I ran across this video that make me think of water, especially clean water. If the colors are representative of what is really going on, a lot of people have contaminated water. You can read more about this art, and the shocking and deadly effects of lack of clean water at this link https://ofnotemagazine.org/2016/06/05/serge-belo/
We are used to having water. You open the faucet and clean drinking water comes out. We don’t even think about it until we open a faucet and nothing comes out. This happened to me within a few days of moving here, and I couldn’t believe it. I asked a neighbor who nonchalantly told me that yes, that water was out, but there is a river down there.
We soon became familiar with working around water outages. We stored water for those times. Sometimes we did laundry or showered at odd hours or late at night to work around water availability. Eventually, when we could afford it, we put in a water tank and pump. The tank would refill when there was water, and it would be there anytime we needed it. But, one time the tank did not refill and we were without water for a week, just us and the neighbor next door. The water company did nothing. Someone suggested we call our plumber who diagnosed the problem immediately. We are at the end of the water line, and our meters had become clogged with mud and debris. I was SO happy when he got everything cleaned out and we had water again!
I think it only happened once or twice in 11 years that we were without water for more than 24 hours (not counting the clogged meter), When that happens, they send around a tanker truck to refill any container that you provide. So, it’s not like we suffer much. It’s just inconvenient, especially if you don’t have a tank. It’s the end of the dry season now, and you can expect frequent water outages because there just isn’t as much supply, so they do something like rolling blackouts. When there are heavy rains, sometimes the inlets to the water plant become clogged with debris, and then they have to shut off the water to clean everything out. Sometimes after this, the first water you get will be full of mud, (though thankfully this hasn’t happened for a long time). Sometimes they are working on repairing or upgrading something. Most of the time though, nobody knows what’s going on and they just patiently wait for the water to come back.
And, it’s not just the people here. The last rainy season brought much less water to the area, and the Panama Canal has been having a very hard time. When they raise the water level in the locks, the water comes from Lake Gatun, and when they lower the level it flows out to the sea. The new, larger locks have a water conservation system in place, but it still takes a considerable amount of water to operate those locks. With water levels alarmingly low in Lake Gatun, they have had to restrict the number of ships coming through the canal. They have had to offload cargo to lighten many ships so they can make it through with the lower water levels. It has caused ship traffic to back up considerably and it’s just a mess.
Here is an article that talks about it in more depth. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-panama-canal-averts-crisis.html
I will never ever take water for granted again! It makes me think of all the people in the world who never have clean water, or they have to carry water sometimes at considerable distances. Now every time I open a faucet and clean water comes out, I give thanks. Now that we are transitioning back into the rainy season, we all hope we get plenty of rain, not only for us, but for many parts of the world that have been affected by low levels of rainfall.
Thank you for the clean water that we enjoy every single day!
The Panama Adventure 
(tried to comment but it looked it didn’t take it! 🤦🤷♂️ so here is it again… Sorry if this is a double! just delete one…)
so true, what you’re writing! both, how used we are to always have plenty and clean water available when we open our faucets. And, how inconvenient it is, once there’s no water for any reason….
At my wife’s restaurant in Santa Cataline, Veraguas, we just had a similar problem. They provide water only every other day and only for a few hours. We have a Tank. And usually that works ok. But, lately the tank didn’t fill as usual, and in the middle of business hours we’d suddenly would find ourselves out of water! Pretty bad think when you’re trying to run a restaurant!
Today I found the problem: the little sieve that keeps debris out of the fill valve was clogged – so badly, not even drops of water were getting into the Tank!
I had to cut the pipes to be able to uninstall the valve. Luckily it was just the sieve and not the valve! To get a new valve we would have to drive 2 1/2 hours to Santiago!
When patching the pipe again, I put in a universal union, so next time i don’t have to cut the pipe. something that should have been there from the get-go, of course! But, here everything is about not spending money, so many things normal in the US are just omitted… And it usually comes back at a later time and bites you in the butt – usually at a most inconvenient time! 🤪.
