Given these methods of water sanitization of either boiling water or using sodium hypochlorite, is water just used as-is, knowing these risks of these lethal outcomes for lack of information, fuel to boil water, money for dissinfection, or some other reason?
Sailor’s eyeball (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valonia_ventricosa) which also happens to be the biggest single-celled organism. A 1 inch diameter cell is kinda spooky even without the common name.
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I think accidents happen.
At least in Ecuador, most homes in Ecuador rely on the delivery of propane gas tanks for cooking fuel. For example, if you’re reliant on boiled water, for drinking water, and if you run out of gas in the middle of the night and there’s no way to contact the “gas guy” because he probably doesnt a phone, or he’s drunk, ect.
and if the corner store is closed (or you dont have the money for bottled water) you completely are out of luck.
I also think a huge vector is food.
Veggies like lettuce and onions can also hold other pathogens.
I can tell you from personal experience, without a bactericidal vegetable wash, and also some equipment (like a commercial lettuce spinner) to effectively remove particulate matter, it can be pain to properly and fully clean dirty veggies like lettuce, even in nice american restaurant kitchen. I used to have to wash organic vegetables, especially greens and lettuce multiple times to remove all the bugs, sand and soil. On the coast, restaurants are usually small bamboo comedores, most can often just have a stove and a sink.
Even if your plates are free of all food waste, residual water remains on plates, bowls, in pans, in vessels to hold liquids like juices, water just ends up places, and you dont find it until you use the dish.
That is only just a tiny perspective on this issue, I only know a bit because I work and dive on the coast a lot, and also have a culinary background to understand how these pathogens can be spread, practically.
the UNDP has done extensive research on this subject, this sort of thing is very, highly nuanced and complex, and unfortunately simple, practical solutions dont always resolve these issues with sanitation, here or in other parts of the world.
The difference and frustrating part, is the communities, like Salango for example, where folks are still suffering from stuff like this, are directly adjacent to beachfront condos, usually owned by wealthy folks, expats or those who live in Guayaquil, 3 hours away and usually dont bother to even come by the house for more than a week a year.
Sorry to derail the conversation, I’m planning a coastal trip, my friends in the area are always on my mind.
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aww, they’re cute!
this is terrible, and I’m not serious, but can you “pop” them?
I don’t know from personal experience but apparently it’s one of the top questions Google gets about them…:
I also note the “taste” tab up there, so apparently there’s info on that too…
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Increasingly widespread - Europe, California, and South America, the noble false widow. Not particularly spooky sounding - but the pale mark on the abdomen is often likened to a skull.
And in Europe, at least, it’s spider breeding time - if you’re going to see them wandering about, now’s more or less the time you’ll see them!
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Brahmaea certhia owl moths.
Larva:
Adul of the related Brahmaea wallachii, which looks a bit like it has a ghost on each wingt:
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South of what border?
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Only the larva. The adult is stunningly handsome, looks almost quilted (?).
The United States southern border.
So no. Pick another border, friend, or amend your statement, or refrain from wildly inaccurate and sweepingly broad statements about water systems about which you do not know.
Water here is, like in the United States, a local responsibility rather than a federal responsibility. There are successes and failures, just as there are in the Unites States. But the image you paint of ancient trucks filled with dirty water teeming with larva for the children is xenophobic – and at odds with modern practices.
It is true we have water tanks on our roofs. These are filled daily not by trucks but by the municipal pipes to which they are fully closed on one end. On the other they are fully closed to the pipes that connect to our homes’ plumbing. They are not “easily contaminated” and I do not know anyone who has been contaminated in this way. The tanks provide water pressure, which is important since we are at sea level.
The water itself comes via our municipal system, which in this state is JAPAY. In another state it will be another acronym. Again, just as in the US, it will be a different utility in each municipality. We do get a lot of tropical storms and hurricanes here and sometimes rescue water needs to be brought in, to be sure. Look! Here is one of our dirty old trucks now!
(In Mexico City, the water authority is called SACMEX and because many people there live in apartments, and because of the sheer number of people who live there (22 million), their water system looks a little different but also functions without endangering children.)
Individuals, both those who live here and travelers, who become sick typically fall ill because of hygiene practices, such as cross contamination, improper cooking, or mosquito borne illnesses, and there are education measures in place abut all three. Please refrain from perpetuating myths about “Moctezuma’s revenge”, children with dirty faces and torn clothes chasing dirty dogs, or any other racist tropes about Mexico.
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I think there is a wiiiiiiiiiiide swath of intent between
south of the border, much of the water is delivered by trucks, the most-ancient trucks on the road generally… the old tanks in the trucks and many folks’ wells (just a giant 4 meter deep concrete box buried in the ground) or water tanks (a massive plastic tub mounted on the roof of houses) are easily contaminated by the larve or others. I’d imagine the larve remain in the residual water left in the tank and also on the surface of the tank in perpetuity. nasty stuff, barely takes any to get someone very, very sick. it’s much worse for children and babies.
and
but I think we can both agree discussions of utilities do not belong in this thread. Nonetheless I hope I was able to provide you with some factual information and/or resources of which you may not have been aware.
Thank you for the unsolicited information on your experience regarding the state of water in Mexico. I was speaking from person experience of how the water is delivered in southern Manabi, Ecuador.
Everyone please forward any concerns regarding the sanitation and quality of the potable water in Mexico to @ItsMeLucy
The state of water sanitation might be swell in Mexico, but it still absolutely dreadful in a lot of south america, especially in the coastal communities of the pacific coast of Ecuador again as I referenced.
You’re welcome to come down here and drink a glass of water from the tap in comuna de Salango if you disagree.
To be clear, this is why I asked you “South of what border?”
You replied, “The United Stated southern border.”
To wit, Mexico. I live here. I am proud to live here. I do not enjoy when people who do not live here speak about Mexico erroneously, and in a way that attempts to paint this country as backward when it is not. To be fair, this country has its concerns, like any country, but you painted an image that was false and has been part of a larger systemic narrative. So I corrected it.
I am happy to entertain any questions about Mexico, though I am likely to point questioners to other resources, as I did @lordcaravan. :)
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I’d to think we likely agree on very little.
This I do not know. I do not know you, nor you me. I do know I do not wish to derail what was and I hope can return to a rather charming thread of spooky creatures any further.
Saludos!