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wildchild · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 519 Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010

moonraven said

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Moonraven (she by the way), might have been talking about how sewage is treated and released into the ocean, mainly, in how it isn't treated and released into the ocean.

I don't recall this thread...how old is it? She may have been referring to a lack of clean water, lack of indoor plumbing, garbage dumps, or open sewers. From my experience, it's not hideous to deal with...simply something you get used in rural Mexico.

wildchild · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 519 Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010

guy, you're right; I just found this:

moonraven said

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

First, moonraven was (is?) a raving nutcase; try reading a few more of her posts purely for the entertainment value.

Second, I spent three years living on the coast, and saw little of what she describes. Sewage, no; but around santa semana the more popular beaches would be dirty from all the trash brought in from outsiders. Most of the year the beaches were great.

I have to say that the beaches in PA weren't that good - but all you had to do is walk/taxi over to Zipolite. Plenty of beautiful, clean beaches along the coast.

GueroPaz · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Thailand or Mexico

I spent a week at Puerto Angel (Zipolite), a week in Chiapas at Puerto Arista, several months at Puerto Madero south of Tapachula, two weeks at Puerto Escondido (or was that Zipolite? the surfers beach). Never noticed raw sewerage, but I tried to stay out of the center of town.

I doubt any place has much untreated sewerage, but you never know for sure.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I'm from Victoria, BC, Canada (on a big island near Vancouver / Seattle) and we flush our untreated sewage directly into the ocean as well. It certainly doesn't stop people from going to the beach, especially as it gets flushed at very specific points (not EVERY beach!) and it's released (usually fairly) far out.

chola · Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 6:58 pm Post subject: sanitation on the coast

This was posted on the "tomzap" message board for Puerto Vallarta.

http://www.tomzap.com/ph5/read.php?14,7215

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Yep, Puerto Vallarta is disgusting - but the last time I looked at a map of Mexico, PV was several hundred kilometers to the northwest of the Oaxacan coast. i've spent a fair bit of time at both locales, and you can't really compare the two; they're as different as chalk and cheese.

chola · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:08 am Post subject: sanitation on the coast

The article I posted was about the degredation of coastal areas due to contamination from raw sewage, chemicals, etc. with Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco being extreme examples. The quality of water along the Pacific coast is compromised by alot of different things and raw sewage in high concentrations is a big health issue. No need to get into a big dialogue about the political and economic factors involved in the problem/solution as I think we're all aware of them, albeit, not as well as the aforementioned Moonraven. Monitoring water quality on a consistent level might be a step in the right direction....even if my post was slightly off-topic, thought I'd share what I'd stumbled on. Personally, I've experiened the toxic sludge of Puerto Vallarta and ended up very ill after swimming there. I try to tell my friends in Canada who go there to be careful...but they don't seem too concerned. Obviously, contaminated beaches are not a big tourism draw.

chola · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:08 am Post subject: sanitation on the coast

Don't mean to flog a dead horse here but this link might be useful, to someone, somehwere, sometime....interested in water quality.....

http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/informacionambiental/Pages/playas.aspx

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

MELEE · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:00 pm Post subject:

Since I live very far from the coast, I don't really know.
But I wonder if Moonraven might have also been refering to food service preparation...

veroax · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 57 Location: Bogot�, Colombia

I don't know anything about drainage down on the Pacific Coast, but I do know that it's been a concern in Veracruz... even on beaches often packed with tourists. Thankfully they have been building water treatment facilities to help clean things up.

http://www.planetaazul.com.mx/www/2007/03/31/invierten-600-mdp-para-limpiar-playas-de-veracruz/

http://www.teorema.com.mx/articulos.php?id_sec=50&id_art=3219&id_ejemplar=0

Down on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, there are some more remote beaches that are really spectacular and quite clean. I think Chacahua is about the nicest spot I've ever been to. Getting there is a bit of an adventure though.

hlamb · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Canada

Close to the city of Veracruz the water is pretty horrible, partly due to the port. But I lived in a small town that didn't have proper treatment facilities and dumped sewage into the river when the treatment works broke down. There were good fish in that lake but I had trouble eating them after that! There are remote beaches in Veracruz too but they are hard to get to. Try La Barra or Montepio. PM me if you want directions.

veroax · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 57 Location: Bogot�, Colombia

That's true. I should have specified that I was talking about the city... not so much the whole state. Although this thread had me reading up on the subject and I discovered that many of the smaller coastal towns in Veracruz don't have water treatment facilities at all. Regardless there definitely are some nice clean beaches away from population centers. Montepio and La Barra are pretty close to where I live, and I agree that those are nice spots if a little removed.