utilitus

Here in northern California, both my houses have US style septic systems which include extensive leach fields. Optimal management involves minimizing water throughput by grey-water diversion, use of appropriate TP that disintegrates easily, no in-line kitchen garbage disposal, no use of chlorine or bar soaps, substituting 'oxygen' based cleaners instead. One house is in the redwoods, which have highly invasive root systems, and I add copper sulfate to the distribution ports of the leach field regularly to discourage their probing tendrils. Properly managed, this type of septic system of medium size can go 15 user-years between pump-outs.

As they used to say in the old USSR, "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us." See: https://www.indeed.com.mx/cmp/Ilox-Telecomunicaciones/salaries?job_category=install&location=MX%2FJAL

See: https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/gunmen-attack-jalisco-labor-secretary-in-guadalajara/

The posts here suggesting possibly relevant 'background' involving a former Jalisco Attorney General may be referring to this event in May, 2018: "12 gunmen attack Jalisco labor secretary in Guadalajara - Several people wounded, six suspects arrested after attack in city center" - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 See: https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/gunmen-attack-jalisco-labor-secretary-in-guadalajara/

In the early '60s our family took an evening flight from CDMX to Acapulco and the props were spitting flame in the dark of night and the stewardess took my five year old brother up to the cockpit where the captain put him in his seat and let him fly the plane. I think it was Mexicana...

Just came across this technical study of Lake, new to me, seemingly dated about a year and a half ago. The english is a bit tortured, but the data and interpretation seem significant: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319692488_Water_Quality_Index_of_Lake_Chapala_in_Mexico_and_its_potential_risk_to_public_health

Good question - I'm writing from northern California, and the last time I needed an extra heavy galvanized post for a wide ag-style gate on our ranch east of Napa, I couldn't find what I was looking for at Home Depot, etc., even here. But such should be available somewhere, probably in Guadalajara, maybe 'primarily' to contractors. Sorry. But I'd keep an eye out for an existing installation, metal, masonry or otherwise that appeals to you, and make inquiries. Bon chance.

It's an entirely different approach which might require some drip irrigation, but eventually I will be building a perimeter 'wall' consisting of a similarly tall, stout chain link fence with a nice mix of vines and flowers eventually overgrowing it. If security is required, coils of razor wire might be incorporated(?) But tasteful masonry, especially elegant stonework, is typical of fine Mexican design, and if a Maestro still makes $600/mo, should represent terrific long term value.

dboisclair asks a key question and appears to have an answer. The next logical question might regard recommendations for engineers, architects, contractors, etc, again, perhaps just for general background and to consider options. As someone who is planning to build a small house on a steep hill Lakeside, I have searched this webboard and similar sources for over a year, going back into archives and using whatever relevant information was found to frame tangential searches of all manner of online sources. All this is a kind of preliminary orientation alerting me to hidden 'gotchas', which I despise. I have come across and saved reports of incompetent surveyors, which, in conjunction with no use of 'metes and bounds' on deeds, could conceivably contribute to profound 'original sin', along with claims about prominent architects who are said to "cut corners", tales of contractors creating conditions where salitre would result, or seismic stupidity, plus other problems with design, materials and methods which could have been avoided thought informed vigilance. Add to these issues questions about the neighborhood, local building codes protecting the viewshed, designing out the possibility of burglary, determining dependable internet access, barking dogs, having only minimal Spanish, hedging the Peso during the twilight of the USD, and the knowledge that I will not be able to truly control all such externalities, along with a thousand design decisions which I take upon myself as someone who almost became an architect, and what you have is an ultra complex decision system fraught with uncertainty. So identifying the right local professionals is key, but the whole Rubio Goldbergo scenario ultimately is on little old me. My ability to take my time, visit and live in the area in advance of the decision, know what to look for at each critical phase, be on site constantly and visually document construction, as I have during visits for the foundation systems of neighboring homes under construction, provide better odds of an ideal outcome, which is impossible, but which for me justifies the effort because I'm learning something, growing my brain just for the exercise and may end up living in a sculpture of my own design in a setting reminiscent of the SF bay and Mt. Tam views I grew up with in the Berkeley hills , at just the cost of the artists' materials. Or I could forget the whole thing and buy an existing place in SMA, where I've spent a lot more time over the years. The only way I can decide is to look into everything, figure out what the appropriate checklist would be, and then tick each item off. By the way, there is some intimation in posts on this webboard over recent years that there is some sort of scam (my term) involving the recommendation of contractors, and the local labor economy seems very highly networked.