ABSTRACT Mexico faces multiple water quality challenges, both in terms of the water supplied to the population as well as surface and underground water sources. Problems with drinking water supply affect the population in diverse ways, from associated health risks to high levels of intermittency in service to the poor perception of the quality of piped water – leading to high levels of bottled water consumption. In this text we explore the issue of drinking water quality in three contexts in the state of Jalisco: in Guadalajara, the state’s main urban area, in the peri-urban municipality of El Salto, and in the mid-sized city of San Juan de los Lagos. Our analysis explores drinking water regulations, the water quality monitoring undertaken by state and local authorities, access to information, as well as the actions and perceptions of water service providers. Looking at cases of indirect reuse of wastewater as well as groundwater sources with high levels of fluoride and arsenic, we argue that the foregrounding of water quality is key to illuminating social inequalities in access to water and in teasing out power relations prevailing in current hydrosocial regimes. We conclude that this hydrosocial cycle of drinking water is characterised by prioritising access to water for economic actors, facilitated by lax regulations and minimal enforcement, as well as by the systematic neglect by government authorities at all levels of the protection of watersheds and aquifers, and of water quality issues generally.

中文翻译：

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不安全的水域：墨西哥西部饮用水的水社会循环

摘要 墨西哥面临着多种水质挑战，包括向人口供应的水以及地表和地下水源。饮用水供应问题以多种方式影响人口，从相关的健康风险到服务的高度间歇性，再到对管道水质量的不良认知——导致高水平的瓶装水消费。在本文中，我们探讨了哈利斯科州在三种情况下的饮用水质量问题：该州的主要城市瓜达拉哈拉、埃尔萨尔托城郊自治市和中型城市圣胡安德洛斯拉各斯。我们的分析探讨了饮用水法规、州和地方当局进行的水质监测、信息获取、以及供水服务提供者的行动和看法。着眼于间接再利用废水以及含氟和砷含量高的地下水源的案例，我们认为，水质的前景是阐明在获取水方面的社会不平等和梳理当前水利社会制度中普遍存在的权力关系的关键. 我们得出的结论是，这种饮用水的水社会循环的特点是优先考虑经济行为者获得水，这是由于监管松懈和执法力度不够，以及各级政府当局对流域和含水层保护的系统性忽视，以及水质问题一般。我们认为，水质的前景是阐明在获取水方面的社会不平等和梳理当前水利社会制度中普遍存在的权力关系的关键。我们得出的结论是，这种饮用水的水社会循环的特点是优先考虑经济行为者获得水，这是由于监管松懈和执法力度不够，以及各级政府当局系统性地忽视了对流域和含水层的保护，以及水质问题一般。我们认为，水质的前景是阐明在获取水方面的社会不平等和梳理当前水利社会制度中普遍存在的权力关系的关键。我们得出的结论是，这种饮用水的水社会循环的特点是优先考虑经济行为者获得水，这是由于监管松懈和执法力度不够，以及各级政府当局对流域和含水层保护的系统性忽视，以及水质问题一般。