Residents of San Miguel’s Colonia Independencia are unaware of the results of a study carried out by the “Caminos del Agua” association, and point out that the tap water comes out clean and odorless, so they even use it for cooking.
The water contamination in the Independencia neighborhood of San Miguel de Allende goes unnoticed by locals because, even though in 2022 high levels of arsenic and fluoride were detected in a tap in the area, the tap water comes out crystal clear so they even use it for cooking.
The Caminos de Agua Association, a specialist in water quality monitoring, detected in 2022 a tap in the Independencia neighborhood that registered levels of contamination well above the limits established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the residential area, which is located just two kilometers from the Historic Center, a fluoride level of 2.75 milligrams per liter and an arsenic level of 28.7 micrograms per liter were recorded, classifying the water quality in the area as “Potentially toxic!”.
According to the WHO, for water to comply with the standard it must not exceed 1.5 mg/l of fluoride and 10 µg/l of arsenic, since these elements are harmful to health when the water containing them is used for consumption.
“We have not noticed anything, the water comes out clean. We do not use it for direct consumption, but for cooking because it boils and is purified there,” said a lady resident of Colonia Independencia, who runs a grocery store near the area where the sample was taken two years ago.
Caminos de Agua has revealed that these contaminants are not detectable with the naked eye and do not cause immediate illnesses to those who consume them, however, they are closely related to cases of dental fluorosis, paralyzing bone fluorosis, chronic kidney disease, cognitive development and learning problems in children, skin diseases and even various types of cancer.
This water only represents a danger to those who consume it, since boiling it does not eliminate the contaminants that are even more concentrated after this action and, although the quality of the water can constantly change in the same place, most treatment systems do not eliminate arsenic and fluoride, so Caminos de Agua recommends the implementation of reverse osmosis treatment systems, since not any filter eliminates these minerals or the consumption of commercial bottled water.
In addition to the Independencia neighborhood, in 2018 high levels of these contaminants were detected in other neighborhoods of San Miguel, such as La Paz and El Nigromante, both located on the way to Dolores Hidalgo.
What is Caminos de Agua?
It is a non-profit organization registered in the US, as well as a civil association in Mexico.
It is sponsored by and has collaborators from the University of Texas, the University of Kansas, and the University of Northern Illinois; and in Mexico, it receives support from the National Water Quality Inventory, the University of Guanajuato, and the municipal government of San Diego de la Unión.
Caminos de Agua works in collaboration with local communities and leading research institutions to innovate and implement water solutions that result in adequate access to clean and safe sources of drinking water.
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