Posted on 03/15/2006 3:23:36 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
IS IT SAFE?
Not all agree: Montezuma still may be lurking, experts advise
MEXICO CITY - There is one rule most tourists hold sacred when visiting Mexico: Don't drink the water.
Those foolish enough to ignore that advice risk the dreaded "Montezuma's Revenge" and other maladies. At least, that's the conventional wisdom.
But Mexican water officials say the fabled warning no longer holds true. In fact, they are so confident about the quality of the water that they are urging Mexicans to drink it — straight from the tap.
The goal of their new campaign, to be launched within the next few months, is to reduce the country's reliance on store-bought water. Mexico is the world's second largest per capita consumer of bottled water after Italy — an expenditure officials say is both costly and unnecessary. The United States, where bottled water is often more a fad than a necessity, ranks 10th.
"I drink from the tap and nothing has ever happened to me," said Jesus Campos, deputy director of the National Water Commission and the main force behind the planned campaign.
Still, he conceded, Mexico's water has not always been fit to drink.
As recent as 15 years ago, only half the water reaching people's houses was chlorinated. But a cholera outbreak in 1991 spurred the federal government to invest millions of dollars in chlorination plants throughout the country.
Within a year, 85 percent of the water was disinfected. Today, that figure is 96 percent nationwide, according to water commission figures.
But not everyone agrees it's suddenly OK to drink the water.
"Would I recommend drinking the water? No," said Marisa Mazari, an environmental scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She directed a study of Mexico City's water quality between 2000 and 2001, in which researchers sampled water from 30 randomly selected wells across the city.
Bacteria found
The results were less than appetizing. Researchers found the presence of fecal coliforms in 18 percent and another bacteria associated with human waste in 52 percent of the water, according to the findings published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology in September. The study also found high levels of trihalomethanes, chemical byproducts from the chlorination process which are widely suspected of causing cancer.
However, Mazari said in an interview Tuesday that more research was needed to measure the levels of bacteria and other potentially harmful substances.
Mexico's federal Health Secretariat, which collects random samples from residents' houses, reports that only 86 percent of the water in the country is "adequately chlorinated" against bacteria.
Many Mexicans, meanwhile, rely on simpler methods when deciding whether to take a swig from the tap.
"Have you tasted the water?" said Israel Santos, 32, who was selling tacos outside a market in southern Mexico City. "It doesn't exactly invite you to drink it." He said he stopped imbibing a year ago after the chlorine taste became "nauseatingly strong."
Vegetables the culprit?
Campos remains unfazed. "It's true that not all the water is clean," he said, acknowledging that the government has yet to meet its goal of 100 percent chlorination. However, he insists that the chlorine taste guarantees that the water is drinkable.
So why do tourists continue to get sick in Mexico?
Campos said the main culprit was raw vegetables used in salads, which often contain bacteria for which foreigners have not developed an immunity. His drinking-water campaign is not just about making Mexicans feel good about their water. There is also big money at stake.
While the country's 103 million residents paid a total of $2 billion in water fees to the government last year, they forked over $3.4 billion for bottled water, Campos said. He credits the aggressive publicity campaigns by the bottled water industry for a surge in consumption since the early 1990s. Previously, most Mexicans boiled their tap water to prevent gastrointestinal diseases.
The recent boom may be good news for the industry, but it's bad news for the Mexican government and consumers. Not only does bottled water cost more, there is little guarantee that it is safe to drink. A study by the federal government's consumer protection agency found that 85 percent of bottled water suppliers lack infrastructure and sanitary controls necessary to guarantee hygiene, the Mexican magazine Dia Siete reported this month.
Water cost subsidized
Meanwhile, Mexico charges only 20 percent of what it costs to supply water to households. The subsidies are intended to help the poor. But they also benefit the rich, who pay an average of $8 a month for enough water to keep up their gardens.
"People laugh at how little they pay for water," said Manuel Perlo, an urban planner and author of a book on Mexico City's water problems. "Now, the more you consume, the bigger the subsidy. It's absurd."
Campos agrees. He is hoping that by convincing people that it is safe to drink the water, they will be willing to pay more.
The government wants to raise water rates to help fund badly needed infrastructure.
Residents who lack water at home only want some relief. Many are forced to pay hefty tips to government workers who truck water to their houses.
"They call this water?" asked Edgar Cano Serrano, a resident of a squatter colony in eastern Mexico City, looking in disgust at the yellowish liquid coming out of a truck marked "drinking water." He scooped up a handful and scoffed: "Can you imagine drinking that?"
marionlloyd@gmail.com
or eat the vegetables
Right Sherlock Campos. Foreigners do not fertilize their vegetables with raw sewage. Hence, foreigners do not develop immunity to the bacteria found in sewage. Reference Chi-Chi's restaurants and Mexican green onions.
Montezuma's Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Been there, done that.
They should bottle it and call it Squirt.
I'll pass.
PS: Why anyone would want to go to Mexico on vacation, is beyond me.
I stayed in what's considered a 5 star hotel in Tampico over New Years. The hotel had a card in the room that stated the ice and water was purified but they also supplied bottled water, which is what we used and would continue to use if we should ever travel there again.
At the ruins at El Tajin, the restaurant served sodas in their bottles with straws...no ice. Taking no chances perhaps, or else knowing the water would make their turistas sick.
We had a lot of fun on the trip.
As of last October, it's still toxic. BTDT.
Fur Shur don't drink the water South of San Francisco ~ there's camphilobacter everywhere out there.
LOL!!!
My mom told me to eat the mock city chicken, too. Doesn't mean I was stupid enough to do it.
Me too but in Chile. Thank goodness for Lomotil.
Muleteam1
My mom made great city chicken! Just fried veal and pork on a stick.
Or go there.
Even the locals are afraid to drink it!? I thought it was just foreigners who hadn't built up an immunity to the local nasties that got the sloppy-ploppies from it.
I think they already do bottle it and call it Corona.
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