Study reveals that water in Benito Juárez has petroleum derivatives; Sacmex discredits it

MEXICO CITY (apro).- A study by the company Vasa Filtros requested by residents of the Benito Juárez mayor’s office affected by the contamination of drinking water found that the liquid that has been coming out of their homes for more than two weeks contains petroleum derivatives that , “in the presence of chlorine, carcinogenic byproducts can be generated.”

However, the Mexico City Water System (Sacmex) clarified that the company’s line of business “is hydraulic, sanitary and electrical installations for construction, such as showers with filters. “It is not dedicated to water analysis,” nor does it have the experience and certification to do so, so “the results disseminated are not reliable.”

The result of the analysis was shared via WhatsApp, social networks and among the dissatisfied residents who, since last Tuesday, have maintained a blockade on Insurgentes Avenue at the intersection with Xola due to this crisis.

“The treatment was carried out with a dilution of 5% concentration on 100 milliliter samples of contaminated water. This treatment is applied to treat wastewater with a high content of organic and inorganic contaminants,” says the document dated April 10, 2024.

The conclusion: “The three samples show the presence of organic contaminants derived from petroleum in different proportions ranging from 7 to 20%, which in the presence of chlorine can generate carcinogenic byproducts.”

This Thursday, the head of government, Martí Batres, said that one of the hypotheses being investigated as the cause of water contamination is the leak of the Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pipeline that passes “about 500 meters up to the west.” and that “due to the action of gravity” some type of substance could have descended towards the Alfonso XIII Colony Well, identified as the point where the problem originated.

And he added that, “so far,” Pemex has not found “any fissure, nor any drilling for huachicoleo.”

On Monday the 8th, when the neighbors’ protests were growing on social networks and in the press, the head of government issued a first message in which he ruled out that the smell of the water in the affected neighborhoods was due to the presence of gasoline, but rather that it was a liquid that “belongs to the family of oils and lubricants” and said that “there is no risk of explosiveness.”

Sacmex discredits studio

At night, after the Vasa Filtros document had already been disseminated on social networks and some media outlets, Sacmex, directed by Rafael Carmona, reported that this company is not an analysis laboratory and that its business “is hydraulic, sanitary and electrical installations for constructions, such as showers with filters. “It is not dedicated to water analysis.”

In a statement, it added that “it does not have the experience to perform laboratory tests and is not certified to do so, so the results released are not reliable.”

Sacmex explained that in the company document it mentions that “a ferric oxidation treatment plus flocculation was carried out on three samples… but it does not mention what method or standard was applied to determine the presence of volatile organic compounds.”

Then, he explained that “the treatment given to the samples only serves to oxidize it and not to determine volatile organic compounds and not all of them react to chlorine, so mentioning that they are carcinogenic byproducts is incorrect, since in order to determine it it would be required of an analysis by gas-mass chromatography and the corresponding standards that allow them to be quantified.”

The agency added that, together with the Secretariat of Risk Management and Civil Protection (SGIRPC), they have carried out analyzes on more than 1,500 samples in specialized laboratories. And he reiterated the exhortation “not to misinform the neighbors.”