San Miguel de Allende has been named the Best Small City in the World 
and is known to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is found northwest of Mexico City, in the state of Guanajuato. San Miguel, awarded as the Best Small City, conquered the list with Chiang Mi, Thailand coming in second, and Merida, Mexico taking the third spot. With such an award, the city welcomes thousands of tourists in a year. The town is famous for it’s the charming and vibrant atmosphere, the cobblestone streets, and colonial architecture that can take you back in time during the occupation of the Spanish colonizers; also considering of its big, magnificent churches like the Iglesia San Rafael o Santa Escuela de Cristo and Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel.
The city may be small, but because it is small, tourists are recommended to walk around the places they want to visit in the city rather than getting a cab. Allowing them to immerse themselves further into the culture and norms that are in San Miguel de Allende.
As a responsible traveler, you have to first find the answers to the question, “Can you drink the water in San Miguel de Allende?” Yes, the water is chlorinated is potable so locals drink from the tap. However because a foreigner comes with a distinct stomach fauna, it will take days to weeks for your system to acclimate. Also, the water quality has been tested for contaminants (arsenic, fluoride, and arsenic), and are within limits set by the WHO. It is still recommended to drink bottled water. One local brand Ciel has been tested independently and resulted as being uncontaminated and thus very safe to drink.
All these talks about the city are slowly persuading you to start buying a ticket and immediately start planning your next vacation here. But one of the things a true traveler needs to consider before traveling to any country, or any local place they’ve never been to for that matter, are the necessities of the place. Whether or not they can access these necessities such as water, electricity, transportation, etc. In recent years, there have articles and news reports talking about the water quality of the city San Miguel de Allende, both tap and drinking water, which led to some locals and even foreign tourists to boil their water before using it.
Tap vs. Bottled
There is a distinct difference between tap water and regular bottled water. Tap water is water coming from local sources, such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. This type of water is being treated in a nearby treatment plant that filters out particulates, disinfects the water to kill microorganisms, and possibly remove minerals and other chemicals. Generally, tap water is safe to drink. Still, it usually also depends on the level of treatment of the water-based on the location or place.
Bottled water, on the other hand, are usually water that is purified and stores on shelves in the form of a bottle. Though we all know that generally bottled water is safe, due to the handling and packaging process, there is a slight chance that these processes may intrude germs to the water that is not found in a tap.
Water in San Miguel
As a traveler, we often directly go with bottled water to quench our thirst. Having a lack of knowledge of the water quality in a city you are visiting, it’s best to buy bottled water in the nearest convenience store from the hotel where you are staying.
A survey was conducted that asked traverses and residents of Mexico regarding the quality of their tap water. Both categories of “Drinking Water Pollution & Inaccessibility” and “Water Pollution” were rated high by the respondents. The water quality, in general, gained a rating of low. Technically, this is bad news for Mexico and San Miguel directly. But a website made by Caminos de Aqua monitored the quality of water from the “best city in the world.” They made a water faulty map that indicated which parts of the city they tested the tap water and checked if it met the World Health Organization’s standards for safe drinking water. To check out this map for your own reference, click here. By gathering data regarding the contents of tap water from the place since 2012, the organization could tell which sites of the city need to execute a better water treatment and which parts of the town need to maintain the quality of their water treatment for safe drinking and consuming.
Reason for the Low Water Quality
Despite the data showed, travelers and residents have resulted in boiling their water daily to consume safe water. The main culprit as to why the water in San Miguel de Allende is low in quality is intensive export agriculture. This agricultural process has been draining San Miguel’s water source, the Independence Aquifer. The remainder of the water in that aquifer may contain higher arsenic levels and fluoride beyond the recommended amount by the World Health Organization.
Another angle to see through is that the losing of water in the aquifer and the high demands of water resulted in faster processing of tap water that may harm both residents and locals to meet the growing demand. The community of the city itself is facing severe water shortages due to sudden weather changes that resulted in severe drought.
Possible Illnesses you Can Get from Dirty Water
-Overall, the water in San Miguel can still be used for bathing, cleaning, washing, and other activities; the tap water I merely too risky to drink. Water is used by everyone. Every day without clean, accessible water, life would be complicated or would not exist at all. Globally, contaminated water is a problem that can cause a lot of questions. One of the issues one may get from dirty water with a high level or arsenic and fluoride is crippling skeletal fluorosis and cognitive problems. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this also includes the possibility of getting guinea worm, schistosomiasis, and giardiasis.
San Miguel and Water Relationship
Different programs are being conducted to help bring safe drinking water to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Studies have shown that 80% of Mexico’s water supply has 15 times more fluoride levels and 9 times more arsenic levels, which is extremely dangerous to consume.
Luckily enough, the Mexican government has been approving dozens of policies to regulate the water supply and even guarantee poor and marginalized communities safe access to clean water. Mexico’s National Water Commission under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources found that 3.6% of Mexico’s GDP comes from their agriculture; with the new water policies, the government granted farmers rights to local water resources. Check out here to learn more.
Additionally, to help the locals, the Engineers Without borders UK collaborated with Caminos de Agua to develop an indoor and easily accessible water filter system with an active biochar component capable of removing fluoride from water entirely. Tetra Tech grant also helped with the filter testing to ensure the filtration system’s safety and effectiveness before releasing it to the public.
Final Thoughts
One of the best ways to have safe tap water, if you’re live in San Miguel or possibly thinking of moving, is to have a Reverse Osmosis Faucet or possibly have a countertop Water Distillation Unit. If you’re simply a traveler, I suggest that you stick with regular bottled water. Water is an important necessity that one must have easy access to. Even in UNESCO Heritage Sites and the awarded “Best Small City in the World” experiences problems such as this much like the rest of the world. It is perfectly normal to be a skeptic of anything you put in your body, including water. If you are extremely skeptical, consider what other locals are doing in San Miguel, they boil their water for about a minute or simply consume commercially available bottled water. You might want to consider the dangers that come with drinking distilled or purified water. If you chose to just go with drinking commercially available bottled water, consider drinking mineral-rich water while you’re at it. Minerals in water are healthy for the body, so consuming plenty of water that is simply just purified will both have you feeling more thirsty and less healthy.
Find out more about the water situation in Mexico’s state of Guanajuato, where San Miguel de Allende by watching this YouTube video posted by TEDx Talks.