#642 – Water Issues in Latin America: Understanding the Challenges for Expats

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wander Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right, water water everywhere and not a drop the drink you read that before right? Well, it might be true by you but it's not true down here in Latin America That is if you do a little gringo style research and you're prepared before your rent builder by in fact It seems the water problem up the states is worrying so many people even though you got your sporadic

[00:50] Day loses up there lately anyway, but still that tends to fool people and many states still have a severe water problem That's not going away and in fact getting worse That said I seem to get two kinds of water related emails the first one how to make sure you have good consistent clean drinking water while traveling and the second question is How do you guarantee that you're gonna have a good consistent water supply at your home or residence whether you build rent or buy? In fact, I got a water email just a few minutes ago from a former expat insiders seminar Attendee and his question was about water rights in Latin America now first before we get to that Let's talk about where the water really is in Latin America We talked about the fact that in most of these countries They have two seasons the rainy season and the dry season and the countries that have just those two seasons stretch from Mexico

[01:40] All the way down to about slightly below the bottom third of South America So that means the farther south you go in Chile Brazil and Argentina The more those four seasons start showing up again only the reverse of what you're used to because it's the southern hemisphere So the fact is 80% of Latin America has only two seasons Really the rainy and the dry season the winter in the summer So as you get your plan be going it's almost a sure bet you'll end up in a place That's only got those two seasons now, of course, there are desert areas in Latin America Mexico for ones got a big desert and there are huge desert areas in Chile and Peru, too Then again, almost no one would ever choose to live in the desert. That would be nuts So let's talk about water and water shortages here in Latin America

[02:26] Now since you'll certainly end up in a Latin country that has only those two seasons If you built a system where you could automatically collect the rainwater from your roof or garage In most cases if you just collected the water from the rainy season for about a month You could certainly have enough water to last your family for a year if you had a big enough sister and to collect it now I said a month remember the rainy season lasts six months and nope down here There are no laws against collecting your own rainwater from your own property And I don't know how that could ever be a law against it since so many indigenous people collect water that way and since we're Talking about what it's like for gringos and expats to live in Latin America This is how it breaks down as far as water if you live in a gated guarded community You almost always have your own well meaning one big well for the whole subdivision

[03:12] That's part of the deal and part of your maintenance that you pay every month They call it the water quota and as I mentioned in previous show when you buy a brand new house or a lot You usually sign up for one paha. That's p a j a that means you're allowed to use 30 cubic meters of water a month Now that's not the limit of the amount of water you can use every month That's just what you're paying for in your monthly maintenance fee if you use less than that doesn't matter if you use more than that You'll pay more Doesn't seem right somehow does it but this is Latin America and that's the way it is So you pay for 30 cubic meters whether you use it or not now expat Eddie says he uses around 20 cubic meters at his place So when it gets near the end of the month when they're gonna read the meter

[03:58] He tells his gardener to hook up the hose and use that extra 10 cubic meters water in the lawn Yep by hook and crook Eddie's gonna squeeze out that last drop of his 30 meters after all he paid for it Whether he uses it or not now suppose you want to fill up your swimming pool Well, you're gonna go way over 30 cubic meters and you will get charged extra And by the way when a Latin family goes over that 30 cubic meters a month It's usually because they've got a leaky pipe somewhere or a bad toilet By the way, if you forgot or you don't remember a paha of water That's 30 cubic meters equals around 8,000 gallons and the average gringo in the States Uses a hundred gallons a day or more that means three first-world American gringos who aren't inclined to change their wasteful water habits Could just about use that whole paha a month that they're allotted now

[04:44] If you recall in a past show the average middle class and upper middle class Latin uses 25 gallons of water a day. So one paha of water a month That's 8,000 gallons would easily do for a family of 10 middle class or upper middle class Latins now poor Latin family is Living in those slums with tin roofs and stuff. They use around 10 gallons of water a day So one paha water 8,000 gallons which serve about 30 poor Latins for a month But of course that 40 to 60 percent of lower middle class and poor Latins don't live in gated guarded communities So they don't have private wells. They drink municipal water By the way residential towers and gated guarded communities that have their own wells have water 24-7 Uninterrupted which says a lot for living in a residential tower or gated guarded community, right?

