Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Hot Water Woes

There are three phrases down here that I hate to hear. They are:

quizas manana.....maybe tomorrow, maybe never

no hay....don't have that right now, maybe never

no aqua caliente....no hot water now or ever

I was screaming the last one last Sunday night. We noticed that there was water coming out of our downspouts, but it was not raining. Mmmmmm. Terrible thoughts of one of the water tanks high, high, high up on the third roof having a leak raced through my mind. I dreaded the thought of having to get on the ladder that only reaches two-thirds of the way to the second roof and having to crawl up there, haul up the ladder behind me and then get on to the third roof. But it turns out, I didn't have to! This was the problem:






It's our hot water tank. It had rusted through and there was a hole on the bottom allowing all the hot water to leak out. It kept emptying and refilling with hot water that just got spilled onto the patio and ran off into the gutters. This tank if only four years old folks. Take a closer look at what the salt here does:






All of us living on the coasts are familiar with this problem but take note you newbies. This will happen to everything you own eventually. It happens faster with me because I live so close to the water.

So B called our trusty plumber and he said he would be here at 9:00 AM on Christmas Eve. He was here by 9:10 AM. Pretty impressive. He set to work taking out the old one and carrying it downstairs to the trash. Then he went to Boxito (the local plumbing store) and bought a new one. Here is this really great guy at work:




The only problem was that Boxito's 40 liter tank, like we had, is now a tall version. So he had to get this 22 liter one. It is rated for 5 people and since there are only 3 of us, and we hardly take showers one after the other, we should be fine. Here is our brand new tank, fully installed and working.






In conclusion, Martin the Plumber left his family on Christmas Eve day to come help us out. He did all the work, disposed of the old one and installed the new one. And in about 3 hours. What was the bill for all of this? 1505 pesos, or about $150 USD. I think I got a good deal.

3 comments:

La Gringa said...

Hi Wayne, I'm doing some catching up on your blog and really enjoying it! I like your style!

I added a link on my blogicito and thanks so much for your link to me.

Happy Holidays!

Steve Cotton said...

Wayne --

You have offered exhibit B of why I am leaning against renting or buying on either coast. I love the ocean, but I am not pleased at the prospect of my car, my electronic equipment, and my metal possessions turning into a Mr. Science project. Of course, all possessions eventually go the way that our bodies will go. So, what am I worried about? No hay remedio.

Have a blessed -- and rust free -- new year.

Islagringo said...

la gringa, thanks for the compliment and the link. Always appreciated.

Steve, thanks for the well wishes but I seriously doubt that I will have a rust free new year! Not unless I move or something!