaco. In this scenario, the water is not always available and comes at only certain times. That being the case it is mandatory that when the water does come, that you fill your tenaco and other containers (emergency supply).

For us, where we presently have lived for three years in Zona Colonia, Avenida Mella, a main business street, the water ALWAYS comes on Sunday and Thursday. If you plan accordingly, no problem. Until now. Today is the second Sunday that the water that always came, didn't come. This means water once per week. And that means that if it doesn't come the second time, we're in trouble.

Is anyone else having water shortage problems? Are their credible government entities that address this problem?
 
Lucas61

Lucas61

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cavok said:
Many have that problem and the government couldn't care less.
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But if it's a function of climate change and the shortages become severe and people begin demonstrating/rioting, then the government will be forced to take measures. I'm not talking about the present per se but about what changes in the present may indicate for the future. We need an entity from which we can receive credible data on the D.R. water status.
 
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bob saunders

bob saunders

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We have a huge cisterna at the school, takes about two days to fill, and 10 large tinacos (1500 gal each) on the roof . We keep two open at the rest in reserve for when the water from the street goes. We have three tinacos at home and without street water that will last us around two weeks. We have a very good well on our property just outside of town. When my wife was living in Santo Domingo in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she live in the area near UASD and she said there was always limited water.
 
chico bill

chico bill

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Water is the issue that will destroy development in DR.

It will only take a long drought to trigger it.
And all the leaks that go unfixed. I've seen more water wasted than used in Los Cerros. A water tank with fist size rust holes that when the tank is filled it blows out like a cartoon.

Yes prolonged severe water shortages would cause many foreigners to stop investing and property values to decline.

You could collect rain water of course - as long as it rains regularly.
But that brings bugs, leaves bird shit and dust into your home.
Pools are a good backup in emergency

And the water truck drivers pay Corraplata kick backs to keep certain areas from getting delivered.
 
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nanita

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Lucas61 said:
But if it's a function of climate change and the shortages become severe and people begin demonstrating/rioting, then the government will be forced to take measures. I'm not talking about the present per se but about what changes in the present may indicate for the future. We need an entity from which we can receive credible data on the D.R. water status.
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The climate isn't changing any more than it always has, and the DR is not experiencing extended drought. Water is a mismanaged resource in the DR, because the DR is a corrupt mess. In case you hadn't noticed, the world is being increasingly destabilized, largely due to the manufactured Covid 'crisis' and the resulting social and economic fallout. Since sh*t rolls downhill, you can expect to feel the pain more in countries like the DR, although things aren't great anywhere right now, TBH. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the DR government to solve the water issue. I expect the situation will continue to deteriorate, along with the infrastructure and people's patience. If you stay in the DR, the best course of action would be to do some research and find somewhere to live that works FOR YOU. Like a place with a well. Where I used to live in DR, we had a well that some of the original Italian owners/investors built and we always had water, except when we didn't because the pump broke semi-regularly. BUT it was better than having to buy a truckload of water.
 
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cavok

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Lucas61 said:
But if it's a function of climate change and the shortages become severe and people begin demonstrating/rioting, then the government will be forced to take measures. I'm not talking about the present per se but about what changes in the present may indicate for the future. We need an entity from which we can receive credible data on the D.R. water status.
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Climate change has absolutely nothing to do with it. There are protests(there was one just last week in Islabon over the lack of water)and the government cracks down on the protestors pretty quick.
 
