Water Monitoring
Since 2012, we have continuously sampled and tested water quality from rural wells and urban taps throughout the watershed. We have tested more than 1100 sites throughout the region, and we work closely with community groups like United Communities for Life and Water (CUVAPAS) and Pozo Ademado Community Services (SECOPA) to inform rural communities of their water quality issues. We collaborate closely with universities and research institutions to undertake and validate these studies.
We’ve begun incorporating other indices into our monitoring program, including scarcity, historical water access, cost, and community water conflicts; developing a more complete understanding of regional water issues.
We believe in "open-data." The water quality data we collect is shared openly with those affected and the greater general public. We also share our data with the National Water Quality Inventory (INCA in Spanish), and we post water quality test results on our interactive map (below). We provide public datasets and all of our records are available for public inspection upon request.
On this page we invite you to explore our water quality map, which we regularly update with new data. Here you can also find information on our private testing services, if you wish to test your own water.
Water Quality Map
In urban areas such as San Miguel de Allende, water quality in a particular location can change quickly and constantly, even sometimes on the scale of days. This is because urban areas tend to be served by many different wells, and local water authorities often mix water from different wells before it is sent to your tap.
Given the insecurity of our water resources throughout the region, we recommend that everyone, regardless of their current water quality, takes steps to substitute their drinking and cooking water sources with safe and healthy alternatives, as outlined here.
For the best viewing experience, we recommend NOT using Safari to explore this map. Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, Opera and Edge all offer excellent browser viewing experiences. Double-click or 'shift-click-drag' to zoom into certain regions.
This map is the culmination of years of water quality testing in rural well sites and urban taps, in collaboration with our grassroots organization, university, and government partners. It also contains data collected from 2012 to 2019 by the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), of the Mexican federal government via their 'national water quality monitoring network'. This data, referred to as tested by CONAGUA on the map, makes up most of the data points outside of the state of Guanajuato and can be found here.
We are extremely thankful for the ongoing support from Texas A&M University, University of Guanajuato, Kansas State University, and of course, Northern Illinois University who started off this program. We are also grateful to our community partners - CUVAPAS, SECOPA, and the San Cayetano Community Center. And a very special thanks to all of those who have invited us into their communities to muck around with your most valuable resource.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OUR WATER TESTING SERVICE IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. PLEASE DON’T DROP YOUR SAMPLES DURING DECEMBER BECAUSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO RECEIVE THEM.
Water Testing
Caminos de Agua offers water testing services for private clients, study groups, and community water sources. We charge for our private testing services to cover our costs, but can sometimes offer subsidized or free testing.
Before requesting any water testing, we strongly recommend that you read our Water Tips and look at our interactive Water Quality Map.
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COMPLETE TEST
(Arsenic, Fluoride, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH)
Price: 1,400 Mexican Pesos
Processing time: 31 days maximumThis test set covers the two most commonly-occurring mineral contaminants in the region – arsenic and fluoride – as well as giving information on the amount of total dissolved solids and the pH.
As well as conducting in-house testing for fluoride, total dissolved solids and pH, we will also send a sample of your water to an independent certified laboratory, Ecomiquim, located in Salamanca, Gto., who test for arsenic using atomic absorption spectroscopy.
REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO) SYSTEM EFFICIENCY TESTPrice: 200 Mexican Pesos
Processing time: 2 days maximum
This test will tell you how efficiently your RO system is working. However, it does not give you results on the specific levels of contaminants like arsenic and fluoride.
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To send us the details of your testing request, you simply need to click the button below to complete an online form.
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Once you have sent us your testing request, you're ready to collect your water samples.
Please note: Samples should only be stored for a few days maximum before being dropped-off at our office during open hours.
Collection Instructions for Complete TestFind two 1-liter plastic bottles. Normal water bottles are fine. They do not need to be new.
Label the bottles. Write the following information on each bottle:
- the relevant Bottle Code generated by the online form (sent to you by email),
- your surname,
- the date the sample was collected (e.g. 01-Jan-2000),
- the relevant Bottle ID Label you specified in the online form (sent to you by email).Let water flow. Turn on the tap and let water flow for at least 30 seconds.
Rinse the bottles. Part-fill the bottles with a small amount of the water, cap them, and shake them vigorously to clean. Repeat 3 times for each bottle.
Fill the bottles.
Store the bottles. Store the bottles in the fridge (or a cool, dark place if no fridge is available) as soon as possible.
Collection Instructions for Reverse Osmosis (RO) System Efficiency Test
Find two 1-liter plastic bottles. Normal water bottles are fine. They do not need to be new.
Label the bottles. Write the following information on each bottle:
- the relevant Bottle Code generated by the online form (sent to you by email),
- your surname,
- the date the sample was collected (e.g. 01-Jan-2000),
- the relevant Bottle ID Label you specified in the online form (sent to you by email).
- whether the water was collected before or after the RO system: "pre-filter" or "post-filter".Let water flow. Turn on the tap and let water flow for at least 30 seconds.
Rinse the bottles. Part-fill the bottles with a small amount of the water, cap them, and shake them vigorously to clean. Make sure to rinse each bottle with the water that will be filling it. Repeat 3 times for each bottle.
Fill the bottles. Fill one bottle with unfiltered tap water (“pre-filter”) and the other with water from the RO system’s tap (“post-filter”).
Store the bottles. Store the bottles in the fridge (or a cool, dark place if no fridge is available) as soon as possible.
