French Drains
My understanding is that many houses in Mexico have a French Drain that runs under the house (or basement). It's used to collect water, which is then piped to a collection barrel on the roof. Any ideas as to what the Spanish word is for this draining system? I understand the term is something like "ticca" or "tikka", but don't actually know the term.
Ed Thomas
3 Answers
Hola Ted. My name is Paul. Soy de Congo en Africa pero hablo Inglés y Francés.
Ahora aprendo Español porque megusta mucho hablar idiomas. Vivo en México pero tengo sólo un mes aqui. Que bueno para encontrarte. Estoy estudiando Español por 3 semanas. Megustará communcar con usted. Estoy muy feliz para encontrar usted. Muchas gracias y hasta luego. Adios Ted.
For the reasons explained by James, many Mexican houses have a subterranean deposit of water (named in spanish "cisterna o aljibe") to collect water from the public sistem, which is piped to a colection barrel in the roof (named "tinaco").
Ted, I think you might be misunderstanding what a French drain is. My house, built in 1907, has one around its perimeter, although it's invisible. Here is a good explanation of these drains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain
As to the barrel on the roof, I don't see how that could be connected to a French drain. Why would anyone want to collect dirty water on their roof? The collection tanks on the roofs of the Mexican houses in which I have lived are for drinking water. The water supply pressure in Mexico is unreliable, and pressure is often extremely low, so water is collected all through the day and night, and then when the occupants need water, it is fed by gravity from the roof. This has nothing to do with a drainage system.
Sorry I can't be of more help with the word you are looking for.
