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Building a house in Riberas


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We are planning on building a new small house in Riberas this summer and I am looking for a contractor.  Does anyone know Raul Garcia and his work or does someone have a suggestion for a contractor.. Thanks,  Jim 

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At some point, hopefully as a result of better local government, Riberas will get some attention and a way will be found to install sewers there.  Make sure the placement and plumbing of your septic system anticipates this so when sewers do arrive hook up will be simple.

The lot size and density of homes far exceeds the norm for use of septic tanks.  At some point the stuff is going to start flowing out of the ground and in fact may already be doing so down by the lake.

In your construction also think water saving throughout as metered rates there aren't cheap particularly when you then have to treat the water extensively to make it usable.

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On 5/4/2018 at 7:18 AM, Mainecoons said:

At some point, hopefully as a result of better local government, Riberas will get some attention and a way will be found to install sewers there.  Make sure the placement and plumbing of your septic system anticipates this so when sewers do arrive hook up will be simple.

The lot size and density of homes far exceeds the norm for use of septic tanks.  At some point the stuff is going to start flowing out of the ground and in fact may already be doing so down by the lake.

In your construction also think water saving throughout as metered rates there aren't cheap particularly when you then have to treat the water extensively to make it usable.

The water is metered in Riberas?  Because it`s a newer area? I don`t think it is in the  older areas, like Ajijic, San Antonio, Chapala, right? Wow, that will make it expensive.  I didn`t know we had metered water anywhere in lakeside except in the gated communities.

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Both my home and my next door neighbor's home have had water meters since 2008 or 2009. We are not in a gated community rather above Las Salvias in upper West Ajijic.  Because of those meters we are both wasting less water to try to save money. Slowly but surely more and more homes are being metered.

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1 hour ago, johanson said:

Both my home and my next door neighbor's home have had water meters since 2008 or 2009. We are not in a gated community rather above Las Salvias in upper West Ajijic.  Because of those meters we are both wasting less water to try to save money. Slowly but surely more and more homes are being metered.

I am glad to hear this.  The aquifers under the area are diminishing quickly and unless people use less water there will be a crisis soon.

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6 minutes ago, bdmowers said:

I am glad to hear this.  The aquifers under the area are diminishing quickly and unless people use less water there will be a crisis soon.

Not to worry, there is always a "crisis" soon. Some folks make a very nice living off of crises. 

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When building from scratch, it is quite easy to make a grey water system that waters parts of your garden. Mine is quite simple- once the 2" drain pipes from the washing machine, kitchen sink, and bathroom sinks and showers extend to the outside, I simply added on more 2" pipe with 3/8" holes drilled on the underside every 6 inches or so that go to various garden areas. At the end I put a 2" cap, but don't glue it on- just put a rock up against it. If the pipes get  plugged (really only the kitchen sink does, from food bits that get washed down), it's an easy matter to stick the hose in there and flush it out.

Not only will you be conserving water, but your septic system will thank you. Septic systems work best with less water going into them. Only my two toilets and one shower are connected to my septic. 11 years and never once needed to be pumped out.

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12 hours ago, mudgirl said:

When building from scratch, it is quite easy to make a grey water system that waters parts of your garden. Mine is quite simple- once the 2" drain pipes from the washing machine, kitchen sink, and bathroom sinks and showers extend to the outside, I simply added on more 2" pipe with 3/8" holes drilled on the underside every 6 inches or so that go to various garden areas. At the end I put a 2" cap, but don't glue it on- just put a rock up against it. If the pipes get  plugged (really only the kitchen sink does, from food bits that get washed down), it's an easy matter to stick the hose in there and flush it out.

Not only will you be conserving water, but your septic system will thank you. Septic systems work best with less water going into them. Only my two toilets and one shower are connected to my septic. 11 years and never once needed to be pumped out.

Why did you not put your shower in your grey water system?  Too far from your grey water pipes?  The shower is usually the first water to put into a grey water system since it involves so much of the house`s water and is relatively clean for landscaping.

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51 minutes ago, bdmowers said:

Mine is quite simple- once the 2" drain pipes from the washing machine, kitchen sink, and bathroom sinks and showers extend to the outside

She did, "bathroom sinks and showers" as you quoted.  And this is an excellent idea though I think I would not include the runoff from the kitchen sink.  I've seen setups where all drain to an in ground cistern with a small low power aeration (think like fish tank) system to keep it fresh and separate pump you turn on for watering. 

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6 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

She did, "bathroom sinks and showers" as you quoted.  And this is an excellent idea though I think I would not include the runoff from the kitchen sink.  I've seen setups where all drain to an in ground cistern with a small low power aeration (think like fish tank) system to keep it fresh and separate pump you turn on for watering. 

Though Mudgirl said sinks and showers were on the grey water system, she also said "Only my two toilets and one shower are connected to my septic" so maybe there`s a typo in there somewhere.  With grey water systems the big captures are showers and clothes washer, as you say the sinks are not really worth it, not enough water to capture to make the plumbing worthwhile.  Depending on how much showering goes on in the household, just conducting the showers and washer water directly to landscaping usually works fine.  Would be nice though to have a cistern for water capture, maybe combined with some easy rain water capture.

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7 hours ago, bdmowers said:

Why did you not put your shower in your grey water system?  Too far from your grey water pipes?  The shower is usually the first water to put into a grey water system since it involves so much of the house`s water and is relatively clean for landscaping.

You did read that right- what happened is that originally all the bathroom sinks and showers went to the septic. But the pipes got plugged about 2 years in, because the plumber had put in a tee connector where he should have used 2 45s, so at that point I rerouted the upstairs shower and sink and downstairs bathroom sink out to a garden area, which was a simply alteration, leaving the downstairs shower on the original system, as it would have meant digging up floors to change. My washing machine drain pipe goes to a different area of the garden, as does the kitchen sink. So i actually have 3 separate drainpipes leading from their source to different areas of the gardens. 

I actually wanted grey water pipes during the original construction, but the plumber said it was problematic, which I now know it wouldn't have been.

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On 5/6/2018 at 12:14 PM, bdmowers said:

Why did you not put your shower in your grey water system?  Too far from your grey water pipes?  The shower is usually the first water to put into a grey water system since it involves so much of the house`s water and is relatively clean for landscaping.

Gracias,  I put in our plans a requirement for a dark water septic tank and a grey water.  Thanks for your suggestion . I see no reason why we can't simply pipe the grey water to our garden.  We are in discussion with two contractors now so I will incorporate your suggestion in our plans.  Jim & Lilia

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7 hours ago, rafterbr said:

Gracias,  I put in our plans a requirement for a dark water septic tank and a grey water.  Thanks for your suggestion . I see no reason why we can't simply pipe the grey water to our garden.  We are in discussion with two contractors now so I will incorporate your suggestion in our plans.  Jim & Lilia

I lived in the LA Ecovillage for many years and many people there piped their grey  water directly into the garden areas and we all survived!  You will want to use biodegradable soaps in the shower though. There was a project in Malibu that piped both black and grey water into the landscaping.  The fruit trees with black water applied grew twice as fast as those without.  Glad to see you are using outside-the-box thinking.

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13 minutes ago, bdmowers said:

I lived in the LA Ecovillage for many years and many people there piped their grey  water directly into the garden areas and we all survived!  You will want to use biodegradable soaps in the shower though. There was a project in Malibu that piped both black and grey water into the landscaping.  The fruit trees with black water applied grew twice as fast as those without.  Glad to see you are using outside-the-box thinking.

What did they do with water with cleaning products (ex Ajax) in? Say from mopping a floor.

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