[05:33] But here's the hitch many times gringos will find really nice Spanish colonial houses in neighborhoods That are pretty decent houses that are real gems Yet there are a lot of safe neighborhoods that aren't in gated guarded communities However, if you're in the city, you'll be on municipal water, which is the worst of all worlds And even though in most of Latin America, there really is no water shortage if you're on municipal water There's always a shortage though. It's truly an artificial shortage The fact is it's been proven over and over again At least half of the water in the city is lost due to bad plumbing and leaks Which is why when you're in most Latin cities, you do not get water 24-7 It's on for four six eight or twelve hours Depending on the city your location within that city and a lot of factors

[06:20] Which is why again, I explained this in past shows that people who have a brain have a cistern on the top of their roof So that when there is water that's always filling up and then when the city cuts the water off your home system Switches to the cistern and you've got water again Then when the municipal water kicks back in the next day Your cistern gets topped off to replace whatever you use the night before Now most poor and lower middle-class Latins don't have cisterns Why because it costs a few hundred bucks or more to get one installed along with the plumbing and the pump Not to mention most lower middle-class and poor Latins have tin roof homes that wouldn't support such a structure So instead they do the next best thing they collect rainwater In fact, I can't tell you how many middle lower and poor Latin family homes

[07:07] I've been to or they'll have a 55 gallon drum or two outside collecting rainwater And there's usually one right alongside the Pila you remember the Pila That's the universal wash basin that almost every Latin family has outside attached to a wall or even inside in the laundry room if they have a laundry room and Obviously, these are people who don't have a cistern in a pump system They're just so used to their water being turned off for eight or ten hours a day that they plan around it So you'll see 55 gallon drums of water around and you'll also see people Doing the laundry by hand in their Pila's about half of Latin America Does their laundry that way again? That's not because people don't have washing machines Yes, they do, but they don't maintain things here

[07:53] So almost every family's got a broken leaky russet out old washing machine somewhere in the house Meanwhile the clothes get washed by hand in the Pila. So then speaking of water, what about water rights? Which would include the right to drill your own well And who really owns the water in the rivers lakes and streams and who owns the water that flows through the water table Under your home and your own property. Yep. A lot of issues there now suppose you buy a piece of land out in the boonies You're gonna homestead or you buy a house out there Well, if it's already built it's gonna have a well and if it isn't built you call a company that drills It'll come out and do your well for you down here in Latin America. Do you need permits to do that stuff? Well, no not out in the boonies or in the county Anyway, you just call up a driller and they'll come in and find the best location to sink that hole now

[08:41] It's the water drilling companies that are supposed to have the permits that are necessary to do that kind of stuff in whatever Latin country However, you're never gonna really know if these guys have their permits or not They'll all say they do and the thing is it's not illegal to drill your own Well, it's just that the drilling companies supposed to be able to have the knowledge to do it without screwing up the environment or Contaminate the water table. Now. The fact is even if you live in a city you could drill your own well I mean big projects do it all the time Just phone up the well driller and they'll come out check your property out and find out the best place to drill But remember, like I said before if you're living in a city and you're on municipal water Why not just catch your own rainwater and divert it into a big subterranean cistern Then if your municipal water goes down for a couple of days, you got that covered

[09:26] Yep, the city might just decide to fix some leaky pipes in your area and shut your water off for two or three days Of course, they'll alert you to that in the local papers But you know what's gringles and expats especially when we first come down We don't know enough Spanish to read the local newspapers So one day you just might find out you got no water and it'll continue that way for a few more days However, if you've got an oversized cistern and collect rainwater Problem solved unless of course you live in a big Latin city and some of them have severe municipal water problems You know, there are some massive Latin cities here, especially down in South America There aren't many cities that have over 5 million people and the chaos crowded conditions and congestion that goes with it

[10:11] Which means there are a lot of nice houses and apartments that don't have a yard at all So there are millions of pure urban dwellers just like big city living in the States You know a lot of lofts studio apartments walk-ups and high-rises back-to-back buildings Common walls most without nearly enough roof space to catch a significant amount of water And then the question comes where to put the pump in the cistern Those are pretty big problems in those densely populated huge Latin cities Same problem with big cities up in the States and since most all-urban dwellers are on municipal water There's been a huge depletion in the water table sound familiar So the fact is right now there are many big Latin cities especially in South America that are on two or four hours of water a day and though some people have

