Researchers at the Inter-american Water Resource Center (CIRA) at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) are encouraging the installation of affordable water treatment systems that are easy to operate and would efficiently control and decrease pollution in the Lerma River.
Francisco Jesús Lara Domínguez, Mario Esparza Soto, Lucero Chávez Mercedes, Marina Espinoza Marina, Daury García Pulido and Carlos Díaz Delgado, specialists at UAEM, are working to design and operate an anaerobic system that would not only treat wastewater but also generate biogas, an alternative energy source.
The researchers, who published the study “Anaerobic system proposal to treat wastewater in the Lerma River and produce energy,” explained that according to their test trials, wastewater treated in the system achieves quality standards set by Mexican law.
They said that the technology can also achieve considerable energy production, resulting in a self-sustaining anaerobic system.
The researchers said that in 1996 a sewage control problem arose in the river because the wastewater treatment system was still in development. While the treatment system has improved in the past 20 years, they said there are still sewage problems in the area, which could be improved by this new technology.
