Water is a priority issue on the national agenda, it was even central in the second presidential debate between the Morenista Claudia Sheinbaumthe alliance member Xochitl Galvez and the emecist Jorge Maynez. Hence the need to know the proposals of each candidacy and their viability to respond to the growing demand for solutions to the water crisis.
Although in the debate no clear commitments were established on budgets or institutional modifications to comply with the proposals that were put on the table, the participants did open the possibility of implementing different actions such as a National Water Plan with which irrigation systems would be modernized. in the countryside; A specific strategy would be used for the Valley of Mexico and new water plants would be installed for desalination and the treatment of waste liquids, according to the candidate for the so-called fourth transformation.
Regarding water treatment, the leader of the PRI, PAN and PRD went further and proposed that all of the residual liquid be processed for reuse in rural activities, a sector that currently consumes around 70 percent of the available resource; this so that all drinking water is used for human consumption.
According to a World Bank report, up to 36 percent of the world’s population lives in regions where water is lacking, so wastewater treatment must be part of the solution to problems of scarcity and pollution. For these tasks, the 990 water treatment plants and around 2,800 treatment plants installed in the country, according to the National Inventory of Municipal Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment Plants in Operation, of the National Water Commission, are insufficient. especially if one takes into account that several of these are out of operation due to maintenance or lack of budget for repairs.
For water issues, public resources are allocated in the order of 70 billion pesos, however, experts in the field point out that at least another 50 billion are needed for renovation and maintenance of the water network, since Up to 40 percent of the liquid is lost through leaks. Private companies must join in these tasks, since only 33 percent of all the liquid used currently goes through treatment tasks.
In the southeast, for example, the company Aguakán has 13 treatment plants installed and in operation and has recently made investments of around 800 million pesos in fundamental projects for the treatment of wastewater, highlighting the Norponiente-Paraíso Basin for the benefit of almost half a million inhabitants of the state of Quintana Roo.