CRISIS At least 21 of 102 wastewater treatment plants in Guerrero state (pop. 3.5 million) have been left abandoned without repair and have even subject to be vandalized due several problems including local governments incapable to pay for their proper maintenance and electricity services.
PERSPECTIVE Wastewater treatment is in charge of local municipal governments. Most recent figures by Mexico’s National Water Commission showed that in 2016 there were a total of 2,536 wastewater treatment plants. Yet, some analysis believe more than half have bad/terrible operations.
PROBLEMS In the state capital of Chilpancingo (pop. 273,000), a local plant opened in 2011 but it still lacks needed infrastructure for wastewater to be reused in agriculture; in the much smaller municipality like Huamuxtitlán (pop. 13,000) a 2010 plant was abandoned to high electricity costs.
ACAPULCO Even in a famed resort center like Acapulco (pop. 810,000), the largest city in Guerrero, sources say that 6 out of the 19 water treatment municipal plants are malfunctioning and throwing hundreds of thousands of liters of untreated wastewater going directly to the Pacific Ocean.
