Shower pressure/consistency??

A good shower requires two things,  water pressure and hot water. A water pump / pressure tank and and on demand hot water heater create the best combination for a great shower!

There’s another consideration in this equation, and thats the flow.  Most construction is 1/2” pipes.

If you will be building your own villa, have put in the building plans 3/4” pipes from the supply into the villa all the way to all shower heads.  Constructing with 3/4” pipes will give you a great flow along with great pressure to ensure an amazing shower experience

Be sure to run 3/4” water pipes in and out of the hot water tank too !!!

They sell 3/4” shower controls too, that need to be incorporated along with 3/4” pipe to get the greatest flow

I have also seen installments of a small extra pump close to the bathroom. It goes on automatically when you open a tap or it can be wired to a switch. Could be on the same one as the heater.

@Ian1272 Most places, here in LT at least, don't depend on municipal water pressure. We had to install a supplemental pump halfway between our house and the main road to even get water to our house. Fortunately, we don't rely on INAPA and just have the connection as a backup. Most homes have cisterns or tinacas to store water rather than getting it directly from the INAPA pipes as needed. We collect rainwater into our cistern, and it provides 99% of our water. INAPA pipes frequently run dry - and after heavy rains, they turn off the water for at least a day to clean the water.

We have a pressure tank between our cistern and our water filtration system. That provides us with plenty of water pressure.

Hi Denise 

thanks for sharing this info with us.  How many gallon cistern do most villas have ?  Good to hear that rain water provides 99% of your required water.  How does everyone Initially fill up their swimming pools ?

What sort of filtration systems are required to filter cistern water to be used in one’s villa ?

Lots to learn to adapting to living in the hills.

thanks

@Ian1272 We filled our pool with rainwater! As soon as the roof was on and the drains in place, we started filling the cicstern and filtering the water. That was months before we moved in, so we had quite a bit when the pool was ready to be filled. There might have been one truck of water used to fill the cistern before we moved in, but none since we've been in here.

For the filtration, I'll defer to my hubby (@RockyM) to provide the details. I know there are two physical filters as well as a UV one to kill any buggers in there and make the water potable. We throw a cistern-specific chlorine tab in there any time we have to open the tap from INAPA.

Does any area in Santo Domingo have strong water pressure or no issues with outages?

We use a Trojan UV Max filter system from the following...

http://www.ecoservedr.com/

Whole house system with ultraviolet light and sediment/carbon filters. Works superbly.

Thanks Denise.

Do you guys use a submersible pump in your cistern ?

I am doing all my home work, on all aspects of building a villa, so when we finally get down to Las Terrenas we will have a good idea of everything we need to think about before building.

You and your husband are a great resource and have a wealth of information to share.  Thank you both for all that you share with us

Thanks Dave !!

Since you are using rain water, and rain water being soft water, do you guys use a water softner ?

Yes, there is a submersible pump in the cistern. No water softener for us! We have friends on well water that had to use a water softener and then add minerals back in.

To add to that we have had zero problems with hard water issues (e.g. scaling) after 2 years +.

There is a submersible pump that pumps the water out of the cistern. The water routes through the water filters and then to the pressure tank, which basically another pump. So far we've had no issues with this setup.

You have to change the sediment filters twice a year or so, and the UV filter annually.

    Does any area in Santo Domingo have strong water pressure or no issues with outages?
   

    -@DRVisitor

Depends, also on the backup. Our apartment complex has sufficient water backup with a strong pump and a big generator. Never out of water,  electricity and gas.

In the campo however it is a task to manage the cistern and tinaco because watersupply there is only 1-2 days a week and when everyone gets it pressure drops quickly. And the whole system in that house is worn and outdated.

@RockyM

Its great you were able to do your own build with your ideas! I see so many shortcuts and bad decisions in the way they usually build in the DR..

@Papito NL

My best short answer is one HAS to be involved with their build here. Do not lean on the builder/designer for everything. You will not get what you want and the quality is going to be poor. Anyone who has gone through this process could write a book on what to do and not to do. I had to force them to install my water purifier system, and to vent my clothes dryer, as an example. And in some cases tell them how to do it!