Why You can't Drink Water in Mexico

Most people have heard that you can't drink the watertank on top of the house for a while. Either of these
in Mexico, but most don't really know why. Most citiesareas can be a place where bacteria breeds and in
in Mexico have a good water delivery infrastructurereally bad cases, animals and bugs can get in an
much like the United States and other developeddrown in the water.
countries. However the water is only run for a fewBecause of the way water is transported and stored
hours at a time. So your house may only have waterit isn't safe to drink-even if the water coming in as
coming in through the pipes from 8 to 10 pm.perfectly safe. In some cases the incoming water isn't
Because of this you have to store the water in asafe to drink either. Especially in Mexico City that is
cistern under the house or parking area. When waterbuild on an old lake. The ground is very unstable so it is
comes through the pipes the cistern fills up and thencommon to have small earthquakes. Sometimes the
shuts off. Of course with the water underground, therewater lines and sewer lines run close together and if a
is no way for it to have enough pressure to doshift in the earth causes them to break it can cause
anything useful.problems. Since the water lines aren't pressurized all
To overcome this, every house has a small waterthe time, a break may let in sewage instead of just
tank on top. A pump moves the water from theseeping water out into the ground. Obviously this can
cistern to the water tank whenever it gets low. Incause a problem for drinking water.
addition to providing water pressure, the tank offersMost cities have a lot of bottle water for sale. You can
additional water storage for use during the 22 hours aget it from local shops or have it delivered to you. It
day that water is not flowing through the pipes.generally costs about $1.50 US, for 5 gallons of water,
Now do you see the problem? Even if the waterso it isn't terribly expensive-especially since it is only
comes in crystal clean, it is sitting in the undergroundneeded for drinking and cooking.
storage tank for awhile and then sitting in the water