BajaNomad

Water turned off on a constant basis in Tijuana

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 03:15 PM

In my part of TJ the water company shuts the water off an average of 1-2 times a month. I have not learned the reason why they turn it off.

When it is off it will stay off anywhere between 3 hours and 3 days.

In the last 4 weeks the water company appears to be trying to break their record: The water has been turned off approximately 3-5 times. The outages are lasting 1- 3 days.

I talked with one person at the store and she said that she never experiences a water outage in her part of TJ, which surprised me. I thought most of the city would be impacted by an outage.

Does the water company shut the water off with the same degree of regularity in your neighborhood of Tijuana?


[Edited on 1-7-2014 by TijuanaGirl]

Mula - 1-7-2014 at 03:31 PM

Happens almost every evening at 6 the water in Lopez Mateos is shut off and turned back on in the morning.

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 03:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Mula
Happens almost every evening at 6 the water in Lopez Mateos is shut off and turned back on in the morning.


Is Lopez Mateos a colony in Tijuana?

And have you discovered a reason why the water company has all of these outages on a constant basis?

It would appear that a business like a restaurant or a coffee shop would lose money due to all the outages that occur.

All the other utility services appear to run fine, including Internet service. It's just the water company that can't get their act together, in my part of TJ.

I wonder if other people in TJ are experiencing the same problem with the water service company on their side of town.

[Edited on 1-7-2014 by TijuanaGirl]

larryC - 1-7-2014 at 03:43 PM

Water outages are why you see so many places with the large black water tanks on the roof. They store it to use during the outages.
Larry

danaeb - 1-7-2014 at 03:43 PM

Could it be that 2013 has the distinction as the driest year on record in Southern California?

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 03:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by larryC
Water outages are why you see so many places with the large black water tanks on the roof. They store it to use during the outages.
Larry


I never noticed any black tanks, but maybe now I will.

I just took a look out my window. I can see houses off in the distance.

I can see one apartment complex that has a large tank on the roof - hard to tell but it looks to be about 10 feet tall - approximately. And pretty wide.

But it's not black, it's white. Not sure, but the tank appears to contain fluid. The fluid is clear. The tank appears to be half full.

It's a bit of a let down when you have an important date or meeting and you can't take a shower because the water is turned off.


[Edited on 1-7-2014 by TijuanaGirl]

bajalearner - 1-7-2014 at 03:50 PM

In the neighborhoods I have lived in TJ, the water may have been shut off once or twice a year for a few hours. That was Colonia Libertad and Agua Caliente. The eclectric would go off about once a year. I would look at the shut off valve when the water goes off to make sure it is not the problem.

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 03:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajalearner
I would look at the shut off valve when the water goes off to make sure it is not the problem.


I hope I'm not being too presumptuous here and if I am let me know.

But the landlord lives onsite and he doesn't like the outages, either. He's also mechanically inclined. He also has some men who work on site who are mechanically inclined.

So I'm assuming it has less to do with a shut off valve and more to do with the local water company.

Thanks for the suggestion.

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 04:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajalearner
In the neighborhoods I have lived in TJ, the water may have been shut off once or twice a year for a few hours. That was Colonia Libertad and Agua Caliente.


I know Agua Caliente is supposed to be a nice area to live. How about Colonia Libertad, is it as nice (or near as nice) as Agua Caliente?

BajaNomad - 1-7-2014 at 05:27 PM







https://twitter.com/cespt

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comisi%C3%B3n-Estatal-de-Serv...

BajaNomad - 1-7-2014 at 05:30 PM







David K - 1-7-2014 at 05:34 PM

I hope TijuanaGirl reads Spanish!

willardguy - 1-7-2014 at 05:41 PM

i guess always have a couple sparkletts bottles filled for when you just soaped up and the well goes dry?

dasubergeek - 1-7-2014 at 06:00 PM

I have to say this is pretty normal, especially out in the boonies. In Puerta Trampa there's only water for four hours every third day, because that's when they can run the generator to get the water pump running, so everyone fills up. In the rural mainland it works the same way. Even in Ensenada most people have tanks on the roof.

In this case, it seems like major construction work was done.

tjsue - 1-7-2014 at 06:11 PM

I'm also in Tijuana, but my water has only been off for a few hours one day, and I'm in Colonia Independencia.

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 07:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I hope TijuanaGirl reads Spanish!


No I can't read Spanish - even worse is that the majority of the text cannot be copied off of Facebook and pasted into Word Reference's online translator no matter which web browser is used. In other words, the text is not copy-paste friendly, if that makes sense.

