Mexico City Water Project—
In Search of Sustainable Water Supply

Mexico City, with a population of nearly 20 million and minimal access to surface water, has one of the most serious water management problems in the world. Through Battelle’s Mexican Alliance Initiative, the Battelle-managed Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is working on a water management project for the Mexico City government. The project, a collaboration between the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico, the Mexican Petroleum Institute and PNNL, aims to develop an integrated strategy to address water management problems, including aquifer recharge and water reuse.

The water supply for the Mexico Basin is severely stressed by water management practices that do not ensure a sustainable supply of clean water. Since extractions from the Valley of Mexico aquifer began nearly 100 years ago, groundwater levels have dropped significantly. As the City’s population continues to grow, managers have been forced to look at alternative sources of water more than 100 miles away.

The Alliance is developing scenarios and determining options to address Mexico City’s future water needs. The scenarios describe and evaluate future water management plans for the project and reflect different levels of effort that may be invested in implementing a sustainable water system for the 2000-2010-2020 timeframe.

Issues addressed in each scenario include:

• Options for increasing water supply
• Importation, treatment and recirculation issues
• Treatment and infrastructure requirements
• Social and health implications
• Aquifer use
• Cost implications
• Public acceptance and stakeholder involvement

To assist in scenario development and evaluation, PNNL is leading efforts in:

• Identifying potential injection and infiltration sites based on availability of real estate and adequate recycled water volumes
• Assessing treatment capacity of the different soil types/aquifer properties
• Calculating the necessary residence times for adequate chemical/microbiological treatment of the injected waters within the aquifer
• Identifying the effects of the behavior on the aquifer by injection/infiltration such as clogging due to suspended particles in the injected water

For more information contact Ann Lesperance (206) 528-3223, lesperan@seamail.battelle.org, or Steve Shankle (509) 372-4322, steve.shankle@pnl.gov. For other projects related to Battelle’s Mexican Alliance portfolio contact Jon Olson (206) 528-3200, olsonj@seamail.battelle.org.

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