Mexico seems to have an out-sized reputation for having undrinkable water. It is the number one question that visitors ask me when they arrive to our fair city, generally followed by, well what about the ice? and what about the water at my hotel? and what about agua frescas on the street? The truth of the matter is that water anywhere you go in the world is going to be different from your water at home. Though it may be technically drinkable, other countries’ tap water will always have different kinds of bacteria in it that your stomach may not react well to. That said, here is a little information about Mexico City’s water, what to avoid, and what not to worry about.
Mexico City’s water generally comes from underground aquifers or from surface rivers. While the city used to have many natural springs that fed it, the demand for water as the city has grown and sprawled has tapped those sources and nowadays the capital gets most of its water pumped in from the Estado de Mexico. While Mexico City’s water goes through a purification process at the point of extraction and before it’s pumped into people’s homes, there is a long trajectory between the source and the end point, with lots of opportunities for the water to get contaminated along the way.
Rusty pipes, leaky pipes contaminated with outside materials, and dirty storage tanks mean that the water that flows from the tap maybe not be as clean as the city government says it is (they claim that 95% of the city’s water is potable). Lots of scary statistics abound about the amount of bacteria in Mexico’s tap water, but if we are being honest here, scary stats abound about tap water in U.S. and bottled water as well, both here and abroad.
So maybe don’t drink Mexico City tap water, you will be in good company, most locals don’t drink tap water either. In fact Mexico has one of the highest consumption rates of bottled water in the world, which of course leads to its own problems of single-use plastic consumption, access to water, and bottled water contaminated by plastic!
There are also some residents who drink the water from the tap (some out of necessity) and claim to have never had a problem, and some residents boil their tap water first and then use it for drinking or cooking. It seems that the 1985 earthquake and its aftermath when dozens of water pipes ruptured and contaminated water caused thousands to get sick, was a turning point in people’s opinions about the cleanliness of their water supply. Chilangos never quite trusted their water supply again, maybe for good reason.
While it’s a major problem for the city, as a tourist there is no need to freak out. A law was passed in 2015 requiring all restaurants to provide filtered water for their patrons, either water filtered from the tap or bottled water, so if you are in a restaurant and don’t want to support the consumption of plastic you can always ask for agua de garrafon (bottled water) or agua filtrada (filtered water).
99.9% of restaurants where you eat at in Mexico City (definitely all that cater to tourists) use bottled or filtered water for ice, please do not be afraid of it. (And maybe don’t go to a fine dining place and ask about the ice, they will be offended.)
Water and ice on the street is a little more suspect. You often see vendors using those big blocks of ice and chipping away at them to add ice to aguas frescas or other drinks and I have no idea where that water is from. I think if you are nervous or have a sensitive stomach don’t drink homemade drinks on the street. However, I do and I think they are delicious — no one wants to get sick but do you really want to miss out on something magical either? Maybe that’s just me.
And go ahead and brush your teeth with the tap water. This is not Sex in the City. If you get a little unfiltered water in your mouth you will not immediately succumb to Moctezuma’s revenge. Also, if your hotel does not provide you with bottles of water or a water refilling station for you to fill your own water bottle, just ask them if their tap water is filtered, it most likely is.
Lastly, stop blaming your upset stomach on that drop of water you swallowed in the shower when you just ate 15 tacos with 7 different flaming hot salsas. It could be something else.
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