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 08:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I'm also in Tijuana, but my water has only been off for a few hours one day, and I'm in Colonia Independencia.


One day?

One day out of the month, out of the year, out of 5 years...?

[Edited on 1-8-2014 by TijuanaGirl]

tjsue - 1-7-2014 at 08:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TijuanaGirl
Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I'm also in Tijuana, but my water has only been off for a few hours one day, and I'm in Colonia Independencia.


One day?

One day out of the month, out of the year, out of 5 years...?

[Edited on 1-8-2014 by TijuanaGirl]


I've been living in Tijuana since the end of September. I have 10 one gallon jugs of water that are for that purpose only, if and when the time comes they have to be used.

If you search the subject in the San Diego Reader online, you'll see an article that was written on the water turnoff.

[Edited on 1-8-2014 by tjsue]

TijuanaGirl - 1-7-2014 at 08:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dasubergeek
I have to say this is pretty normal, especially out in the boonies.


Trust me, I'm not out in the boonies. I'm in the heartland, so to speak.

I am shocked that it's "pretty normal" as you described it.

I had gotten used to the once or twice a month outage as being "normal", but to be bombarded with outages in December 2013 - almost right up to Christmas Eve - was a bit much especially during a holiday like Christmas.

The water was off at around 5am this morning and now, at approximately 7:00 pm, it's still off 14 hours later.

It appears that Colonia Libertad might have less outages. Is Colonia Libertad a nice area in which to live?

wessongroup - 1-7-2014 at 10:04 PM

As to drought ... and the distribution of Colorado River water

"Feds Slash Colorado River Release to Historic Lows"

From a National Geo piece ... it's interactive ... 1999 > 2013

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130816-color...

PUBLISHED AUGUST 16, 2013

"It's as if a giant sucked up an astonishing amount of water with a straw. Some 8.23 million acre-feet of water is supposed to flow each year into Lake Mead from Lake Powell to serve Nevada, Arizona, California, and Mexico, per long-standing interstate and international agreements. But the past 14 years have been tough."

[Edited on 1-8-2014 by wessongroup]

Water

dpwahoo - 1-7-2014 at 10:09 PM

Thank god for my Pila.;D

David K - 1-8-2014 at 12:12 AM

TijuanaGirl, show what BajaNomad posted above to your landlord (I presume you can communicate with him)... it explains the scheduled outages for work on the water delivery system... It says to collect enough water for your needs for up to 36 hours!

A pila ( "pee-lah" means storage tank or battery) and is used to store water off grid, and elevated to create some water pressure (every 10 feet of water drop = 4.33 psi). You don't see them often in cities, but you do in the boonies where water trucks deliver water to your pila.

Welcome to Nomad, but don't run off if we are hard on you like asking what did you expect when moving to Mexico, not speaking some Spanish, or other criticisms...

The town where Mula lives (Lopez Mateos) is hundreds of miles south of you, on Magdalena Bay in Baja California Sur. Getting the AAA Baja map is really helpful, because locations are so much part of this forum's discussions and Baja is 1,000 road miles long with 3,000 miles of coastline and varied from semi-arid regions, to deserts, to tropical oasis, to snowy pine mountains. What makes Baja so fascinating is the variety in one peninsula... the magnificent peninsula of Baja California.

dasubergeek - 1-8-2014 at 01:16 AM

Oh, I wasn't suggesting that you were in the boonies. Just that the use of pilas is really, really widespread in Mexico. The place I normally stay in Ensenada looks out on pila after pila after pila.

Libertad is an interesting place. Years ago it was one of those places where you would just sort of "not see" the things going on. It's better now, and it's full of people who cross the border to work (it's really close to the main crossing).

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 08:48 AM

TijuanaGirl, on the first post from BajaNomad Doug on this thread it shows what areas / subdivisions / Colonias are affected by the scheduled maintenance and necesary repairs. Look to see if your area is on that list. If it is then you can expect the outage to last anywere between 6 to 36 hours and that also depends on usage and capacity of the main storage tanks located at different parts of the affected areas. I don't know were you live in Tijuana but even though all of the city is very heavily populated, not all of it is the heartland.
From west to east, Playas is Playas, from El Mirador and Soler all the way to the racetrack would be the "heartland, from there on, La Mesa is La Mesa, anywere past La Mesa is anyones guess, It is usualy refered to in spanish as El Este de la Ciudad, I would call it the boonies. From North to south, from the airport to an imaginary line that would go from Hipodromo, Chapultepec, Gabilondo, Cacho, Juarez, Morelos, Independencia, Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo and so on would be the heartland. Anything else goes by the area name. For example the area of look alike houses past La Gloria is Santa Fe, and that is part of the boonies.
As for water shortages here in our colonia, Juarez, maybe once every 2 to 3 years, exept if there is a water main break, that is usualy fixed within 1 day.
Saludos,
Fernando

