San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
The November floods caused by Eta and Iota are a warning and if no attention is paid, in the near future we can have water shortage problems.
The warning made by experts and although the city at this time has no supply problems, according to the concessionaire, it must be remembered that places that had water in abundance today face problems.
The Industrial Capital is the only city in Honduras with its water service concessioned for 30 years, of which there are already 21.
March 22 was declared World Water Day by UN resolution in 1993 and seeks to remember the relevance of this liquid in the life of the planet.
Diana Betancur, a civil engineer and environmental sanitation expert, said that in San Pedro Sula the water service covers about 95% of the inhabited area, but unfortunately it is not quality for everyone.
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“The service is measured by the quality, quantity, continuity and coverage of water. In the face of the iniquity of the service, several sectors are affected by problems of quality, quantity or frequent failures,” he noted.
In comparative terms we are in relatively better condition than the population of Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba and the rest of the Sula Valley.
“The general population must be aware that without water there is no future, no health, no well-being, no development. Young people must be educated based on our reality and the risks that the municipality is faced with. the weak protection of this vital resource.The effort must be assumed by all, ”he recommended.
Betancur says there are realities that cannot be ignored, such as the reduction of the area booking in 2013, the many uncontrolled activities in the Merendón reserve area.
“The city’s rivers receive wastewater and this negatively impacts ecosystems and affects people’s populations, animal and plant life downstream,” he explained. Betancur said there is no control over groundwater consumption by the private company.
He lamented that in 20 years of granting water and sanitation services not even a cubic meter of wastewater is treated, so that tributaries contaminate riverbeds to reach the sea.
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The public relations officer of Aigües de Sant Pere, Dina Bulnes, said more than $ 75 million has currently been invested to improve and expand the service and more than $ 200,000 for the maintenance management of the city’s drinking water and sewer systems, giving 98% coverage in drinking water and 83% in sanitary sewer.
He detailed that part of the process of providing the supply of drinking water to the city begins with the collection of water and its conduction to treatment sites, maintaining the distribution network in the conditions that ensure continuity. of the service from the storage tanks to the location of the customer, obtaining a product suitable for human consumption that meets with national quality standards.
the engineer environmental Lilian Espinoza explain that it is urgent to stop deforestation and urbanization permits in the upper basin, where our water comes from; in addition, preventing more illegal settlements as well.
“We failed to strictly enforce the law, allow for disorderly growth, and recharge areas must be preserved, as these feed aquifers and prevent floods, ”Espinoza said.
He reiterated that by changing the use of land where before there was forest to areas with roofs or pavements or concrete we will have more spillage during the rains which will cause flooding and less water retention to be used as drinking . He has warned that the aftermath of hurricanes they are a warning of what we may face.