Rain recycling system could solve Mexico’s water supply issues

World Today

In Mexico, water access is becoming a major issue, especially for people who live in low income neighborhoods.

But a water recycling system could be the solution.

CCTV America’s Martin Markovits reports from Mexico City.

Water access in Mexico City is a huge problem. The city of 20 million people sits on a lakebed that is slowly sinking, and many of its pipes are old and the city’s water plants lose 40 percent of its water in transit.

But it’s worse for the poor, for whom access to drinking water is not even an option. Instead, they rely on water trucks and ration water. This is why a new rainwater recycling system could be a solution for people like 70-year-old Santo Alejandro Dominguez. Despite just being 30 minutes outside of Mexico City, living in the slums means she and her family have to wait once a week for the water supply truck to come.

The new water system from the company Urban Island recycles and purifies rainwater. Its main clients are the poor who are on the not on Mexico’s water grid and those who can afford it’s $200 price tag.

With water shortages increasing in poor communities, Urban Island have had their hands full. In the past three months, they have installed over 2,000 water systems for low income families.

Using one tank, the rainwater system is able to supply a large family for one year, only if there is six months of rain. The system works in places like Mexico City where they have a heavy rainy season.

This new initiative maybe the only way to guarantee water supplies to all of Mexico City’s residents especially after last month, when the city suspended water for one week for millions.