Water Everywhere

Sarchi has an overabundance of water - so much so supposedly they are dumping 5 acre-feet of water hourly into streams. But guess what?  The tank that serves our property is lower than the highest point on the property. So while we have a water connection, it doesn’t reach the construction site.

Short term solution:  We buried put in a 1,000 gallon tank about 3/4 the way up where water arrives.  Next we installed a 1 hp water pump and pressurizing bladder to pump it the rest of the way. When the construction crew is mixing concrete they use water faster than the city can provide it but the tank refills overnight and we have never lost a moment of time due to a lack of water.

Long Term Solution: Sarchi is required to deliver water in sufficient quantity and pressure.  To do so, they have to run a new water line from their tank higher up in the hills. Well, our neighbor, an attorney named Don Maximo, (I think it went to his head) and he doesn’t like the idea that we are building next to him. He wanted to buy the property because the owner was a distant relative.  Well he only offered a fraction of the value because he knew she was ill and needed the money.  We offered full price so he is pissed at us.  He is buddies with the attorney for Sarchi and they said we have no right to use the “private street” between us and the water tank. B.S.!  The road has a  servidumbre in favor of the city for water and he lied as he doesn’t own the property.  It is owned by a huge coffee farm that wants to transfer it to the city.  So a little asking around by Isabel and Sarchi now has permission from the owner of the Hacienda to put in the water line. We will still have to ride them like mules to get it done.
Score: Gringo 1, Don Minimo 0.

Next Ploy: Don Minimo, as I call him, not to be out done went to the city and complained that we were building too many houses on the property. We only have one house under construction and the city gave us permits to build two houses.  The city came out, looked around and tossed the complaint.
Score: Gringo 2, Don Minimo 0.

Next Ploy: Now Don Minimo, wants to limit our ability to connect to the water source. By law, we are allowed 6 connections and up to 6 additional if we ask for them. If we can’t get the water from the higher tank, my plan is to put in a 10,000 gallon tank at the very top part of the property and gravity feed each of the 9 houses.  We will take all 6 feeds and join them into a 2 1/2” pipe and push the water up to the tank.
Score: Gringo 3, Don Minimo 0

Who Pollutes? Next Don Minimo complained to the city that we were polluting the irrigation stream with construction waste.  The day the city came out, the workers on Don Minimo’s property were throwing so much trash, leaves and branches into the canal, he got in trouble.  He had to send his workers over to clean out our part of the canal. Next, he is going to complain that we are dumping our gray water in the canals (like he does) but it is against the law. Well, we always build our septic systems sized for the house, not for the Tico budget.  All gray water goes through the septic systems, not like Din Minimo’s houses.
Score: Gringo 4, Don Minimo 0

Next Complaint: Don Minimo heard that we were building 9 houses but he can’t figure out how since it is agricultural land and the maximum should be 4. He came over in a huff and asked my builder, Don Johel.  He doesn’t care for Don Minimo, so Don Johel told him, Ï don’t know, maybe the Gringo is smarter than you.  That is worth 10 points!

Respect for Women: Isabel and I are on site three times a week, minimum. At the very beginning of the project, Don Minimo came over and started to ask me a bunch of questions in Spanish. Yes, I understood his questions and could have answered him but I told him that Isabel is the legal representative for the corporation and he would have to talk to her. He looked at her and then started to repeat the questions. I interrupted him and told him to either talk to Isabel or go and talk to to one of his dogs because I didn’t have anything to say to him.  His machismo prevented him from talking to her and to this day he refuses to acknowledge her.

Why do I call him Don Minimo?  Well for most people education is a good thing.  For Don Maximo (his real name) somewhere he stopped his education even though he is an attorney, he is living proof that a little knowledge can be a big problem.