[11:00] cisterns most are undersized so they're not adequate anymore Which is why these days water trucks are huge business in these big cities So suppose for years your water was on 12 hours a day and you had a nice cistern and filled up at night and all Of a sudden now it's only on a couple hours a day. It's just not enough to fill the cistern at night Well, you call one of the many private water companies And they'll come out with a truck and top off your cistern a couple times a month or even once a week Of course, you'll have to pay for that and they're going rate for 500 to a thousand gallons 10 to 20 bucks About 5 to 10 times as much as you pay for that same amount of water when it's coming through your pipes Oh, and by the way, they call subdivisions Colonies down here or colonias that always makes me laugh as if the people living in these subdivisions were ants or bees or wasps

[11:52] Now the good thing is if you're in a gated guarded community or colonia and you have your own private Well, and many of them do you can be sure that you'll have plenty of water 24 7 unless of course They're doing some repairs nearby, but don't get overconfident You still should get a cistern as a backup now For example, if you live or rent in a gated guarded community with a smattering of houses and a lot of empty lots Chances are when you first move in you'll have tremendous water pressure and flow Maybe even noticeably better than the pressure you had back up in the states if that's possible However, eventually as houses get built and they're put online There'll be a strain on the water supply you and the other residents will eventually notice it because you see they almost always

[12:39] underbuild never overbuild here in Latin America and in that case the condo or homeowners committee will get together Assess the homeowners a fee and they'll decide whether to deepen widen or dig in additional Well, or maybe even do nothing Which is why you want to live in a gated guarded community with its own? Well, because you don't have to depend on the malignant maggot-brained lard asses in government So remember if you're living in or plan on living in a big Latin city their water tables are diminishing rapidly Well, all right But what if you like city living and you're a city dweller and you're starting to suffer water shortages, too And you haven't got a big roof or a garden space to catch rainwater or a place to put a big cistern Then what move back to Cleveland? Nah, I don't think so

[13:27] Oh, by the way, what happens when the water truck companies run out of water? Well, they won't because they've got wells tapped out in the boonies And they just drive out fill up and come back to the city But meanwhile there are gringos and expats and many millions of latins living comfortable lives in Cosmopolitan cities and very nice neighborhoods and they're running out of water and in some of these cities like Sao Paulo Brazil Where they've got huge population density and year-over-year drought people living there with a few extra bucks will phone up a well digger and Tell them to go to town on their property even though it could be a very bad idea based on location logistics and Circumstances now some drillers without the proper government paperwork or licenses called

[14:15] Wildcatters will actually drill a well inside the premises of a house or a building Yep, they'll punch a hole through your garage or basement slab Whatever if you get the money they'll punch the hole then of course they can get away with it because no one can see That they're breaking the law if there isn't a lot of break Then again, maybe there is but no one's checking and no one's enforcing So as it stands right now Brazil has the worst problem and in the big cities Geologists will say it's because of the wildcatters many of them are contaminating the aquifers and damaging nearby structures pipes and buildings So these wildcatters are popping up everywhere Why because they're a lot cheaper than calling a certified well digger and they don't ask any questions that said here's a little Translated interview from a big Brazilian newspaper a reporter was talking to the owner of a big water

[15:05] Well drilling company that's been in business for 20 years or so and has all the proper permits so first the owner of the drilling company pointed out that it takes a lot of precision and technology because they're digging between 500 and 1500 feet below the ground now Unlike before the water crisis. He said now he often has to drill within 10 feet of a building or a structure He says you risk damaging the building and its foundations when you're drilling that close We often drill in the same spot for many hours. He says and the vibrations can be felt sometimes a dozen meters away So he says it's impossible not to do some damage And though he says his client list has doubled in the last year most of his jobs come from big clients like hotels

[15:53] And restaurants he said until a water crisis here most people and businesses who wanted a well They simply called us up because they knew it would reduce their water bill, but now he says they're all afraid They won't have any water at all So people with money and of course businesses are hedging their bets and having their own wells put in especially now He says since in many parts of Sao Paulo people have seen their water cut up for days even weeks at a time now No, he says in Sao Paulo and many other places big cities in Brazil There are severe water rationings taking place and now he says you might say we've got well digging fever We're 60% of my new business. He says is coming from private subdivisions and condominium projects Many who have wells but want another a spare He says he works within the law and has all the permits