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chico bill

chico bill

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nanita said:
The climate isn't changing any more than it always has, and the DR is not experiencing extended drought. Water is a mismanaged resource in the DR, because the DR is a corrupt mess. In case you hadn't noticed, the world is being increasingly destabilized, largely due to the manufactured Covid 'crisis' and the resulting social and economic fallout. Since sh*t rolls downhill, you can expect to feel the pain more in countries like the DR, although things aren't great anywhere right now, TBH. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the DR government to solve the water issue. I expect the situation will continue to deteriorate, along with the infrastructure and people's patience. If you stay in the DR, the best course of action would be to do some research and find somewhere to live that works FOR YOU. Like a place with a well. Where I used to live in DR, we had a well that some of the original Italian owners/investors built and we always had water, except when we didn't because the pump broke semi-regularly. BUT it was better than having to buy a truckload of water.
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I had a well in the US that the submersible pump functioned 25 years without repair
 
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Kipling333

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Lucas61, I used to have a lovely home in Calle Santiago Rodriguez , now converted to apartments I believe, and we received water every morning for 4 hours so I am sorry that the situation has become so bad. CAASD is the most incompetent government authority that I know and in my time in Zona Colonial they did more destruction that remedial work including permitting a large broken pipe to run into road works for more than a month until part of the wall of Hotel Frances was destroyed. On the advice of a moderator who wrote that there were pipe works going all over Santo Domingo , I read the CAASD website for that information. Nothing is there. The movement of people from small rural areas into the larger cities has been evident for some years , if the various census figures can be believed but there is absolutely no planning of new dams or reservoirs . My opinion is that if there was a political party that gave priority to secure water and electricity supplies , they would romp home in an election.
 
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bob saunders

bob saunders

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Kipling333 said:
Lucas61, I used to have a lovely home in Calle Santiago Rodriguez , now converted to apartments I believe, and we received water every morning for 4 hours so I am sorry that the situation has become so bad. CAASD is the most incompetent government authority that I know and in my time in Zona Colonial they did more destruction that remedial work including permitting a large broken pipe to run into road works for more than a month until part of the wall of Hotel Frances was destroyed. On the advice of a moderator who wrote that there were pipe works going all over Santo Domingo , I read the CAASD website for that information. Nothing is there. The movement of people from small rural areas into the larger cities has been evident for some years , if the various census figures can be believed but there is absolutely no planning of new dams or reservoirs . My opinion is that if there was a political party that gave priority to secure water and electricity supplies , they would romp home in an election.
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not true https://dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2021/06/17/five-new-dams-in-dominican-gov-water-plan/
 
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nanita

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bob saunders said:
not true https://dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2021/06/17/five-new-dams-in-dominican-gov-water-plan/
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According to the first link (2 years old), the only 'action' mentioned is the following:

'As part of the strategy to guarantee water to the capital and the entire country, the Government is studying the construction of dams on the Haina, Artibonito and Yuna rivers, as well as Don Juan and Las Placetas.'

I'm not sure how 'studying' the construction of dams can be equated to having or executing a plan. I'd be interested in more recent information to see how the 'studying' is going, and also what is the cost of the 'studying' and who exactly received the contracts to do the 'studying'.
 
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bob saunders

bob saunders

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nanita said:
According to the first link (2 years old), the only 'action' mentioned is the following:

'As part of the strategy to guarantee water to the capital and the entire country, the Government is studying the construction of dams on the Haina, Artibonito and Yuna rivers, as well as Don Juan and Las Placetas.'

I'm not sure how 'studying' the construction of dams can be equated to having or executing a plan. I'd be interested in more recent information to see how the 'studying' is going, and also what is the cost of the 'studying' and who exactly received the contracts to do the 'studying'.
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California has been building a train track to nowhere for 15 plus years and the DR built a metro through a crowded city in much less time. Building a dam here would go through the environmental process quicker and be built quicker as well.
 
CristoRey

CristoRey

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Lucas61 said:
But if it's a function of climate change and the shortages become severe and people begin demonstrating/rioting, then the government will be forced to take measures. I'm not talking about the present per se but about what changes in the present may indicate for the future. We need an entity from which we can receive credible data on the D.R. water status.
Click to expand...
Climate change?
The only thing that has changed is people's minds. If the government wanted to fix it, they would.
 
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Kipling333

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As Nanita wrote, there is no plan and no action but the two articles state that maybe there will be some action to make a plan .. I suppose that is the manana syndrome, and it satisfies some people.
 
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JD Jones

JD Jones

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