Water Problems in Mexico

I recently had a reader recently comment that the collapse of Western Civilization might see the end of indoor plumbing. I was not sure whether to agree because several civilizations had developed indoor plumbing, but acknowledged that modern water and sewer systems are highly complex. What I overlooked is that efficient utility systems is not just a matter of technology but also depend on rule of law--both a lack of corruption in the government, and a willingness to abide the dictates of law by the population. This is aptly illustrated by a couple stories from Mexico:

• "Water theft in Guerrero capital leaves utility short of operating funds"--Mexico News Daily. The utility blames the problem on the fact that there are an estimated 10,000 illegal taps into the water system and that there are many other users that have not paid their bills. But there is also this:

       For the past two weeks, residents of several neighborhoods in the municipality have been protesting to demand the restoration of reliable water service and the dismissal of water chief Irma Lilia Garzón Bernal.

       However, Aguirre predicted that water shortages would only worsen because even though there is enough water in storage systems, it can’t be distributed effectively because of the poor state of water lines.

      An alternative, he said, could be to deliver water in trucks but municipal authorities only have three at their disposal – one of their own and two that are on loan from the state government.

        “The previous municipal administration only left us one water truck, the others are in terrible mechanical condition,” Aguirre said.

• "In one Mexico City borough, water thieves and leaks contribute to shortages"--Mexico News Daily. Water shortages in the Mexico City borough of Tlalpan have similarly been blamed, by the government, on people steeling water via illegal taps. That article states: "However, the main cause of the shortages is the aging network of water lines in the borough, which is leaking in several sections." "Sacmex, the Mexico City water department, has been notified about the theft and leakage issues but neither it nor the police has done anything about them...." The article notes that some residents are purchasing water that is trucked to their neighborhoods, but observes that this water might, in fact, be some of the stolen water.

And it is not just water. Another article reports that "Nearly 5,000 cases of electricity theft in Oaxaca market a ‘time bomb’." The thefts are from vendors that have set up shop in the market. That article relates:

       Heliodoro Díaz Escárraga, chief of the Oaxaca Civil Protection services, also said there was a high risk of a fatal explosion or fire at the market, which is the workplace for 16,000 vendors and patronized by 20,000 shoppers on a daily basis. 

       He said authorities are currently planning an operation to disconnect all the illegal hook-ups, which are known colloquially in Mexico as diablitos (little devils). Rewiring the whole market will cost 70 million pesos (US $3.7 million), Díaz estimated. 

       “. . . The [power] supply has to be returned to normal and everyone has to be obliged to pay for the use of energy . . . We have to avoid a tragedy because the way that all the cables and diablitos are [at the moment], it’s a time bomb,” he said.

Also:

        The CFE announced last month that electricity theft cost the company 30 billion pesos (US $1.6 billion) last year. 

        Director Manuel Bartlett Díaz explained that large and small business, hotels and industry were all guilty of stealing power, declaring that “this is a situation we must now fight against.”