[16:41] but wildcat drillers are popping up everywhere and he says only about 20% of the wells being dug are Legitimate and meet government guidelines problem is he says you don't have to dig down very far You don't have to go 500 or 1,500 feet below the soil to get to a water table There are many water tables the problem is he says the subsoil is polluted in many big cities in Latin America Which is why we have to dig so deep you have to bypass the polluted layers He says to avoid seepage into the relatively clean waters and the aquafire below Then he adds a lot of people are moving to the countryside You know the ones with money to escape from this kind of situation where they can dig their own wells And the water tables rather shallow

[17:27] He says many people in the big city who have money are becoming what he calls water refugees in the past they moved to the suburbs to avoid the Congestion and the traffic and now it's because of the shortage of water. So there you have it Municipal water supplies are a big problem in most big Latin cities and the blame can be placed Solidly on the shoulders of government since by their own admission they lose 50% of the water to bad tubes and plumbing However, water is not a problem if you have access to a private well, by the way when new fresh green Gringos and expats asked me about living in the big city. I always tell them pretty much the same thing I don't recommend living in any big Latin City. No matter how nice the neighborhood is

[18:13] They're just too congested. The air is often polluted. There's tremendous amounts of traffic You've got that potential water problem looming all the time And you're always within a short chicken bus ride from a very bad neighborhood now I can say this because I've lived in a couple of big Latin City now I always suggest if you really prefer big city living and you need the excitement and the culture and nightlife and shopping that all the Big cities have to offer you should first try living out in the burbs near a big city I'd say at least 15 miles from the city limits because you see the big cities have spread out There's so many beautiful gated garter communities and good highways beautiful views There's a big plus with long-term security issues, too You can locate to where there are almost no scummy low-class neighborhoods where the bad guys and gals tend to gather and cause trouble

[19:04] They seem to prefer living in those scumbag districts within certain narrow areas of the big city And that's where the crime is. Of course, we don't want to live anywhere near those places Do we in fact if you're close to a big city and living out in the burbs You can go for days weeks even months and not see a crappy ghetto like neighborhood and still you'll have everything Necessary to live a completely first world life living a half an hour to 45 minutes away now earlier I mentioned I got a water themed email just a little while ago It comes from one of my expat insider seminar attendees calls himself the altiplano drifter. I like that hmm made my day like that he says hey Johnny as water wars ramp up as they inevitably will in the near future the water issue may very well be one of the major ones who

[19:54] need to keep her eyes on have you looked at who controls the water rights for the aquifers and How corrupt and bribe friendly the current controllers might be that is when the pressure is on for them to give up the water rights Alright, thanks for that mr. Drifter. Of course, it's the government's that own the municipal water rights And like any government owned utility they can lease or give the rights to private or other enterprises Just like they sell or lease out parts of their electrical monopoly cell phone and TV bandwidth and channels, etc And how corrupt or corruptible are they? Well, we're talking about government. So the sky's the limit right just like up where you live However, when governments who own monopolies privatize

[20:39] It's a delicate issue because it's the poor unwashed masses that often take to the streets and start doing damage Why well, it's because for decades they've been subsidized Whether it's electricity transportation water all of a sudden when things are privatized for the first time in their lives They'll have to pay the real market price for that service More on that touchy subject in another show. So stay tuned Alright, you want to hear something that's really mind-blowing and it says so much about Latin society Poor rich middle class. It doesn't matter the other day I visited a friend of mine a gringo at his upper-class gated guarded subdivision, you know, Colonia colony Now this is a fairly new subdivision probably no more than 10 or 15 years old

[21:26] Houses start at around maybe 200,000 bucks on through a little over a million I'd say Comparable to Chicago suburbs that have similar priced housing I'm sure if you lived in California or Seattle these houses would go for double or triple that anyway It's a nice quiet gated guarded community, of course And as you pull up to the guard shack You take your driver's license and stick it under a camera and you announce the guard the house number and the party that you're Coming to visit then he calls ahead and confirms it with the homeowner. Oh, yeah, and there's another camera mounted knee-high So when you pull up they catch your front license plates, too So you got to know this place is really secure besides they've got one or two rent-a-cups riding around on bicycles, too You know kind of constantly doing the rounds through the subdivision. Oh, by the way, this place has its own gigantic park and the