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 09:10 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K

A pila ( "pee-lah" means storage tank or battery) and is used to store water off grid, and elevated to create some water pressure (every 10 feet of water drop = 4.33 psi). You don't see them often in cities, but you do in the boonies where water trucks deliver water to your pila.


Actualy a pila is usualy underground or at ground level and a pump is used in order for the water to be delivered thru the pipes. What you are describing is more of a "Tinaco" and those are elevated, most of BCS uses tinacos.

David K - 1-8-2014 at 10:14 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by fdt
Quote:
Originally posted by David K

A pila ( "pee-lah" means storage tank or battery) and is used to store water off grid, and elevated to create some water pressure (every 10 feet of water drop = 4.33 psi). You don't see them often in cities, but you do in the boonies where water trucks deliver water to your pila.


Actualy a pila is usualy underground or at ground level and a pump is used in order for the water to be delivered thru the pipes. What you are describing is more of a "Tinaco" and those are elevated, most of BCS uses tinacos.


Thank you Ferna, I was just trying to describe what dpwahoo was talking about... and perhaps because they are gringos, but I have only heard the people with homes off grid and elevated tanks refer to them as 'pilas'. I appreciate you providing the correct word for an elevated water tank at ones home being a 'Tanaco'! :light:

tjsue - 1-8-2014 at 11:29 AM

I've been told that Colonia Libertad isn't a very good neighborhood to live in.

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 12:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I've been told that Colonia Libertad isn't a very good neighborhood to live in.

Back in the 50's and 60's it was known for the pachucos that lived there. But not everyone was a pachuco. My grandmothers home was on calle 5ta and Serdan in Libertad and that is were my dad and uncles grew up but it has changed a lot.
It does seem like TijuanaGirl is open to the idea of moving to a better area although she hasn't mentioned were she lives. I wpuld gladly show her the better options if she would like.

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 02:08 PM

Tinaco, with an i not an a

https://www.google.com.mx/search?q=tinaco&source=lnms&am...

BajaNomad - 1-8-2014 at 05:12 PM

BajaNomad - 1-8-2014 at 05:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fdt
Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I've been told that Colonia Libertad isn't a very good neighborhood to live in.


...I wpuld gladly show her the better options if she would like.


You should take FDT up on his offer. Just my dos centavos on this.

TijuanaGirl - 1-8-2014 at 05:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
TijuanaGirl, show what BajaNomad posted above to your landlord (I presume you can communicate with him)... it explains the scheduled outages for work on the water delivery system... It says to collect enough water for your needs for up to 36 hours!


I was hoping the water companies schedule would include dates of an expected outage that are scheduled to take place over the course of the next two or three weeks. But it appears to focus only on today and tomorrow, I think.

TijuanaGirl - 1-8-2014 at 05:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fdt
Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I've been told that Colonia Libertad isn't a very good neighborhood to live in.

It does seem like TijuanaGirl is open to the idea of moving to a better area although she hasn't mentioned were she lives. I wpuld gladly show her the better options if she would like.


I don't know if Colonia Libertad is an all around better neighborhood than where I am currently located. But it does appear to have less water outages.

Funny, I don't think I've ever been to Libertad, but there's a small chance I've been through Libertad (or have seen it) in going from point A to point B.

I think it's safe to assume that the regulars here know that the personality and complexion of a neighborhood can change in drastic fashion from one street to the next.

I'll have to take into account that tjsue did say that Libertad is not a very good neighborhood to live in

P.S. I'd like to thank everyone in this thread who provided helpful information ;D



[Edited on 1-9-2014 by TijuanaGirl]

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 06:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TijuanaGirl


I was hoping the water companies schedule would include dates of an expected outage that are scheduled to take place over the course of the next two or three weeks. But it appears to focus only on today and tomorrow, I think.


