Mexico State water loss Valle de Mexico distribution networks, Digi Mart USA News (Valle de México, Mexico State): Municipalities in the Valle de México lose approximately 21.5 cubic meters of water per second, equal to about 1.29 million liters per minute, according to estimates from the Mexico State Water Secretariat. The losses are attributed to deteriorating asbestos-cement distribution networks.
The figure represents a portion of the 63 cubic meters per second that reach municipalities in the region. In response, the state government launched an emergency program to replace deteriorated pipes and reduce losses.
The state agency published the operating rules of the Emergency Program for the Improvement of Distribution Network Infrastructure in the Gaceta de Gobierno. The document cites leaks linked to deteriorated asbestos-cement pipes, ground subsidence, heavy truck traffic, the condition and maintenance of streets and roads, and the age of infrastructure.
Localities affected include those in 17 municipalities that depend on the Cutzamala System, among them Nezahualcóyotl, Ecatepec, Acolman, Tecámac, Coacalco, Tultepec, Tultitlán, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Tlalnepantla, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Naucalpan, Nicolás Romero, Temoaya, Huixquilucan, Lerma, Ocoyoacac and Toluca.
According to the Secretariat’s data, about 46 percent of water in those networks is lost. The diagnosis identifies Tlalnepantla as recording an average of 14,500 leak reports per year since 2021, while Tecámac and Naucalpan each recorded about 8,000, and Cuautitlán Izcalli and Ecatepec about 5,000 each.
The program provides for replacing asbestos-cement pipe sections with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Support will be provided in kind as pipe delivery, with a minimum of 20 linear meters and a maximum of three kilometers per authorized request, in diameters of two, four, six, eight, 10 or 12 inches.
The program may cover all 125 municipalities in Mexico State, subject to need and budget availability, with priority given to localities with frequent leaks, interruptions, low pressure, deteriorated networks, and conditions of marginalization or social vulnerability. Applicants must submit a request, photographic evidence, documentation that the work site is cleared, a location sketch or project, and a base budget.
The Secretariat will conduct verification visits.