[22:19] gardening stupendous Anyway, it's a subdivision with maybe a hundred houses in it pretty much full up too Except for three or four lots that are empty and lots of late-model SUVs in driveways Beamer's Audis Mercedes Pretentious big-ass Tahoe's and Suburbans of course for the bodyguards and even a few of those Ridiculous hummers are they not beyond passé. I wonder when the reality of the big car small penis connection Finally arrives here in Latin America and clashes head-on with all these jerk macho men. Nope It won't be pretty but it'll be worth a few laps won't it, but where were we? Oh, yeah driving up to the guard shack Anyway, you're confronted with a nice big-screen TV that says the Cino's in Mora

[23:05] Which means late payers and it's got a list of about 20 owners and the numbers of their houses who are months behind on their Which by the way is around 80 bucks a month I couldn't help but notice that there were maybe ten people on that list ten out of a hundred ten percent That were in arrears on their maintenance payment for over a year and one guy 31 months in arrears man. That's almost three years and nearly 2,500 bucks behind so anyway, I knocked on the door of my friend The only gringo in the subdivision or way off the gringo tourist trail, you know, he's a star at subdivision He's the gringo. I said I saw that TV display. How could these guys get so behind on their maintenance? Don't they eventually cut their water off? He said yeah, they do it at around three or four months

[23:53] These guys have been cut off But guess what? They have big cisterns and every couple of weeks a water chuckle come through and fill them up And you know We just sat there for a while and discussed how this was a typical Latin thing and how it could never happen up In the first world imagine in a wealthy subdivision people over a year late on their maintenance payments They cut their water off, but that still doesn't matter. Wouldn't that be just terribly embarrassing? Especially since everyone who comes in can see it right up on the TV screen. Now. There's only one explanation for this Some of you older listeners might remember that saying putting on the dog. Yep putting on the dog You know what that means? They're really broke or near it, but they have to keep up appearances So they don't lay off any help

[24:39] They just pay them late or bounce the checks and they don't sell any of their redundant cars Because you know once you've made it to upper-middle class in Latin America, you never let anybody know that you're slipping Yep, it's all about the show, but you knew that already, right? Now think about the worst case scenario for you up in the States wouldn't that be when you don't have water anymore? Now up north there are no cisterns and water trucks, right? Not only that if your water was cut off for any reason power grid failure, whatever You don't have rooftop or underground water storage cisterns for rainwater collection and in some states It's illegal up there where you are when the next shoe falls and it will you will be looking at power outages

[25:24] which means no pumps for water a house without electricity how you gonna fare there and You just better hope if you're at north of Texas It doesn't happen in a winter time not to mention you've got about three days worth of food on the shelves at your local Piggly Wiggly Walmart or Costco. Are you ready for that eventuality? It is coming for sure You know, so then how far are you along on your plan B? Well, whether you're just getting started just thinking about it or in the final stages If you haven't got boots on the ground off the gringo tourist trail yet Where your legendary gringo advantage is so alive and well There's no better way to get some fast-track boots on the ground and to come down to my expat insider seminar next one July 2017 just go to www.thenewexpat.com Click on Johnny's seminar link in the middle of the page for all the relevant info and sign-up information

[26:14] And of course if you're coming down the seminar You really have to add four days in front or behind the seminar to attend one of those amazing John Galt trips That's when you'll get boots on the ground in the most beautiful lake in the world like Atitlan, Guatemala And don't forget for those of you who want to kill two birds with one stone That is when you're down for the seminar at the same time put in for your permanent or temporary residency in Guatemala Well, just go to Johnny's seminar link at thenewexpat.com And you'll see the information up there on how to kill two birds with one stone By the way for all of you who are thinking of coming down to the seminar and you want to do a Skype or a Phone consult with me to discuss your own plan B and other things Remember if you come down to the seminar the consult will be free and again for all you past seminar attendees who want to become

[27:02] repeat offenders remember you automatically get a thousand dollars off the registration fee and Finally if you're just thinking about doing a plan B or just getting started on it And you haven't done boots on the ground yet. My expat essentials course is the next best thing just go to www Expat plan B.com and see for yourself how to get all your ducks lined up It is the next best thing to getting boots on the ground yourself So do check out my new expat essentials video course expat plan B.com south of the border This is the expat files living in Latin America if you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states go to

[27:51] www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos