Do Drink the Water

Visitors to Mexico are always warned, "Don't drink the water!"  It is certainly true of water from the tap.  At least once a week I would go to the supermarket and lug back to the apartment a six pack of liter bottles of purified water.

Well, I won't be carrying home water anymore.  Alejandro bought a water purifier which we now have in the laundry room just off of the kitchen.

You pour pitchers of tap water into the top of the purifier.  The water then goes through several stages of purification.  There is a microfiber filter that removes visible particles.  Then there is a carbon activated filter that removes minerals and parasites.  Next is a chlorine processor that kills viruses and bacteria.  Finally, a clarifier removes the chlorine to leave the water with a natural taste.  The apparatus is obviously effective because Alejandro's family has a couple of these purifiers in their home.  I have been drinking water from them for years with no gastrointestinal distress.

While we are on the topic of water, you have probably read articles or heard news reports that Mexico City is going to run out of water within a couple months.  The water supply has been an ongoing problem for years, and people have long been urged to conserve water.  At the apartment or the family's house, I take short showers and, when washing dishes, I never fill the sink with water.

Water rationing in which the supply is turned off for certain hours has supposedly been put into effect, but I have not had any lack of water here.  Many buildings, including the apartment building and even Alejandro's family's house, have underground cisterns which are kept filled in case of emergency.  Several years ago, water was actually turned off completely for several days while repairs were being made.  Even then I never lacked water.  There are also large tanker trucks called "pipas" which carry water to places that are lacking.  In the last month I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of "pipas" I have seen filling cisterns.  Although I do not discount the seriousness of the problem, we have not been personally affected.  By the end of May, the rainy season will begin.  As much as I love the sunshine, I hope that there will be abundant rainfall to help replenish reservoirs.