How reliable is the water supply in Yucatan: Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida, etc? Are there water disruptions?
Wade Yarchan - Yucatan Beach Homes
There are no water disruptions in any large city of Mexico. I have never heard of any water disruptions or potability in Cancun; the water is extremely good. I have not heard of water disruptions in Merida, either.Mexico has three high seasons. The first high season is Semana Santa, which is Easter break, or the Holy Week. During this time, a lot of Meridians (people from Merida) come out to the beaches and they overtax the systems, so there are times when there are water...
There are no water disruptions in any large city of Mexico. I have never heard of any water disruptions or potability in Cancun; the water is extremely good. I have not heard of water disruptions in Merida, either.Mexico has three high seasons. The first high season is Semana Santa, which is Easter break, or the Holy Week. During this time, a lot of Meridians (people from Merida) come out to the beaches and they overtax the systems, so there are times when there are water shortages there from the public water supply.
During the high season of the summer, which is the summer vacation from mid-July through August, there is a possibility of water shortage as well. The first time that we were here, I didn’t hear any of this at all but most everybody has backup wells now, so if you don’t have the water supply, you use the well so water is not an issue here at all.
(City water and two wells in a contemporary home in Merida, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted October 12, 2015
Jason Waller - Playa del Carmen Real Estate
Yes, there are disruptions to the water supply here in Playa del Carmen, Cancun. For that reason everybody has these black tanks. On the roof of many condo complexes, a lot of times as you’re driving by you’ll see black tanks on the rooftops. If you have a house you may have a large tank underground. The city water could just shut off for a couple of hours all of a sudden. The water tanks run like the back of your toilet bowl....
Yes, there are disruptions to the water supply here in Playa del Carmen, Cancun. For that reason everybody has these black tanks. On the roof of many condo complexes, a lot of times as you’re driving by you’ll see black tanks on the rooftops. If you have a house you may have a large tank underground. The city water could just shut off for a couple of hours all of a sudden. The water tanks run like the back of your toilet bowl. You’ve got a little floater there and it just keeps the water at a certain level in your tank, so you always have water.
I’m not a 100% sure if this is the same in other places in Yucatan, but I would imagine so. If the city water here is a little unreliable, I’m thinking it’s got to be the same all throughout the close by areas.
The cost for water just went up. It used to be really cheap and but now a private company run it. For our house, for a family of 4 with a pool, we spend about US $35 to $45 a month. That’s watering the grass, filling the pool all the time, and my 15 year old having hour long showers.
(House with roof top water tank in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted November 21, 2015
Gary De Spiegelaere - Celestun Properties
If you plan your home properly, you should not have a problem with water here in Yucatan. In the small village of Celestún (in the state of Yucatan, with about 7,500 people) where I live, I have a 35,000-liter cistern and so therefore I don’t have problems with water supply, but I built a cistern for that reason. If the pump goes out or if something wrong happens to the pump for the water here, it is possible to not have water supply for half a day. Personally, I can go...If you plan your home properly, you should not have a problem with water here in Yucatan. In the small village of Celestún (in the state of Yucatan, with about 7,500 people) where I live, I have a 35,000-liter cistern and so therefore I don’t have problems with water supply, but I built a cistern for that reason. If the pump goes out or if something wrong happens to the pump for the water here, it is possible to not have water supply for half a day. Personally, I can go for a week here in Celestún without water supply because I have planned for it. When I build homes here, I build quite large water cisterns intentionally. The water here in Celestún is not drinkable but you can make it drinkable. It is not that difficult. I have a water softener, an ultraviolet light, and a reverse osmosis system. In my kitchen I have a tap that has drinkable water and that is the same water that I use to make ice in my refrigerator. All these are not expensive to build. You can get a reverse osmosis system for US $300 that will make the water coming out of your tap drinkable.
In places like Merida and Cancun, being that they are main centers and touristy areas in the Yucatan Peninsula, it is very unlikely to have a water disruption because they have many more backup systems for water supply. Smaller communities like Celestún do not have these backup systems so it is better to have one yourself.
The water cistern in my house is a large one. The typical houses here would have smaller cisterns that would cost about $500 to build.
(Jars on the roof to catch rainwater in a home in Mexico, pictured.)
Posted December 30, 2015