# The water



## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Apparently the problem with radiation 300 times above the permissible limits, arsenic, flouride and erionite extends far beyond the small town of San Jose Iturbide as was reorted in Mexico News Daily to include Celaya, Irapuato, Leon, San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, San Luis de Paz, Doctor Mora, San Diego Union, Tierra Blanca and San Jose Iturbide. People tried to argue here that it was isolated to that small town when the article clearly stated that the problem was the aquifer and could cross state lines. 

Radioactivity detected in Guanajuato aquifers

https://themazatlanpost.com/2018/06/28/the-death-of-san-miguel-allende-as-a-expat-destination/

I also tried to warn people that Lake Chapala was not a healthy choice but was told, "I don't need to get into the lake to enjoy it." Apparently, according to the University of Guadalajara, you don't have to get into the lake for it to kill you. Before you attack Reuters they are just reporting the study of the university.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...en-fall-sick-around-mexico-lake-idUSKBN1DY11E


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

That could be of concern, although I don't know of anybody who trusts tap water enough to drink it despite municipal systems that advertise it as agua _potable_. Even the zero stoplight village I live in has such a system. But the garrafón truck goes by every day, and the same is available at every market in case you miss it. At the radiation level mentioned, IDK what the risks of showering in it are, and the only danger mentioned is _consumption_.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

Good seeing you back Fox.
Not just tap water
One of the major food groups may also be affected
https://www.lajornadamaya.mx/2018-0...ma-no-explica-procesos-de-saneamiento-de-agua
Beer may be affected here in Yucatan.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

perropedorro said:


> That could be of concern, although I don't know of anybody who trusts tap water enough to drink it despite municipal systems that advertise it as agua _potable_. Even the zero stoplight village I live in has such a system. But the garrafón truck goes by every day, and the same is available at every market in case you miss it. At the radiation level mentioned, IDK what the risks of showering in it are, and the only danger mentioned is _consumption_.


You don't have to drink the water. People in the affected areas are getting cancer from showering. The water contains erionite, a mineral similar to asbestos, it is inhaled in the water vapor of the shower and then when the shower dries, the fibers are released into the air and cause a type of mesothelioma or a lung cancer. The radiation is affecting the local population who do drink the water. 

In the case of Lake Chapala, there is so much pesticide evaporating from the lake a two year old girl's urine sample tested out with the same level as a fifty year old man.

So as long as you don't shower or breathe, you should be just fine.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Zorro2017 said:


> You don't have to drink the water. People in the affected areas are getting cancer from showering. The water contains erionite, a mineral similar to asbestos, it is inhaled in the water vapor of the shower and then when the shower dries, the fibers are released into the air and cause a type of mesothelioma or a lung cancer. The radiation is affecting the local population who do drink the water.
> 
> In the case of Lake Chapala, there is so much pesticide evaporating from the lake a two year old girl's urine sample tested out with the same level as a fifty year old man.
> 
> So as long as you don't shower or breathe, you should be just fine.


Yikes! It seems as though it's better for your health to live in Mexico City, even with its air pollution problems.


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

Could be due to all the UFO spacecraft kept below Lake Chapala.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Mexico in general is facing a water crisis. Over half of the rivers are badly polluted and Guanajuato has depleted the shallow water table forcing them to drill deeper into the volcanic rock where these substances normally occur.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

ElPocho said:


> Good seeing you back Fox.
> Not just tap water
> One of the major food groups may also be affected
> https://www.lajornadamaya.mx/2018-0...ma-no-explica-procesos-de-saneamiento-de-agua
> ...


Not the beer! Say it isn't so.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

Zorro2017 said:


> Not the beer! Say it isn't so.


I'll have to do the rum thing - Flor de Caña

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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

ElPocho said:


> I'll have to do the rum thing - Flor de Caña


Oh, my. Flor de Caña brings memories of bumming around Central America back in the early 80's. When I first arrived, in some tropical boozy joint in Nicaragua, I ordered a _Cuba Libre_, and the bartender corrected me with gravity: "No, señor, aquí se dice _un Nica Libre_". Lots going on in the country at the time, including an informal currency exchange where 10 cents of a dollar bought a nicalibre along with a complimentary language lesson and discourse on the recent revolution. Rum and politics, something I could study for hours at a time.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

I used to drink Flor de Cana but like Matusalem a lot better now.


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

Zorro2017 said:


> I used to drink Flor de Cana but like Matusalem a lot better now.


