Water supply in La Font, Pollensa

bluejr77 · #1 04-06-2010, 08:15

Hi. Is there anyone on the Forum who has a property/lives in La Font, Pollensa?

We don’t have mains water and have to get our water from Gerardo Vidal Sastre who has an office in the Port. Our bills in the winter months are usually between 50 – 70 Euros every 2 months (does not come out regularly so its not easy keeping track of it!) and during last summer rose to 180 Euros for just over 2 months. Having water over summer is quite a treat as usually its turned off from June until September and we have to buy in tankers. However last week we received a bill for 399 Euros – for 10 weeks which is during winter and the second wettest winter in history?? This is working out more expensive than buying oil and electricity. After querying this I was informed the “bill was correct”, and they went on to point out that the price for a unit (not sure if that’s a cubic metre or not) had increased from 1.5 Euro to 2 Euro. We haven’t yet seen any paper work regarding the increase – and I doubt it would actually have an explanation either. This is a massive increase and we wondered if anyone else was in the same position.

Approx 18 months ago the company changed the water meter as they said the old one wasn’t working properly……..I can only think that the new meter is faulty or worse still that someone may be helping themselves to our water in our absence (OK I may be paranoid but receiving bills of that size causes plenty of stress! ). We have only been out once this year for a week in April.

We don’t have a massive garden, and a couple of years ago we had a new sprinkler system installed which we chose it due to its efficiency thinking it would work out cheaper! (the old system was donkeys years old and I was aware that we needed to conserve the water supply). We have also gradually had the garden re-done to tackle the water situation and when we are out there we follow all the guidance given by the previous owner of our property on conserving water - she had lived there over 30 years and had no problems whatsoever and hardly ever had to buy water in.

Is anyone else in the same position and does anyone know if there is a "body" we could go to for advice eg an ombudsman. How on earth do I query a bill which I have been told is correct so there is nothing they can do. Or does anyone know of another supplier we could go to?

Any suggestions anyone can offer would be great.

alcanadakid · #2 04-06-2010, 16:55

We live in Alcanada and use piped water and have a sprinkler for the lawn which increases our water bill from €40 in the winter to €200 in the summer ( for a two month bill), so that could be part of the problem. Since our sprinkler uses plastic pipes underground you might check for a leak as we have certainly had one which wasted a lot of water. The plastic pipes go brittle with time. We also use an automatic watering system for the flower beds which works off a timer fixed to an outside tap. We have leant that it is important to make sure the battery is good as we had a problem where the battery went flat after opening the valve and didn't have sufficient power to close the valve, and what was meant to be a 30 minute watering cycle ended up as a two week one! Again high bills.

bluejr77 · #3 04-06-2010, 17:05

Thanks alcanadakid. The pipes and battery are not something I have thought about. I'm still in shock and only just calming down, but this is definitely something we will be getting checked out. It must have been a shock to your system too finding out that a 30 minute cycle lasted for 2 weeks! These programmes on buying a property abroad do not prepare you for the reality do they! Much appreciated. Bye for now.

manda · #4 05-06-2010, 21:25

Hi Blue,

We have friends who live further up in La Font, the man who has the castle

They had a similar experience and their water bill shot. Howeber talk to Julia it seems like they have read the meters wrong and put the decimal point in the wrong place!

I would ask them to read the meter again and make sure that it is the same as your bill.

GL

bluejr77 · #5 08-06-2010, 10:14

Thanks to for this Manda. We are out within the next couple of days so the first port of call is to check the meter, followed by getting someone to check all the pipes, connection and batteries. I have been going out of my mind over the past couple of days over this bill. Thats the problem when you dont live there and dont speak the language isnt it?

Would love to have a peek around that Castle!

