The Water

Water

What a perfect day to talk about the water! I just got back from paying the water bill at our local 7-11 (that’s not what it’s really called), and it was almost $7.50 for this last month. The cost of water in El Cajon de Grecia has just gone up this month as we used to get 15 square meters of water free before the charging started, but not this month. No more low-priced water here in Grecia. Just to compare, our water bill in Dallas was almost $100 and sometimes up to $125. Truth be known, that also included trash pickup, but I did enjoy paying the $7.50 today. For those of you who have traveled to Mexico, you will be pleased to know you can drink the water anywhere in this country and not worry about the really bad sickness that I have had in Mexico many times. So drink lots of water and worry not!

If you are buying a home that is already built, it will obviously have water already and the chances are that you can just continue the water in the previous home owner’s name until you decide to change it. That is a very foreign thinking process for North Americans, but in this land of Costa Rica, it is commonplace. If you buy a lot or a piece of land – a manzana (1.73 acres) or more – for building your dream home, you will need to apply for the water about a month before the building process begins. You will appear at the Water Board with cedula in hand (passport), building plans, and the cedula juridica of your corporation. Don’t get out your coat and tie as it is a very informal process and shorts, sandals, and a shirt will be fine. It is usually a rubber stamp ceremony and in a week or so they will have installed the meter, which you will have paid for, and the responsibility to bring the water to your land or lot or whatever will be yours. Don’t worry about that as we all simply have a worker bury a PVC pipe, which is very inexpensive as is the worker, and he will run it all the way to your house or your construction site.

The only difference in the water utility as opposed to electricity, phones, and cell phones is that, at least in El Cajon, you have to pay it at the local grocery store. All other utilities can be paid online with a simple debit to your bank account. We pay all our bills online, except the water bill, which is on the way home from Grecia and only takes a minute.

Pura Vida!