Why you can’t Drink the Water in Mexico

Here’s another great resource for travel in Mexico – the blog Mexico501, which has done us the great service of actually explaining why you can’t Drink the Water in Mexico. Among a number of reasons he lists:

“…the pipes bringing the water to the houses probably aren’t of the same quality as the ones in the U.S. and in many parts of Mexico the earth tends to shift a lot. This is particularly true of Mexico City where the entire area has been build on a lake that had become a swamp. Small earthquakes can cause fractures in the pipes that might pollute the water. In some cases the sewer and water lines run very close together, so you can imagine the problems if they both get even a small hole. Since the water doesn’t run all the time, there isn’t the positive pressure necessary to force things out. At some point the pipe will be empty and anything around it can seep in…. ….There is just enough of a chance of bacteria that you are better off using the bottled water.”