Residents in Guadalajara, one of Mexico's biggest cities, are demanding answers over a worsening water-quality crisis that has left many households reporting foul-smelling, sediment-filled tap water and sparked police clashes as protesters urge government action, Reuters reported.
A major protest last weekend put the issue in the national spotlight after police deployed water cannons and tear gas, dozens of people were injured, and officials said nearly 40 people were arrested. The incident prompted President Claudia Sheinbaum to rebuke the police for their tough response and pledge to review two water infrastructure projects for the area.
Still, further demonstrations are planned in the coming days as frustration builds, with videos circulating on social media of people collecting buckets and jars of murky brown or black water flowing from their taps.
The crisis has intensified scrutiny of water management across a metropolitan area of more than five million people that is also Mexico's largest industrial and manufacturing center, located in the western state of Jalisco. The problems echo broader concerns across Mexico, where many major cities struggle with water quality and reliability amid aging infrastructure, pollution and mounting pressure on limited resources.
A June citizen-monitoring study by the Mexican Institute for Community Development (IMDEC) analyzed 184 household water samples from 90 neighborhoods and found that more than 93% contained no detectable residual chlorine, meaning much of the system lacked the disinfectant normally used to protect water from bacterial contamination. The study also reported elevated levels of lead, mercury, nitrates and E. coli, a bacterial indicator of fecal contamination, in some samples.
Mexico Business News independently reported further details from the IMDEC study: lead above permitted levels in 20 samples, mercury in seven samples at concentrations up to 500 times the limit, fluorides in 52 samples, nitrates in 29, nitrites in 17 and aluminum in 7. It also detected E. coli bacteria in four samples. According to IMDEC, 51.9% of surveyed families reported at least one member falling ill due to water supplied by SIAPA.
Following the findings, IMDEC called for a public-health alert, independent testing by accredited laboratories and investigations into the sources of contamination. A spokesman for Jalisco's government did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.