Gyms reopen in Mexico City at 30% 2:55
(CNN) -
Mexico's capital is packed with skyscrapers in wealthy neighborhoods like Reforma, a testament to the wealth that exists there.
On a clear day you can see them from the San Gregorio neighborhood, just 8 km away in a straight line.
But in San Gregorio there is no wealth.
There are some places without running water to wash your hands, amid the pandemic.
'Everyone here suffers from a lack of water'
San Gregorio is located in the Xochimilco district.
Chronically poor, poverty rates there hover around 40% according to the latest government data.
Drive through the area and you will come across blue plastic containers the size of an oil drum, often grouped together.
These barrels are where the city's water trucks, called "pipas," deposit water to be used by the barrel owners.
Victoria Arias López, 26, is one of many residents who depend on these water supplies.
The barrels help the daily needs of the home.
"Every 15 days, they come here to give us water," Arias López told CNN.
"We always have to get the trash out of the buckets before the 'pipes' arrive."
The water only lasts for his family about three days.
Although the government says it is potable water, Arias López says it is too dirty to drink.
You don't know when these trucks are serviced or if the water is really good quality to drink.
In addition, she says, there is the accumulation of leaves and dirt inside the containers between one filling and another.
So her family uses the water to wash dishes and clothes, and buys water to drink.
Each bottle of water costs 150 pesos, a little more than a day's salary for her husband.
As for the laundry, a public washing station is 15 minutes away by taxi.
Inside are two rows of a dozen concrete sinks, each with ridged bottoms for washing clothes.
Water pumped from a government-owned faucet runs through an open space under the sinks.
The laundrymen dip small buckets in the water below and pour it over the soapy clothes above.
The locals come here from everywhere.
"The truth is that we suffer a lot with the water," said a woman named Lucero who refused to give her last name, putting aside her washing.
"All the neighbors do it."
It rains in Mexico City almost every day for six months of the year.
However, years of poor urban planning, underinvestment in infrastructure, and corruption have led to severe water shortages.
The city's public water lines do not extend into this neighborhood.
Government data from 2018 shows that around 20% of the population of Mexico City does not have access to water every day.
Most live in the poorest areas of the city.
That made life more difficult for millions of people and then came the pandemic.
These areas deprived of water are among the most affected localities in the entire country, both in terms of deaths and confirmed cases.
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How do you wash your hands without water?
They are not washed.
There are government signs throughout the city telling residents what to do about the coronavirus, which has more than 730,000 cases and has claimed 76,430 deaths nationwide.
Right at or near the top of these signs it often says 'wash your hands constantly with soap and water'.
This is good advice during a pandemic.
But if you don't have running water, how do you do it?
The answer: you don't.
"Honestly, [the Government] does not know the situation in which we live," says Arias López.
“They say they wash their hands, but they have water in the center of the city.
Not us here.
Arias López and 12 family members share two concrete houses with a common patio.
The water they have comes from a spell rainwater harvesting system that they have improvised over the years.
During the rainy season, it collects on a sloping, dirty roof that channels water into a hole chiseled in the concrete.
It goes down through a series of PVC pipes tied together with electrical tape, before accumulating in a barrel two stories below.
The water is too dirty until it is allowed to sit for three days, long enough for the sediments to settle and add a little bleach.
Drinking it is off the table.
"Sometimes we wash our hands, like after bathing or before the children eat," says Arias López.
"But we don't have enough water to wash them frequently."
Although that is about to change.
Arias López was recently chosen by the nonprofit Isla Urbana, whose mission is to increase sustainable access to water, to receive an improved rain collection system.
A series of pipes will send the water through a filtration system, aided by a motorized pump that speeds up the process.
A newly installed 2,500 liter cistern will hold water until you are ready to use it.
They will be able to wash with it immediately and, with just one more filtration, drink it.
Isla Urbana told CNN that the rainwater harvesting systems they install have six "filter and treat" steps.
"With the first six phases, the water meets federal standards" for drinking water in Mexico, says Emilio Becerril, coordinator of Public Policy and Management of Isla Urbana.
An additional seventh step of filtering the water with an activated carbon filter makes the water even cleaner to drink.
Rainwater harvesting systems are becoming "necessary as the availability of good-quality water decreases," says the World Health Organization (WHO) on its website.
And good filtration coupled with safe water disinfection practices are key to communities' access to clean water, a vital necessity.
Arias López smiles knowing that her working days to get clean water for her children and her family have become easier.
It means fewer outings, more hand washing, money savings, and better protection against an epidemic.
"I'm so excited," she says.
The black pipes and the brown cistern don't look like much, but make no mistake, they are a luxury, a luxury that most of Arias' Mexico City residents don't have.
Lack of water