A Renewed Focus on Recycled Rainwater in Mexico Whitney Eulich - Christian Science Monitor
go to original February 21, 2016

Mexican residents are facing water shortages as government officials enjoy their pools. (teleSUR English)

When Mexico City suspended water services last month to more than five million residents, it was another sign of how acute the situation has become in this metropolis of roughly 20 million. Those who could leave town did; others had to go without water for more than a week while city engineers repaired some of the city's pipes.

Built by Spanish colonialists on top of drained lake beds, Mexico City is sinking, in some places by as much as 8 inches a year. The taps often run dry. In summer come the floods. And its creaky system of water pipes, pumps, and plants loses 40 percent of water in transit.

And as the population grows and the city pumps more ground water, the broad valley on which the city is built will sink farther, putting its fragile municipal systems at greater risk.

“Mexico City is a horrific water octopus,” sucking up water from neighboring states and from depleted underground aquifers, says Vera Candiani, a historian who has studied the city’s water use.

To save this thirsty city, government officials, NGOs, and citizens are promoting household water conservation, introducing rainwater recovery and purification, as well as more ambitious proposals to recover natural rivers and lakes. The city is also investing in water drainage and treatment in order to ease flooding and reuse wastewater.

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