In October, we got a water bill at the mission home for over 3,000 pesos. Something was wrong. It should be way under 1,000. The water pump always seemed to be turning on, even though there would be no water running. Mom suggested I check out the water meter. It was running like crazy but no water was turned on. Problem. FM came and checked it out. They replaced the water meter and also found that our water storage cistern had a leak. So, the tore up the whole garage. We learned that under the garage floor was the water storage. We had no idea. It is a very large cement cavern. Water comes in from the street. When it fills, the float turns off the water flow, just like that little float device in your toilet tank.


On demand, the water pump forces water into the house. The float drops and water in the cavern is replaced. Simple.


But, not so simple to repair. The copper water line was buried in cement under the tile floor. They dug all that out looking for leaks. Then, they replaced it and poured new cement over it so it would be safe and sound until the next leak. But, it worked. The pump stopped pumping randomly and the water meter stopped spinning like a whirling dervish. Best of all, the latest water bill was 89 pesos! That is still a lot of pesos for water you can't drink.