Water problem

PlantaFULL

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Oct 21, 2004
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Is anyone in Santo Domingo aware of problems with the water supply? We live in Mirador Norte near La Privada and there has been only very little water coming from the public supply for over 10 days. The building's cisterna has been used up and the amount coming from the public supply is only enough to provide around 1 hour of water per day at random times.

I couldn't find anything in the newspapers etc so I guess this is a local problem, I know it extends a few streets around this area at least.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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El Listin Diario has a good article

There is an article in El Listin Diario, Abril 7, 2005. It is not specific to one neighborhood but it gives an overview of the water supply problem in Rep?blica Dominicana. If you wait a few days you will be able to access the article from the "ediciones anteriores" section. However, for now here is the first parargraph of the article. It was very thorough.

====================

-excerpt from el Listin Diario, Abril 7, 2005-

EL AGUA
un asunto para tomar en serio
SANTO DOMINGO.- Rep?blica Dominicana es el cuarto pa?s con menor disponibilidad de agua en Am?rica, seg?n la Organizaci?n de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentaci?n (FAO), y el segundo con menor disponibilidad de agua por persona en el continente, despu?s de Hait?.
Aunque Quisqueya recibe 69 kil?metros c?bicos de lluvia al a?o, debido a la evaporaci?n y otros fen?menos naturales, solamente 21 kil?metros c?bicos quedan disponibles en r?os, embalses, lagos y acu?feros subterr?neos.
Hasta aqu?, las deficiencias del l?quido corren por cuenta de la naturaleza. Pero esta no es la ?nica responsable de la escasez. En vez de adaptarse a las limitaciones del recurso que impone la geograf?a, los dominicanos derrochan agua como si esta abundara.
Cualquier persona necesita entre 80 y 100 litros (de 21 a 26 galones) para sus actividades diarias de higiene personal y del hogar, preparaci?n de comidas y bebidas, de acuerdo con la Organizaci?n de las Naciones Unidas.
Sin embargo, los dominicanos consumen en promedio de 900 a 1,000 litros por persona por d?a (de 238 a 264 galones), indic? el ingeniero Carlos Mota, del Instituto Nacional de Aguas Potables y Alcantarillados, INAPA.
 
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Geert

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Jan 28, 2005
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Water shortage

PlantaFULL said:
Is anyone in Santo Domingo aware of problems with the water supply? We live in Mirador Norte near La Privada and there has been only very little water coming from the public supply for over 10 days. The building's cisterna has been used up and the amount coming from the public supply is only enough to provide around 1 hour of water per day at random times.

I couldn't find anything in the newspapers etc so I guess this is a local problem, I know it extends a few streets around this area at least.

We have a house in SD, Buena Vista II. For the last 6 weeks we have not had a drop of water. We need to buy two tanker trucks per week(3 adults & 4 kids). At first the price was RD$800 and has now been increased to RD$1,100 per tanker truck.
Complaining has no effect.
I am leaving for Toronto on Wednesday and am looking forward to a constant water-electricity supply. Snow should be gone by now.
Cheers, Geert
 

Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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To all whom it may concern, I'm just going to offer one word of advise, just one word, for the approaching future that beckons, 'desalination plants'.
 

rellosk

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Mar 18, 2002
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Mirador said:
To all whom it may concern, I'm just going to offer one word of advise, just one word, for the approaching future that beckons, 'desalination plants'.
Or they could educate people on water conservation. According to the article posted by Leslie D, Dominicans use 10 times (per capita) the amount of water they should be using.
 

PlantaFULL

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Oct 21, 2004
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desalination plants: from what I hear thats not very cost effective yet or? I know they use it in Dubai but they got a whole different kind of monetary resources to play with over there.

Thanks for the replies tho, electricity on the other hand has been very good in our neighborhood over the last 4 months.. Power outages amount to 2 hours per week maximum. Too bad we can't pump water now that we have electricity.
 

Pib

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Jan 1, 2002
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www.dominicancooking.com
I also live in Mirador Norte/Sur (don't ask), we also have water problems, if it had not been for our trusty tinacos we'd be screwed. It is mostly because of the drought. Let's hope it rains soon.
 

sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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Mirador said:
To all whom it may concern, I'm just going to offer one word of advise, just one word, for the approaching future that beckons, 'desalination plants'.

Doesn't desalination require electricty? I plead a bit of ignorance on this, and I suppose there is a way to do it utilizing the sun for heat, but it's hard to imagine in the quantities needed. Anything which requires more electricity isn't viable in the DR IMHO.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Our neighbours waste huge amounts of water each time they fills their tinaco. They don't seem to have the float system that stops the flow once the tank is full, so torrents of water gush out and over into their yard for a good twenty minutes. I also notice many people hosing down their patios and drives on a daily basis. It defies common sense.

On the question of desalination, my hometown, Gibraltar uses this system which is apparently quite expensive. Places that have no alternatives like natural water sources and very limited rainfall opt for this system. e.g. I believe it is used in Curacao. In the past, the east side of the Rock of Gibraltar used to have a water catchment system that collected rainwater into storage tanks inside the Rock. This technology sounds far more appropriate, I really don't know why they had to stop doing this. Now what used to be the water catchment is a wildlife habitat, so it's not all bad. The other unusual thing in Gibraltar is that all houses have a salt/brackish water supply which is used for flushing the toilets. Before you ask - plastic piping.

The DR would have less of a problem if what water there is is used efficiently.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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La falta de agua afecta m?s de 30 barrios de Santo Domingo Norte

PlantaFULL,


In today's Listin Diario there is an article on the water problem and it is neighborhood specific.

Here is the link:

http://www.listindiario.com.do/cuerpos/ciudades/ciu1.htm


LDG


PlantaFULL said:
Is anyone in Santo Domingo aware of problems with the water supply? We live in Mirador Norte near La Privada and there has been only very little water coming from the public supply for over 10 days. The building's cisterna has been used up and the amount coming from the public supply is only enough to provide around 1 hour of water per day at random times.

I couldn't find anything in the newspapers etc so I guess this is a local problem, I know it extends a few streets around this area at least.
 

Danny W

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Mar 1, 2003
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I have noticed in some poor neighborhoods that some people wate water the same way they waste electricity. I have been in houses where a water pipe is just running all day and all the light bulbs are on. What's the solution?
 

rellosk

Silver
Mar 18, 2002
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Danny W said:
I have noticed in some poor neighborhoods that some people wate water the same way they waste electricity. I have been in houses where a water pipe is just running all day and all the light bulbs are on. What's the solution?
Make them pay for the services they are currently stealing.