Well, I’m trying to keep all these things in mind as I’m building my house in Bugaba. Not trying to save money now, at the cost of later. But to make “maintainability and operability” the highest priority. And to be prepared for service outages: water, electricity, garbage collection, and more…
yes, every place you might live has its beauties and its problems. For me, though, the problems here I can work around. And just the fact that i can grow my vegetables year round and the amazing flavors of the fruits here by themselves make up for these little nuisances! So, I’m still very, very happy and grateful that i can live in this beautiful place!
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Wow, thanks for the great comment! I think what happened was WordPress didn’t recognize you so your comments were waiting for me to approve them.
I’m glad you figured out your water problem. Yes, a restaurant without water is a huge problem! Thank goodness you are able to fix things and don’t always have to call someone in, especially down there where that could take time.
You’re going to be right down the road from us. We have also learned a lot since living here about what works and doesn’t work. I think their construction makes a lot of sense in so many ways, but then there are other considerations that are new and different.
I’m so glad to hear that you are happy here and enjoying your life in Panama!
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Like Thomas, I also am sending another message as my first one didn’t go through, Hi Kris, my name is David , i haven’t made a comment here for quite a while, although I read all your new blogs. You may not remember me , 2015 I was in Panama, you introduced me to Eduardo Horna, i believe that was his name , he got me a apartment in Boquete, I was there for 3 months, I’m responding to the water blog , and how important water is , because I live in Las Vegas Nevada USA, which is basically the desert, . We get our water from the Colorado river by way of Lake Mead , and that water supply is slowly drying up, it’s so bad now that they are finding sunken boats , dead bodies and skeletons in the lake as the water level has dropped so low,. But yet the city continues to build more and more houses and appointments all over the valley, and we already have serious water restrictions now, meaning we don’t have enough water for the people that already live here and they keep encouraging more and more people to come and live here . And when I saw your message on the water , topic, I couldn’t help but think that one day the people living here may turn that faucet and nothing is going to come out. Every place in the city has desert landscaping, and we constantly get reminders in the mail to conserve water. Anyway, ,,, I have a question Kris, have you heard of Hyperbaric oxygen therapy?. ?? If so do you know if it is offered in any of the medical facilities in Panama?? I ask because the good old USA and the FDA, only offer it for a very small amount of medical problems, and most health insurance will not cover it because of the restrictions the FDA puts on the medical conditions offered for treatment. Any information you may have on this would be greatly appreciated. And PLEASE continue to write , I love hearing about your experience’s in Panama, And yes one day I will make Panama my home ,, I like Bugabe, , plus it’s not that far from Costa Rica. Take care Kris. David.
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Yes, you ran into the same thing. Your comments were waiting for my approval. I thought comments would go right through if you are signed into WordPress, but now I wonder if even then they will go in the que and wait for me. I get an email alert but I Don’t know if that comes quickly or takes a while. Sorry about all the frustration! I’ll go take a look at my settings to see if there is anything I can do on my end.
I’ve heard about Lake Mead, and the water levels that became dangerously low. I’ve also been to Las Vegas and seen the drip irrigation all over to keep the palm trees and other plants growing. That was many years ago and I’m sure the situation only gets worse with more people coming in. I agree, that doesn’t make sense but common sense is unfortunately not common. There’s a similar situation where we lived in Florida. They continue to encourage people to come and build more housing, but the infrastructure can’t keep up and the traffic gets worse and worse.
I don’t know anything about hyperbaric oxygen therapy here. Are you on Facebook? There is a group – Expats in Panama – Active. Someone there might know something so I’ll post the question.
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I found this on line Hyperbaric therapy specialists Staff – Hospital Nacional – medical centers directory (health-tourism.com)
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How can I contact you to send more info? I’m getting some answers to your question
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