Water Quality
Through our Water Quality Program we work to reduce pollution of our watershed. Working with the public and private sectors, we promote good management of solid and liquid waste, as well as the utilization of technological alternatives which are part of sustainable development in the coastal zone.
The principal pollution concerns are the porous limestone bedrock of the Yucatán Peninsula which allows contaminants to enter the aquifer and the proximity of the Mesoamerican Reef System, making improper waste management a health hazard to both the community and the environment. Investigation into the water quality on the peninsula has shown that current methods of treating and disposing waste and wastewater are causing significant health problems and destruction of the coral reef.
The main program activities are -
Monitoring Akumal's bays, lagoons and artificial wetlands;
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Training the public sector in the application of alternative technologies for sustainable development:
solar power, rain water capture, artificial wetlands, composting toilets and waste management; -
Coordinating activities as a whole with the Environmental Education Program to promote resource awareness and management by water users among the populations of Akumal and Chemuyil.
The principal aim of monitoring is to determine the water quality of the bays, lagoons and water bodies in Akumal's zone, measuring all the parameters established by Mexican procedures. It is necessary to emphasize that the majority of the analyses are conducted in the CEA laboratory, but some are conducted in the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY) unit, Quintana Roo, with which we have an agreement of collaboration.
The public and private sector trainings on alternative technologies are carried out by meetings and workshops held at CEA, depending on demand. Also we perform this work through the participation in committees (the Municipal Subcommittee on Waste Management and Clean Beaches), forums, and workshops organizing the public to help find solutions to the different problems relative to environmental management.
We work with the Environmental Education Program to develop activities in the Chemuyil and Akumal schools to teach the children and young people the importance of the aquifer and the implications of pollution.
Contact us to ask about volunteering for our Water Quality Program or, for further information, contact Program Coordinator Edith Sosa Bravo.
Learn more by reading the articles below.
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