My brother swears by for flor de caña, his best friend only drinks Matusalem.
Lol
My next bottle will be a Matusalem, any particular type of Matusalem?
Looking at cost/benefit 


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## Infidel_jack (Nov 23, 2012)

*I like beer and pulque.*



Zorro2017 said:


> You don't have to drink the water. People in the affected areas are getting cancer from showering. The water contains erionite, a mineral similar to asbestos, it is inhaled in the water vapor of the shower and then when the shower dries, the fibers are released into the air and cause a type of mesothelioma or a lung cancer. The radiation is affecting the local population who do drink the water.
> 
> In the case of Lake Chapala, there is so much pesticide evaporating from the lake a two year old girl's urine sample tested out with the same level as a fifty year old man.
> 
> So as long as you don't shower or breathe, you should be just fine.


I live in Zona Centro Durango, Durango. The people here seem to be in good health. I just installed a new constant pressure water system. I love this place, it is tranquil and the people are great.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Infidel_jack said:


> I live in Zona Centro Durango, Durango. The people here seem to be in good health. I just installed a new constant pressure water system. I love this place, it is tranquil and the people are great.


Makes me want to see Durango again. Went there 30 years ago, a slow drive up the old 40 from Mazatlán long before the new autopista. Spent two days in El Salto high on up with pine forests and clean streams that seemed a lot like Oregon with chilly mornings, even in summer. Continued on to Cd. Durango and found it a lovely colonial town without big-city problems. You made a great choice in a place to settle down.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

ElPocho said:


> My brother swears by for flor de caña, his best friend only drinks Matusalem.
> Lol
> My next bottle will be a Matusalem, any particular type of Matusalem?
> Looking at cost/benefit
> ...


I prefer the white over the spiced.


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

Zorro2017 said:


> Apparently the problem with radiation 300 times above the permissible limits, arsenic, flouride and erionite extends far beyond the small town of San Jose Iturbide as was reorted in Mexico News Daily to include Celaya, Irapuato, Leon, San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, San Luis de Paz, Doctor Mora, San Diego Union, Tierra Blanca and San Jose Iturbide. People tried to argue here that it was isolated to that small town when the article clearly stated that the problem was the aquifer and could cross state lines.
> 
> Radioactivity detected in Guanajuato aquifers
> 
> https://themazatlanpost.com/2018/06/28/the-death-of-san-miguel-allende-as-a-expat-destination/


I'll be heading down to Guanajuato on Monday and I'm taking a geiger counter to check out the alpha radiation levels in the faucets and in various parts of the city. I'll let y'all know what I find.


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## costaricamex (Jul 7, 2017)

Thanks for mentioning Durango. I look up when you guys post cities I have never visited.

Looks like another winner to put on my list. Looks like low tourism which I like also. But tons of things to see.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g153978-Activities-Durango_Northern_Mexico.html

Mexico is so wonderful with place after place to visit.


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

Haskins said:


> I'll be heading down to Guanajuato on Monday and I'm taking a geiger counter to check out the alpha radiation levels in the faucets and in various parts of the city. I'll let y'all know what I find.


 Well I'm back with personal data. I measured alpha radiation levels in the Guanajuato area near centro (Callejones Mexiamora and Perros Muertos) and found the levels well within normal albeit 2-3 times higher than the background radiation I get back in my classroom in South Texas. but if I have a penny in South Texas, getting 2-3 cents in Guanajuato still don't get me no dollar! I credit the radiation increase in Guanajuato to be either due to the minerals used to build, or the fact that it's at a much higher altitude than the near-sea-level environment back home. I should take the counter up to Colorado to test that hypothesis. Now as far as carcinogenic materials like asbestos, etc. I didn't check for that. 
Other not so scientific studies I conducted show that the tacos were satisfactory and the coffee and chocolate at Cafe Tal, absolutely delicious!


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Are you still in GTO? When I passed through in June I was coming from Dolores Hidalgo on 110 and as I approached GTO I looked down in the valley and thought I was looking at a lake but the color looked like the color of lead...like no other lake I have ever scene...After reading your update today I looked it up on Google Map Satellite View and found it to the right of Museo ex Hacienda del Cocheo, looking from above it no longer appears to be a lake but maybe a large retention pond ( maybe from the mines ) with that same lead color....Wonder what it is??????