Thanks to everyone - yet again - for their help and suggestions. This site has helped me and husband out so much over the past few years.

manda · #6 08-06-2010, 12:30

Your welcome. I could probably try and get you an invite to look round the castle, it is amazing but v. weird. I guess it's a reflection on he owner

Gommar Goffer · #7 08-06-2010, 14:54

Is the castle (near the water problem

still owned by Cedric?

manda · #8 08-06-2010, 16:39

Hi GG,
Yep Cedric and Julia are still in the castle although they spend a lot of the time in the Taleot the big house below. Cedric is still adding new places into the hill-side, the lastest venture being Obama's Cave

He must be a legend around Pollensa by now

alex · #9 31-01-2011, 10:48

Hi
When I bought the house in La Font I was warned not to pay the water by standing order as the invoices were a bit iffy and worth checking before paying so I arranged for the invoices to be e-mailed every 2 months whic has never happened correctly in the 8 years since we bought.
My bills have been very small even during the months we are in residence until last week when I received a flurry of bills since dec 2009 and a demand for €500. I questionned this and was told that the meter had been read wrongly and the last digits were not tenths of a unit but were units. One unit is 1 cubic metre = 1000 litres = 1 metric tonne. I had been assured by the plumber (where, like yours the meter had been changed) that the last digit being tenths should be ignored. There is only one supplier ie Vidal and I have no option but to pay this amount until I get out there in May to review the meter.

bluejr77 · #10 02-02-2011, 11:42

Hi Alex, thanks for this information regarding your water bill - mine is still a nightmare scenario cost wise and I never know what is coming out of my bank account or when - it has certainly made me treat water like gold and I am so careful with it now! Just out of curiosity have you heard about the improvements to La Font which are going to cost several million euros and will include water, sewage, lighting, road repairs etc. Pollensa Council will then "adopt" La Font and take on all the maintenance of the area. We have a solicitor acting on our behalf who has attended one of the meetings to find out what is involved and what we get for our "contribution" (of which we have no choice of approx 30,000 Euros!!!!). They are hoping to start the work this year in September if they can get enough people to constitute a board. My husband is in the building trade/construction and we have come up with a huge list of questions we have put to the solicitor who in turn is putting to the person who has initiated the board. And yes its all legal and we have to pay if the board goes ahead. We are out in a couple of weeks and have a meeting with our solicitor to see if there has been any feedback. Just wondered if you knew anything or had perhaps attended one of the meetings?

bluejr77 · #11 02-02-2011, 13:10

Alex, quick update. It appears the assocation have called my husband today and they want a decision now as to whether or not we agree to the proposals. My husband has said that he is waiting until he receives a detailed response to our questions before he makes the decision. However, they need everyone on board prior to the local elections in the next couple of months because if there is a change in government they may not agree to the proposals. Like we are just going to agree to give them 30,000 Euros without any questions/answers/guarantees whatsoever - I dont think so. I believe several people have agreed, but it may not yet be enough of a percentage to constitute a board. From what has been said at the meeting there are still some people who are still unaware of these proposals as they dont know who the owners of the houses are. Janice.

alex · #12 03-02-2011, 16:23

Hi Blue
Yes I attended the meeting last October - it was a tad disorganised but they apparently only need 60% to force the issue and it appears that they have already got it but I am receiving regular phone calls/e-mails pushing for my answer. The one issue which appears to be totally inconsistent in the minutes of the last 2 meetings is whether it is calculated on a per plot or per allowable building area or per plot area and, like you, I am awaiting clarification from my lawyer on this one but possibly more importantly it was mentioned some time ago that we would all become legally liable for the actions of the Junta de Compensación possibly having to assign in some way our deeds which I would NOT agree to.

Linda · #13 03-02-2011, 19:51

Hi Alex,

I have sent you a pm.

Linda

eleanor · #14 03-02-2011, 21:29

Hi Linda, Nice to see you back.
Hope the purchase went ahead and all well.

Back on track - I find what is happening in La Font a worry. We have a villa in Gommar and thankfully on the mains. From reading about La Font it seems that even when you think you are in control, it may not be the case. 30,000 is lots of money to find. Also having to assign deeds?? This all seems a little strange and a worry to those in La Font.

Linda · #15 03-02-2011, 22:10

Hi Eleanor,

Yes, all seems to be going well. All the legal side now completed so just have to go before the Notary to sign the papers. Completion date in three weeks.

But its a worry to hear things about the council when I have not heard anything about it from our solicitor; so think further investigation is in order!

Linda