For weeks, residents of Guadalajara have reported a strong odor in their household drinking water. According to the complaints, the water is dark in color and smells like fecal matter.
Due to this situation, last week, the Secretary of Health of Jalisco, Héctor Pérez Gómez, and the head of COPRISJAL (the Jalisco State Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks), José Antonio Muñoz, held a press conference in which they indicated that they have received reports of contaminated water in homes in 200 neighborhoods, out of the 2,000 neighborhoods in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. The officials assured residents that measures are already being taken to address the situation.
According to a report by specialists from the University of Guadalajara on July 1st, citizen complaints of contaminated water have been identified in the following areas:
In his column this Monday, Salvador Camarena shares the complaints of a resident of the Providencia neighborhood, as well as another testimony from western Guadalajara, both of whom describe the contamination of their drinking water.
Camarena quotes Mrs. X, a woman who lives in Providencia with her husband and a baby. The child has developed eczema (a skin condition) due to the contaminated water.
According to her testimony, the water coming into her home began to emit an unbearable odor last March. The woman opted to install filters in the shower and kitchen, in addition to the filter already in place at the street water intake.
In early March, the Intermunicipal System of Potable Water and Sewerage Services (SIAPA) acknowledged the problem and reported that it was already flushing the water network and performing infrastructure maintenance due to reports of odor and discoloration in the water throughout the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.
These filters are designed to ensure that the tap water is safe to drink. However, Mrs. X noted that although the water’s color changed, the odor persisted, albeit less intense. Therefore, she opted to buy bottled water for drinking. Furthermore, the shower filter, which was supposed to be changed every six months, only lasted a month.
The other testimony gathered by Camarena is from a person who lives west of Guadalajara, who recounted that she had her water tank cleaned after emptying it because it contained cloudy water, and also installed a filter there. However, the family in that house shuts off the main water valve to prevent the contaminated water from reaching the tank, and instead opts to pay for a filling service, “paying 1,500 pesos each, along with a neighbor, to fill our respective cisterns.”
On July 6, the heads of Jalisco Health and COPRISJAL urged the public to adopt safe water consumption habits, given the wave of citizen reports of cloudy water in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.
It was recommended to use tap water only for household cleaning tasks, such as washing clothes, general cleaning, dishwashing, and handwashing, provided the water is colorless and odorless. For drinking, brushing teeth, and cooking, bottled or purified water should be used.
On July 10, the mayor of Guadalajara, Verónica Delgadillo, requested that the federal government and the Chamber of Deputies return funds allocated to metropolitan areas to create a Capital City Fund to strengthen the water supply infrastructure.
Delgadillo highlighted that work has already begun on expanding the Miravalle water treatment plant to improve water quality. She added that the city government maintains a support program to improve water quality in homes by distributing filters, chlorine tablets, and water tanks.
The problem with the quality of drinking water in Guadalajara has led residents to seek alternative storage and purification methods. Just on July 12, after Delgadillo’s statements, the Guadalajara City Council acknowledged that it was overwhelmed by the number of support requests, as 9,000 supplies had already been delivered to the population, including chlorine tablets, domestic filters and water tanks, but only about 4,000 of the more than 7,500 requests had been addressed.
Source: elfinanciero
