In my previous post, I explored what happens at the start and finish of Mexico City’s water flow.  This post will go into what happens in between, by looking at the transportation and distribution of water through the lens of ‘urban metabolism’ which I mentioned in my previous post. The amount of water coming out of the taps in each area is a good indicator of the inequality the city faces, with the poor barely seeing a drop of water out their taps and the wealthy having plenty. As said by Matthew Gandy “water is a brutal delineator of power” [1].

How does the water get to Mexico City?

The transportation of water is a huge challenge in Mexico City due to the high altitudes around the city of up to 300 meters and also given that the water system loses 40% of its water to leaking pipes. The amount of water residents get varies around the city, with some getting 12 hours of running water per day, and with others waiting several days at a time [2]. This has put political pressure onto the local authorities to solve the infrastructural issues surrounding water transportation. One solution that the Mexico’s center to right-wing government want is to privatise the supply system to raises enough capital to upgrade the faulty pipes, through the ‘General Water Act’. They see this as a matter of finance and efficiency to provide cleaner and cheaper water. On the opposing side of this argument, where most left-wing and NGO activists sit, they debate that privatisation would not improve water quality and that the government should do more. The left do not want private companies to essentially define who gets water and who does not [3]. Amid huge conflicts with the public over the proposed bill, it has been put on hold with increasing protests likely.

Distribution once in Mexico City

Distribution of water once in Mexico City is in a dire situation with millions relying on tankers of water to be delivered. A well-documented example is the low-income area of Iztapalapa whereby most households have their own barrel of water which the tanker will fill up [4]. The very little tapped water available is polluted to toxic levels with it coming out red, smelling likes rotten eggs or yellow whenever it does come out the taps. Most of the water being consumed in the wealthier West boroughs of the city there is very little clean water left for the poor Eastern boroughs. The tankers are often hijacked, and the depot has been raided numerous times resulting in the police being employed on a daily basis to protect the tankers from the narco-gangs and carjackers who are deeply rooted into life in Iztapalapa [5]. The West is populated with golf courses for example which use huge amounts of water, the difference could not be clearer.

Here are the references I used:

[1] Gandy, M. (2004). “Rethinking urban metabolism: water, space and the modern city.” City 8(3): 363-379.

[2] Watts, J. (2015) ‘Mexico City’s water crisis – from source to sewer’, (WWW) Guardian: London (www.theguardian.com – accessed x February 2020).

[3] Delgado-Ramos, G., (2015) ‘Water and the political ecology of urban metabolism: the case of Mexico City,’ Journal of Political Ecology, 22(1), pp.98-114.

[4] Watts, J. (2015) ‘Mexico City’s water crisis – from source to sewer’, (WWW) Guardian: London (www.theguardian.com – accessed x February 2020).

[5] Ibid.