[746786]

Hello everyone. I need some advice on my dealings with a water company that supplies agricultural water to my land plot in Pinoso. I don't live there yet and there is no water connected to the land, only a water meter on the neighbouring land that is designated as mine, but with no water pipework connecting it to my actual plot. The person at the water company has been extremely uncooperative and doesn't seem willing to answer emails to me. So, I'm trying to get some information on how such water cooperatives work.

As far as I can tell, the company that supplies the water (SAT Ubeda) is a cooperative or society made up of locals who contribute money each year towards the costs. I don't appear to have any contract with them as far as I can tell from my land purchase contract but have discovered that they have been generating bills to me (without sending them to me as they have no address) and I now have bills for the last 4 years, plus charges for non-payment. I've asked them for a copy of the contract and a method of payment so that I can pay them from the UK as I do not want a Spanish bank account.

Can anyone shed any light on this type of water cooperative, how it works and what your experiences have been of dealing with them?

Many thanks.

 

[snikpoh]

In theory, we are also part of a cooperative.

We are one of a few people who get water from a 'private' source. As such, we are members of a cooperative.

Apart from that there is no difference at all compared to being with one of the big boys like EGAVASA (for example). The costs are lower than with the 'big boys' but not be much. We have never had to pay any other charges.


Spain doesn't really do emails or anything Internet related - best to ring them or see them in person.

You will need somewhere to have bills delivered (some do allow e-billing and others have websites to review consumption etc.) Most, however, can NOT take international payments so you will need to have a Spanish bank or know someone who can make the payments for you in cash.

 

[olivefarmer]

We are members of the village drinking water co-op. No contracts but we do get a paper receipt for our water bills paid twice yearly- about 40 euros a time.

They have a yearly meeting to set price per cubic metre (stays the same every year here!) and appoint a president and a secretary to produce a ledger of usage and bill quantity. It is all very,very low key.

My advice would be to get onside. maybe easier said than done. If you play the game- grow crops, irrigate yor trees or whatever you will gain respect. Go to the yearly meeting. Hard unless your Spanish is good as they will take in dialect and all at once. A good starting point would be to make friends with the village "alcalde" (rep to local Ayuntamiento). Worth buying him/her a few beers.

On irrigation schemes you only normally get pipework up to your land. There there is a meter and you may have a standing charge (covers reading meters,production/collection of payments- cash only and possibly lodging accounts somewhere and repairs to leaks in the network) plus a charge per cubic metre of used irrigation water. Irrigation water is usually part treated to kill some forms of bacteria but is not potable)

In all cases I know of, the user provides their own distribution for their plot - drippers/leaky pipes etc.

One thing you might find disconcerting is a lack of contract. With that comes the worry you might be excluded from the scheme. More reason to be part of the community - helping fix a network leak might help gain acceptance.

 

[746786]

Thanks for your replies. That's useful insight for me. The administrator of the cooperative has been very....erm, uncooperative. Perhaps because I'm another foreigner and not living locally yet. I can understand that sentiment if that's the case. But it's also off-putting amidst other cliquey experiences I've had of the area on visits there. Will make another attempt to communicate with him and see what happens...

 

[geodesica]

Hey <

Hey Frank! We live in Raspay. When will you be moving to pinoso? We are living off grid on the foot hill of Las Pansas right next to El Carche. The water company is S.A.T aguas pinoso. Email me, we should meet up we are trying to get a group of voluteers together to build a earthbag structure, What kind of home are you going to be living in?

 

[746786]

Hey. Thanks for your post. It looks like I'm not allowed to email you until you post a few more posts.

 

[746786]

Latest on the water cooperative is I finally got an email. The guy who runs it wants to charge me 149% interest on bills from the last three years that I was never sent. No water connected, I assumed I'd have no bills or contract until I got the water connected.