They advise everybody well in advance and they use all means of communication, they announce it on the radio, tv, all newspapers and here all over the social media.
As for your particular case having so many outages, I have heard that from other Tijuana residents and, sorry, but it is because of the area you live in. I don't know why but it happens lot twards the east side of town. As I wrote before, you have not disclosed what area you live in, you just mentioned the heartland, so I cant really say more.
Saludos
Fernando

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 06:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TijuanaGirl
Quote:
Originally posted by fdt
Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
I've been told that Colonia Libertad isn't a very good neighborhood to live in.

It does seem like TijuanaGirl is open to the idea of moving to a better area although she hasn't mentioned were she lives. I wpuld gladly show her the better options if she would like.


I don't know if Colonia Libertad is an all around better neighborhood than where I am currently located. But it does appear to have less water outages.

Funny, I don't think I've ever been to Libertad, but there's a small chance I've been through Libertad (or have seen it) in going from point A to point B.

I think it's safe to assume that the regulars here know that the personality and complexion of a neighborhood can change in drastic fashion from one street to the next.

I'll have to take into account that tjsue did say that Libertad is not a very good neighborhood to live in

P.S. I'd like to thank everyone in this thread who provided helpful information ;D



[Edited on 1-9-2014 by TijuanaGirl]


I agree about what tjsue said about Colonia Libertad and as I wrote before, it has changed a lot and even though my dad was raised there, the main reason I remember him mentioning as to why he decided on the area we presently live in, Colonia Juarez was precisely because he didn't want his children growing up in Colonia Libertad.
One question; Do you think someone would be able to pinpoint your location just by you mentioning a general area as to were you live? I ask this because I don't see how anyone can help somebody who is asking questions regarding to were they live if the only descriptions you've given us is "the heartland" and "from point A to point B". Just sayin'
saludos,
Fernando

tjsue - 1-8-2014 at 07:02 PM

When I decided to move to Tijuana, I started researching out neighborhoods, and asked questions on the Tijuana blog. Most everyone on the blog lives in Tijuana, so they can answer questions about most anything, and that's where I was told that Libertad not being a good place to live.

fdt - 1-8-2014 at 07:37 PM

I would probably agree with them. I would definetly not show that area to anyone looking to live in Tijuana.

David K - 1-8-2014 at 07:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
... the correct word for an elevated water tank at ones home being a 'Tanaco'! :light:

"Tanaco?" :?:

Your maps are great. Your spelling lessons often discredit you. :rolleyes:


Baja place names is what I provide help with, all other words I have no expertise in! Thank you.

Pila is the word I have heard for any and all home water storage tanks (above or below ground), so TINACO was totally NEW to me... and yes, when I repeated back to Ferna, I did spell it wrong. I was NOT trying to tell him or anybody the correct way to spell Tinaco. I APPRECIATE the correct information/ spelling and welcome it. Thank you Ferna!

dasubergeek - 1-8-2014 at 09:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaNomad


RESTORATION OF SERVICE

We inform you that the work on the Florido-Otay aqueduct have completed successfully and the neighborhoods still waiting to have water service restored as of yesterday should regain it overnight tonight.

We invite those people who already have this vital liquid to use it rationally in order to allow the storage tanks to reach their optimum operational level.

[Edited on 1-9-2014 by dasubergeek]

bajalearner - 1-8-2014 at 09:23 PM

Quote:
I know Agua Caliente is supposed to be a nice area to live. How about Colonia Libertad, is it as nice (or near as nice) as Agua Caliente?


No. Libertad is a normal, middleclass area with a bad reputation but is a good area now. It is along the border fence at San Ysidro. It is amoung the oldest neighborhoods of Tijuana being adjacent to the Palacio Municipal and the border crossing. During the 60's, when many families had young teenagers, Libertad cultured gangs and punks. These days those punks have long moved on and many normal people reside. It is a great colonia if a person crosses the border routinely. Libertad does not have any good restaurants or clubs or much of anything else worth talking about.

A great asset to Libertad is that it rises from the rio, up a steep hill which allows a great view of the city. Of course, most of the construction did not build to include the vista due to the extra cost of construction such as large windows or balconies. There are some casa's that make use of the view. I got the idea that Libertad was a "cheap" development compared to Cacha and Mira Vista on the west side of Centro. Those areas reflect more money and nicer buildings and both are along the hills with buena vistas. I predict many nice homes with eventually transform Libertad as people build to take advantage of the location and views.

[Edited on 1-9-2014 by bajalearner]

fdt - 1-27-2014 at 10:54 AM

Scheduled maintenance work will leave 431 areas in Tijuana with no water from wednesday to thuirsday. look at the list to see if your colonia is there

http://www.frontera.info/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Noticias/25012...