/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/NUZJBZKFJJC3TORYXB6GF6WOEA.jpg)
The residents of number 55 Sebastián del Piombo Street say that two weeks ago they noticed a strange taste in the water and a smell like gasoline coming out of the tap. As happens in these cases, most thought it was an isolated incident, until someone wrote in the neighbors' chat. “My husband says that for several days the water has a smell like some chemical product,” said the woman from 302. “Well, I don't smell that much, but it does come out dirty,” responded the neighbor from 402, and sent a photograph showing a bucket with a brown liquid.
More people soon joined the conversation and reported the same thing: strong smell, bitter taste and itchy skin. Two blocks away, the residents of 33 Rembrandt Street had the same problem and those of 219 Leonardo da Vinci, too. It didn't take long for the conversation to jump to social networks. There they discovered that it was not only happening in their neighborhood, the Nonoalco neighborhood, but that it was a problem for the entire Benito Juárez mayor's office. The authorities have recognized that the water is contaminated with oils and lubricants and that Nonoalco, along with the surrounding neighborhoods, is ground zero for contamination.
Elí Bucio, 29 years old and manager of the building, opens the cistern hatch in the middle of the building's parking lot. 50,000 liters of water that supplies the two towers of the condominium, where 80 people live. “It smells like fuel,” he says. As you get closer, you notice a strong odor and a whitish, oily film floats on the water. Bucio says that personnel from the municipal water service (Sacmex) took samples from the cistern, but that they were never given the results of what they found. “What they told us the first time was that we could consume it and a few days later, they told us to only use it to wash patios and cars,” he says.
In less than two weeks, the authorities have changed their version drastically. Initially, it was suggested that the contamination could come from some dirty cisterns and that the increase in complaints was related to a kind of collective hysteria. A week later, the head of Government, Martí Batres, confirmed in a press conference the existence of the contamination and that the causes and origin were being investigated.
The capital's government has been emphatic in ruling out the presence of gasoline in the pipes. Since last week, Sacmex and Civil Protection brigades have been carrying out explosive tests on tanks and cisterns. They want to avoid at all costs the tragedy that happened in Guadalajara in 1992. That year more than 200 people died and thousands more were injured after several explosions in the sewers that contained fuel.
10 days have passed since the first neighbors raised the alarm and the authorities still have not identified the causes of the contamination. “The worst thing is not knowing what is in the water,” says Juanita Sánchez, an 80-year-old neighbor who has lived at Sebastián del Piombo 55 since 1974. It is also not known if the substance in the water represents a real risk for the community. population and the indignation of the neighbors grows by the moment.
This Wednesday, authorities closed a well in the Álvaro Obregón mayor's office that was supposedly the source of the contamination. However, it is unknown how the chemicals got there and what the contaminating substance is. Both Sacmex and the capital's government hope that the problem will resolve in the next two weeks and the supply will return to normal.
“Who is going to pay the water bill in this situation?”
Meanwhile, the recommendation made to those affected is to use purified water. Mrs. Sánchez lives alone and cannot carry the 20-liter jug up the stairs, so she has chosen to buy small bottles and uses them for the basics. “I wash the dishes with tap water and then use the water from the bottle to give them a final rinse,” she says. For three weeks she says that she notices the smell and that she has red spots on her skin and it is very itchy. “At first I didn't attribute it to the water, I thought it was dry skin because I'm older, but then my neighbors told me the same thing was happening to them,” she explains.
Most of the neighbors consulted are elderly people who say they are afraid, but also angry. Every two months the Sacmex bill will continue to arrive on time even if the water quality is poor. “Who is going to pay the water bill with this situation?” reproaches Bucio.
Three kilometers from Nonoalco, dozens of neighbors are asking the same question. They have decided to cut off traffic on Avenida Insurgentes, one of the most important arteries in the city, and they assure that they will not move from there until there are real solutions from the authorities. Among them is Lucina Leo, a 44-year-old lawyer and environmental engineer, a resident of the Del Valle neighborhood, worried about the health of her family and her four dogs: Nala, Estrella, Maya and Kero. “I asked a doctor if we could treat the water to consume it and he told me that until we know what substance it is, we don't know what it can be neutralized with,” she responds.
Both Sacmex and the capital government have so far collected more than 400 complaints from affected people and a command post has been established in the San Lorenzo park in the Tlacoquemécatl neighborhood, where jugs are distributed free of charge and health care is provided. The Army this Thursday activated the DN-III Plan at the same point and will supply water to the residents through two water treatment plants located in the park.
Leo shows the water filter he has next to the sink. The cylinder looks brown. “I changed it less than two months ago and look how it is,” he responds. The member of the Benito Juárez Neighborhood Committee says that they are considering taking legal action individually and collectively. “We know that the judicial system in Mexico is very slow, but the possible repercussions on health are also long-term and we want the State to take charge if we have cancer in a few years,” the lawyer concludes.