Drinking Water Quality in Mexico City

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Mexico City is among the largest, busiest, and most populated places on the planet. Being one of the largest cities has benefits as well as problems. Among all the problems that Mexico City faces pollution is one of the worst—especially in regards to the quality of its potable water because it is vital for life. The reliability of drinking water depends on its quality and Mexico City is confronted with many problems relating to water because the population continues to grow. Thus, the groundwater supply of the city, as well as river basins around the area, are suffering a large deficit. Even so, there are many solutions that can be implemented to alleviate Mexico City’s water problems, but most importantly if the price of water in Mexico City represented its true value, a foundation for improvement could be established.

Mexico City has provided its own water from the times of the Aztecs up until the late twentieth century (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart, 1996). The residents of the city relied mostly on groundwater as their main source of water and did not need to import it from elsewhere. That changed in the mid 1960’s when the population started to grow dramatically (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart, 1996). This enormous growth put increased demand on water supply and groundwater could no longer support the thirst of the entire city on its own. Thus extra water was brought to Mexico City from two outside sources: the Cutzamala River Basin and the Lerma River Basin. Now the city relies heavily on these watersheds for the significant amount of water they provide to Mexico City. The Cutzalama and Lerma Basins contribute over thirty percent of the water that the city obtains (Tortajada and Castelan, 2003). Yet, the city is so large and con...

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...mation site in Mexico City. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110, A619-A624

Ezcurra, Exequiel, & Mazari-Hiriart, M. (1996). Are megacities viable? A cautionary tale from Mexico City.(Includes related article)(Cover story). Environment, 38, 6-20

Gamiño, L. R., & Correa, G. V. (Ed.). (1998). El agua en la cuenca de México (Vol. 2). Mexico: Asociación Internacional de Investigadores de Xochimilco, A.C.

Izazola, H. (Ed.). (2001). Agua y sustentabilidad en la Ciudad de México. Estudios demográficos y urbanos (Vol. 16). Mexico: El Colegio de México.

Mazari-Hiriart, M., Cifuentes, E., Velásquez, E., & Clava, J.J. (2000). Microbiological groundwater quality and health indicators in Mexico City. Urban Ecosystems, 4, 91-103

Tortajada, C., & Castelan, E. (2003).Water management for a megacity: Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 32, 124-129

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