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Once you have sent your testing request and collected your samples, you're ready to drop off the samples at our office during open hours.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OUR WATER TESTING SERVICE IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. PLEASE DON’T DROP YOUR SAMPLES DURING DECEMBER BECAUSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO RECEIVE THEM.
OPEN HOURS TUESDAY & THURSDAY 11 AM – 4 PM
There is no need to book an appointment. Please do not come at another time, as there may not be anyone at our office to receive your samples.
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Click on the button below to make a request.
We understand that the cost of testing can be a concern. If the full price is not affordable for you, please don’t hesitate to contact the Caminos de Agua office. We are committed to supporting our community and will gladly work with you to explore options that make testing accessible for everyone.
Water Tips
1. THREE KEY POINTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR WATER QUALITY
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In urban areas such as San Miguel de Allende, water quality in a particular location can change quickly and constantly, even sometimes on the scale of days. This is because urban areas tend to be served by many different wells, and local water authorities often mix water from different wells before it is sent to your tap. The way in which this water is mixed can be changed at any time, and this sometimes happens frequently.
Given the insecurity of our water resources throughout the region, we recommend that everyone, regardless of their current water quality, takes steps to substitute their drinking and cooking water sources with safe and healthy alternatives, as outlined below. -
Most treatment systems are designed to remove bacteria and pathogens, but hardly any treatment systems can remove metal and mineral contaminants such as arsenic and fluoride. In fact, some treatment options, such as boiling, cause arsenic and fluoride to become even more concentrated.
The only commonly-available local treatment system that removes arsenic and fluoride is a Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment system. Please see the table below for more information on which systems can remove which contaminants.
Finally, if you do have a Reverse Osmosis system, it is important to ensure that it is functioning correctly. Caminos de Agua offers a quick efficiency test for RO systems, to check how well it is working. -
It is very important to keep in mind that that arsenic and fluoride only present a concern for human health when consumed orally, for example when contaminated water is used for cooking or drinking.
It has never been shown that there is any health risk associated with using contaminated water for bathing, showering, cleaning dishes, cleaning floors or surfaces, washing clothes, or other activities that do not involve direct consumption.
2. HOW CAN YOU OBTAIN SAFE AND HEALTHY WATER FOR DRINKING AND COOKING?
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Harvesting, storing, and treating rainwater for drinking and cooking is by far the most sustainable option. Rainwater is naturally free of arsenic and fluoride, and it is free! Our rainwater harvesting manual, full of information on how to design and construct your own rainwater harvesting system, and our rainwater harvesting calculator that can help you work out how much rainwater you could be collecting, are available here on our website.
Although rainwater is naturally free of contaminants like arsenic and fluoride, it can contain bacteria and pathogens picked up from dirty rooves and gutters. Therefore, rainwater should always be treated for biological contamination before drinking. Please see the table below for examples of treatment options that can be used to treat for bacteria and pathogens. -
A Reverse Osmosis treatment system - sometimes abbreviated with the letters "RO" - is the ONLY commonly-available local treatment system that can remove arsenic and fluoride, as well as most other dissolved ions, bacteria and pathogens in the water.
For more information on which types of filtration system remove which contaminants from water, please see the table below.
If you do own a Reverse Osmosis system, it is important to ensure that it is functioning correctly. Caminos de Agua offers a quick efficiency test for RO systems, to check how well it is working.
It is also important to note that RO systems have relatively slow flow rates, and so are usually installed under the kitchen sink, with a separate tap by the sink itself. Such systems are therefore not suitable for filtering water all over the house. However, this kitchen-level filtration is sufficient, as the contaminants that occur in this region only pose a health concern by direct consumption (as noted in the three key points above).
Finally, the reason that RO systems are not as sustainable as rainwater harvesting is because, due to how they work, they usually waste around 50-75% of the water that flows through them, and they also require electricity for pumping. -
We have tested many brands of commercial bottled water, and in this region we have never found there to be any significant contamination with arsenic, fluoride, bacteria, or other contaminants.
However, buying bottled water for cooking and drinking should only be considered as a short-term solution while other more suitable options are being pursued. It can also be used as a last resort if no other options for safe and healthy drinking water are available to you.
Bottled water is by far the most expensive option. In the long term, it can be 100 times more expensive than water treated by an in-house RO system. Additionally, Mexico is the largest consumer of bottled water per capita in the world, which contributes to massive environmental problems. Bottled water companies are also partially responsible for the high levels of contamination in the first place. They have almost unlimited access to groundwater pumping, which lowers the water table and forces wells to be dug down to ever deeper levels, where water quality is increasingly worse. This water is then treated and sold back to the public for a high price.
3. WHICH CONTAMINANTS IS YOUR WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM REMOVING?
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The table below gives an overview of which filtration systems and methods can remove which locally-occurring contaminants.
The “Arsenic/Fluoride Treatment System” shown below is currently in development by our research and technology development team at Caminos de Agua, and is not yet available.
Berkey Fluoride Filters (not shown in the table), and other systems that use activated aluminium, have been found by our tests to be very inefficient at removing arsenic or fluoride in this region, despite being advertised as doing so. We believe that this is due to the high pH (above pH 7.0) of the water in this region.
Click here if you would like to open a PDF of the table, which can be downloaded or viewed online.
Available Treatment Options
Reverse osmosis is the only reliable comercial option that removes arsenic and fluoride.
Rainwater is naturally free of arsenic and fluoride.
Bottled water is usually free of arsenic and fluoride when its treated with RO system.