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> Are you still in GTO? When I passed through in June I was coming from Dolores Hidalgo on 110 and as I approached GTO I looked down in the valley and thought I was looking at a lake but the color looked like the color of lead...like no other lake I have ever scene...After reading your update today I looked it up on Google Map Satellite View and found it to the right of Museo ex Hacienda del Cocheo, looking from above it no longer appears to be a lake but maybe a large retention pond ( maybe from the mines ) with that same lead color....Wonder what it is??????


The only bodies of water I've seen in Guanajuato are the two damns up in Paseo de la Presa. Were you traveling on the south end, through Panoramica? I believe there is another on the north end near Valenciana. I've only seen that one through google maps. I don't know if what you saw was the sky reflection (Was the day overcast or hazy?) or if the water was indeed that color. I just got back and as of three days ago, the Presa de la Olla and the other one at Paseo DLP are both clean.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

No, I was driving on Highway 110 coming from Dolores Hidalgo and I stopped at Santa Rosa de Lima for some of the homemade jams at the woman's co-op then continued into GTO from the north and was driving down the mountain into town, as I looked down into the valley that is where I saw the "lake"...
If you go to Google Maps and type in ""Centro Deportivo CEDAJ 1"" you will see the baseball field and track, look to the right (east ) and you will see a long lead colored pond with a ring road and heavy equipment around it, you can zoom in and see various colors.......


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> No, I was driving on Highway 110 coming from Dolores Hidalgo and I stopped at Santa Rosa de Lima for some of the homemade jams at the woman's co-op then continued into GTO from the north and was driving down the mountain into town, as I looked down into the valley that is where I saw the "lake"...
> If you go to Google Maps and type in ""Centro Deportivo CEDAJ 1"" you will see the baseball field and track, look to the right (east ) and you will see a long lead colored pond with a ring road and heavy equipment around it, you can zoom in and see various colors.......


 Through google maps I got a close up look at what appears to be a damn, yet it's white, near Valenciana. There is another one like it east of Presa de la Olla. From above you can see the difference between the dark waters in the two presas and the white color of the "damn". At that location you can get a "street view" close to the damn and you will see that it is empty. The white color comes from the sediments. The ground appears cracked with mud cake. It could be hazardous, or it could just be Calcium carbonate or calcium sulfate deposits (Basically harmless calcite and gypsum "salts"). Only way to find out is actually going to the sites. Looks like the north (Valenciana) site is more accessible (closer to civilization/easier walk along a "road"). 
My interest is piqued! I'd love to go see what that stuff really is! (Not to mention getting more eats and drinks!)


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

No the area I question is north of the Presa, It is just north of Parque Medieval, here is the Lat & Longitude on Google Map.......21°02'11.6"N 101°14'41.9"W


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> No the area I question is north of the Presa, It is just north of Parque Medieval, here is the Lat & Longitude on Google Map.......21°02'11.6"N 101°14'41.9"W


Yes, that is the one I noted that was "near Valenciana". It looks lika an elongated damn. If you look at a close up satellite view, You can see that it is dry.


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> No, I was driving on Highway 110 coming from Dolores Hidalgo and I stopped at Santa Rosa de Lima for some of the homemade jams at the woman's co-op then continued into GTO from the north and was driving down the mountain into town, as I looked down into the valley that is where I saw the "lake"...
> If you go to Google Maps and type in ""Centro Deportivo CEDAJ 1"" you will see the baseball field and track, look to the right (east ) and you will see a long lead colored pond with a ring road and heavy equipment around it, you can zoom in and see various colors.......


Just read an article about these "presas de jales" near the city of Guanajuato. They're retention reservoirs that capture the precipitate sediments of the chemicals used to extract the silver and gold. They're filling up fast. The construction equipment you saw is being used to increase the size of the dam. The article discussed the concerns of possible spillage and/or contamination to the nearby communities.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I believe arsenic and mercury are two items used in the mining business, maybe what I saw thinking it was lead was actually mercury slurry ......Just another ecological disaster coming our way ..............


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> I believe arsenic and mercury are two items used in the mining business, maybe what I saw thinking it was lead was actually mercury slurry ......Just another ecological disaster coming our way ..............


Yeah, I don't think I want to go test it after all. I read that they're dumping 730 tons a day into the presa.


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

chicois8 said:


> I believe arsenic and mercury are two items used in the mining business, maybe what I saw thinking it was lead was actually mercury slurry ......Just another ecological disaster coming our way ..............


You can find the article in zonafranca.mx , in their ZFReporte page (August 11, 2018).


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