Designing an efficient domestic water supply system.

[Fletcher]

Update:

Waiting on Titles for Stage One.

Stage Two construction complete.

Remaining for 2013:

1. Post & rail main road fencing Stage One.
2. Electronic gating for Stage One plus landscaping entrance.
3. Underground power reticulation to Stage One to be completed.
4. Build 2 bay garaging with attached sleep-out.

House water supply was sorted earlier this year with installation of additional two 10000 liters tanks, giving total capacity 26,000 liters at house.

[Fletcher]

My Google Earth just updated - shots from 18 months ago as I was completing the internal road in the subdivision.

[nicbordeaux]

Congrats. That's a whole load of work done. When do you start running the property at full capacity ?

[Fletcher]

Slowly slowly as they say in Fiji - still waiting for the titles to come thru - won't move on the big ticket items like underground power etc, nor the resort [plenty of resorts nearby that I use], until I get them - call me careful.

One decision I made when coming here was to carry very low levels of debt & do things out of income where I could - this slows things down sometimes but generally the regulatory processes & bureaucracy are slower & they dictate the pace [it's getting better] - if I had to find extra money each month servicing millions of borrowings I wouldn't be quite so calm.

Off to the property in the next few days for a month.

[jim_mich]

Hi Fletcher,

How is your cell phone coverage and your internet out there?

I remember when I first joined the Bessler forum about 10 years ago, all I had was dial-up with 5 miles of copper phone line that limited the speed to 28 Kb. It typically took a couple minutes of downloading each time I went to another posting. I soon logged more online time than any other forum member simply because of my very slow internet connection.

I now have a fast Verizon 4G cellphone hotspot for my internet. Though I'm in a slight valley, I get a good strong signal from the Verizon tower about 6 miles away on the other side of the local village.

Fletcher, you do realize we all envy your living in a tropical paradise. :)}

[rlortie]

Fletcher,

I once read and got the impression that foreigner's were limited on purchasing property in Fiji. I now see adds for sale advertized as "Free Hold', what does this term imply?

http://www.viviun.com/Real_Estate/Fiji/

Ralph

[Fletcher]

Hi Fletcher,

How is your cell phone coverage and your internet out there?

I remember when I first joined the Bessler forum about 10 years ago, all I had was dial-up with 5 miles of copper phone line that limited the speed to 28 Kb. It typically took a couple minutes of downloading each time I went to another posting. I soon logged more online time than any other forum member simply because of my very slow internet connection.

I now have a fast Verizon 4G cellphone hotspot for my internet. Though I'm in a slight valley, I get a good strong signal from the Verizon tower about 6 miles away on the other side of the local village.

Fletcher, you do realize we all envy your living in a tropical paradise. :)}

Hey Jim .. I split my time between Suva & Savusavu where the property is - here is Suva I have just recently upgraded to unlimited broadband, though the speed varies greatly depending on the day & who is on it at the same time - mostly it's reliable these days - in SS I don't have internet by choice [that may change] - years ago when I was thinking thru the future development options I took the punt not to run copper telco lines or fibre optics to the property along with the mains power - I figured that technology would catch us up - turned out to be a good decision because we had 3G, now being upgraded to 4G in the area - I could get internet with a USB & cell connection for data as well as calls etc if I wanted it - normally when I'm there I turn castaway retro & watch dvd's [no satellite by choice] every now & then, read a lot, & talk to people, usually people staying [no, not Wilson] or expats & over a beer or gin or two.

I can see how the simple life in a warm climate, in a beautiful place, could be attractive ;7)

Shout yourself a trip to the south pacific & come visit - we could have some fun - if I solve this riddle I might shout you :)

[Fletcher]

Fletcher,

I once read and got the impression that foreigner's were limited on purchasing property in Fiji. I now see adds for sale advertized as "Free Hold', what does this term imply?

http://www.viviun.com/Real_Estate/Fiji/

Ralph

http://www.google.co.nz/webhp?nord=1#no ... =788392823

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/proper ... eal/page-2

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/proper ... eal/page-3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrens_title

Hi Ralph .. All commonwealth countries [& ex commonwealth countries like Fiji & some states in USA] run the Torrens system of recording land ownership - it is superior to the previous Deeds system.

Freehold Fee Simple is the term for highest form of land ownership, indefeasible rights etc.

In Fiji we have Freehold [~6% of land ownership] with the another 6% Crown land [no title] & Crown Leasehold - the balance is Native Land & Native Leasehold, so that is the majority N.B. most island nations in the south pacific only have Leasehold land for sale, not having Freehold - however NZ & Australia have a predominance of Freehold land, which foreigners can buy etc as they can here.

In Fiji a foreigner [not a citizen] can purchase any form of land ownership including Freehold [the highest form] - IINM currently if they wish to purchase over 1 acre [or combined ownership of more than one title above 1 acre] ministerial approval is required for the additional purchase - usually this is a rubber stamp exercise unless you are a prosecuted Columbian drug lord.

Of the 6% of Fiji that is Freehold 85% of that land is in the second largest island of Vanua Levu, around Savusavu mostly - this was a big magnet to me when I was looking in the south pacific a decade ago - economics of supply & demand in one place, plus plenty of yachties, economic retirees, expats, resorts & holiday homes etc - secondly the country is just staggeringly beautiful, as are the people, & of course the climate is pretty good.

An additional benefit is that my land is 25kms from SS town & bay [a stunning bay itself] in a resort belt, so out of the urban area - SS itself is a tourist & resort town so well populated & serviced - it is called little Hawaii & the Hidden Paradise by some, though I like to think of it as like the pacific French Riviera before it became expensive & popular, & of course without the French ;7) N.B. 1US$ buys 2FJ$ & things are still cheap, even after converting to Fiji Dollars - quite a few Americans make it down here.

Anyway, you only pay Rates [property taxes I think you call them] in urban areas so I am exempt from them as is everybody else living outside SS town area - that's a nice little windfall.

Hope that helps.

[justsomeone]

Are you offering a parcel for anyone who solves the Bessler puzzle? ;)

[jim_mich]

I think if someone solves the Bessler puzzle they probably could buy all of Fletcher's parcels. :)}

[justsomeone]

Yea but if you only got one you could enjoy Fletcher's company! :)

[Fletcher]

I suppose I could do that JS1, though I usually use other criteria like 'BBQ entertainment value rating' to choose my neighbours ;7)

Sorry Jim, did I give the impression they were for sale - no, I'm just collecting titles ;7)

[rlortie]

Fletcher,

Thank you for the enlightenment on "Free Hold"...

I can relate to this regarding my own property and method of title/deed recording, which is done by both a tax lot number and a "Means and Bounds description.

Ralph

[Fletcher]

The completed clean-up project of the Waikona beach frontage [Nasisila Bch] - the main highway is about to be sealed.

[daanopperman]

Hi Fletcher ,

I place this under your topic for I see a lot of builder/engineers here , hope you dont mind .

Some times we want to syphon a container empty , but every time we want to syphon , you have to start from scratch , so here is a auto syphon that will start syponing everytime a container is full , without the need for pumping .
The syphon hose has a loop below the container level , as soon as the syphon pipe is vented , air will enter the pipe and stop the flow after the loop , but a small amount of water will run back into the loop from both sides , causing a trap . As the water level in the container rises again , pressure will build up inside the pipe untill the " plug " is forced up the loop and over , this will automatically start a new syphon cycle . By moving the loop up or down a " best " position will be found where the container level can be regulated .