Water tanks. We see them everywhere in Nicaragua.
And in Mexico too, when we lived there recently.
On top of houses. On metal structures in fields by houses. And rows of huge tanks in housing developments, alongside roads.
In Mexico they call them tinaques. Here in Nicaragua they’re called tanques.
Their function is to hold water, which has either been pumped up to them from a well or fed directly from the town water supply.
In our case, it’s a 1,100 liter (290 gallon) plastic blue tank which sits on the ground behind our house. Two water lines come on to our lot. One goes directly into the house and the other goes into the tank. When an internal sensor reads that the tank is full, the water to the tank turns off. And the water just sits in the tank as a backup water supply. Our own personal reservoir.
Next to our tank is a pump. When a different sensor reads that the water supply directly entering our house has stopped (due to a break in the line somewhere, for example, or shut off for maintenance by the powers that be) then the pump automatically turns on and pumps water from the tank into our house. Giving us an uninterrupted supply of indoor running water.
Unless the power goes out, of course, but that’s a different Nica Nugget. Or your pump breaks, which would suck because they’re not cheap.
