Before we left Pleasanton, people would ask, “Well you’ll at least have running water in Mexico, right?” It seems like a simple question, but the answer is complicated.

The short answer is yes, we have running water. But the definition of “running water” here is different from where we came from.

First, the source. There is municipal water. However, the water does not run all day every day. Instead, it is turned on neighborhood by neighborhood, on a rotating basis, for a few hours at a time. When all is operating smoothly, each neighborhood gets the water turned on for 4-8 hours, every other day. You don’t know which 4-8 hours – it could be in the morning or the afternoon – and sometimes they skip a day without notice. But it’s actually not as bad as it sounds. Most people now have a large tank (300-500 gallons) on the roof, so whenever the water is running, the tank fills automatically. So realistically, running water is available pretty much all of the time.

However, as I said, that’s when all is operating smoothly. That has not been the case since we arrived. They are working on the valve that directs water to our neighborhood, so there’s no municipal water here for four weeks or more. And no one has a tank with enough water in it to last a month! We are very fortunate to have a backup – we have a well on the property with plenty of water. We spent two days during our first week here finding, purchasing and installing an electric pump. So now we can use well water to fill the water tank as needed (see photo of Richard filling the tank).

The second part to the definition of running water is the practical application. Yes, there’s a toilet and a shower in the bathroom, but no, there isn’t a sink. The kitchen doesn’t have a sink either. In fact, there isn’t an American-style sink on the property at all. There is a “lavadero” outside, which is a type of utility sink, where we wash dishes, hands, etc. (See photo of Maricela washing dishes.) The lavadero is not connected to the rooftop water tank, so it only has running water coming to it during the windows of time when the municipal water is turned on. For the other times, there is a large drum from which to scoop water; we refill the drum with municipal water when we happen to be home at the right time.

Don’t misunderstand any of this post to be a complaint. It’s different from where we came from, but it’s not bad. It all works very well. And there have been many improvements over the years, the biggest of which is the rooftop tank, which essentially makes running water available on demand any time.

As far as drinking water, it appears that most people purchase purified water for drinking and cooking rather than using the municipal water or well water. Bottled water is widely available, and a vendor passes through the town twice per week. The vendor sells 5 gallon water bottle refills for about $1.

A final note about water. The water bill is paid annually and costs about $27 for the year.