Some Mexico Residents See Future in Rain Harvesting Nick Wagner - The Associated Press
go to original September 22, 2016

In Mexico City, nearly 1.3 million people live without running water. Enrique Lomnitz, founder of Isla Urbana, has developed a rain harvesting system to combat this problem. (storyhunterglobal)

Edgar Serralde Galicia lives in a part of Mexico City known for water: Xochimilco, where picturesque canals have irrigated produce grown on man-made islands and served as transportation routes since the days of the Aztecs.

But like roughly a million residents of the capital, Serralde isn’t connected to the city’s water system. While most rely on the water trucks that rumble through the city’s less-affluent neighbourhoods, he tried his hand at collecting rainwater and storing it in rusty barrels. When it did not rain, his family had to go to his parents’ house to wash.

“When there’s no water, I feel useless because I feel that I can’t move my family forward,” said Serralde, a lettuce farmer who lives with his wife and their two children. “The truth is we suffered a lot because we are a humble family.”

All that changed when he installed a more-advanced rainwater harvesting system that can store six times more water than his barrels. He says such rain-harvesting systems could be a life-changing solution in a rain-heavy megalopolis that is plagued by water shortages.

Serralde began his attempt at collecting water when he had his one-bedroom house built with a slanted roof, hoping to take advantage of the average of 47 inches of rain that falls on Xochimilco each year, a Venice-like district of canals that draws tourists who are rowed in boats called trajineras.

Then with the help of a Mexican non-profit group, Isla Urbana, Serralde was able to capitalize on the odd construction of his roof to collect and store far more rainwater than he ever imagined. His new system collects, filters and stores water in a 5,000-litre cistern. For those without a pre-slanted roof, Isla Urbana says the rain collector can be installed either on part or all of a roof. The water passes through two filters, has the sediment removed and emerges safe to drink.

Serralde paid less than 20 per cent of the system’s total cost, with the non-profit covering the majority through government funds and private donations. Without the assistance, he likely would not have been able to come up with the $900 needed to install the system.

Read the rest at Lethbridge Herald

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