"Riviera Maya", located in Mexico
Title: "Report: Pollution in Mexico Could Hurt Tourism"
by Alister Doyle, Reuters Group - 2/6/2011
When the United Nations supported a study on the Mexican water supply,
they ended up finding a wide range of contaminants in an aquifer beneath a
Caribbean resort called "Riviera Maya". Among the substances found were
pesticides, roadway runoff, and traces of cocaine.
According to author Chris Metcalfe, of the UN University's Institute for
Water, Environment, and Health, the seeping of pollutants into Mexico's
groundwater could have a negative effect on tourism, which is an
important industry for the country. Additionally, the chemicals may
have already helped kill 50% of Mexico's coral reefs.
The study proposed combatting the threat by improving Mexico's wastewater
treatment capabilities. It also suggested that the government control the dumping of
sewage into the ground and begin lining golf courses with materials that will
stop pesticide runoff.
I think that it is quite scary that these chemicals - the cocaine especially - are
being found in water that could end up in a hotel room shower or a resort swimming
pool. The Mexican government should definitely get on top of its water quality
problems if it wants to keep vacationers returning.
My dad often travels around the world on business. When he went to Mexico City,
he told me that he had to drink only bottled water to avoid getting dysentry from
the city's contaminated supply. It's pretty shocking that pollution of this magnitude
can exist alongside tourist hotspots such as Riviera Maya.
If you are a tourist headed to Mexico, what is going through your mind now that you
know about this problem?
We tend to take water for granted here in the states. How would your life be different
if you lived in Mexico City?
Why do you think basic needs such as clean water are getting overlooked while luxurious
resorts flourish?
I think that this is very interesting. I mean how is cocaine getting into the water? That could be very dangerous to anyone who is drinking this water and the Mexican government has to do something about this. Not only is it affecting the people who live there, it is also affecting any toursists who come to mexico and with this problem, less tourists may come to mexico lowering the income the country makes from tourism. This problem has to stop now before it gets out of hand and this pollutiom spreads.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of our class and when we tested our tap water for all the different types of minerals and pollutants. I wounder what the results would be if we tested the water from Mexico.
If i was going to Mexico for a vacation now, i would probably reconsider. I would not want to get sick from drinking this water or taking a shower in it. If i was to go, i would either buy bottled water or bring some bottled water and avoid the tap as much as possible.
In my opinion, the Mexican government should have cracked down on this sooner, because this is harmful to so many people! Not just Mexicans are being affected, but there is so many people that vacation there that you mentioned too! It frightens me that all these chemicals are getting in the water. You think of things like this happening in Africa or India where poverty is everywhere but not somewhere so close to home! I'm glad the UN decided to take a look or who knows how long this would have gone unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of when I went to Mexico for vacation, and we only drank bottled water. I was younger then and never really knew why we had to do that, but I was scared of the tap water because of what the adults were talking about.
I think some of the clean water issues get overlooked because the resorts bring in a huge amount of money for Mexico, and they try to focus on them. Mexico needs the money so they don't really pay attention to the other water problems going on. If I were planning to vacation there I would plan a new trip.
This is a very interesting and scary article. I knew that Mexico was big on drug smuggling but i never knew it was getting in the water. Its scary that your drinking water that has drugs in it. Could you become addicted to the drugs by drinking the water? The Mexico government has to invest more money in cleaning their water. Like the article said, if tourists are being scared off by the polluted waters, this could damage Mexico's economy. If this problem in Mexico does not get fixed who knows what could happen. Since Mexico is so close to us, the water might pollute our water in the US. Mexico needs to fix its water problem now!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this article, it reminded me of when we preformed the watershed activity in class. When we made it rain on the diagram, all the pesticides would wash away into the lake. It was disgusting to see the lake after it was polluted. That is what is happening to Mexico. They need to start testing their water more often, just like we did in class. I found alot of interesting facts about my water when i tested it and maybe Mexico will too.
US citizens do take water for granted (including me). If i lived in Mexico city my view on water would be totally different. In the united states we have easy access to clean water everywhere. In Mexico their water is being polluted and they have to be careful. I would have to make sure i knew where the water was from if i lived in Mexico. I wouldn't want polluted water. Having easy accesible water would become a privillage. I would have to worry about my water everyday and it would become tedious. My life would be alot harder.
Good question about if you could get addicted to the drugs by drinking the water... at this point there is not a high enough concentration, but it does effect the fish, there was an interesting article about fish who were exposed to anti anxiety drugs (found in their water) and they would not swim away from predators!!! Very interesting article, feel free to use it for one of the next posts.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a particularly specialist area and you need the correct water testing equipment to perform the job. This company provide the type of thing you are looking for.
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