Mexico faces many development challenges with the increasing demand of its population for water and energy services. These challenges are particularly pressing in the water scarce areas of the north, but also in areas of the south where water is plentiful but water infrastructure aging and investment funds lacking. In response to these challenges, and building upon existing initiatives in Mexico and watergy efficiency efforts in Brazil and India , the Alliance is developing a municipal watergy initiative tailored to the specific needs of Mexico 's urban areas. This work was initiated in early 2003, supported by USAID. Agreements have been forged with two municipal water utility partners, SAS in Veracruz and ADOSAPCO in Oaxaca.

According to the National Water Commission (CNA), an average of 88% of Mexicans received potable water service in 2000. Both the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz are below this average, with 72% and 70% respectively of the population counting on potable water service in 2000. While these numbers have increased greatly in the last ten years, these states have tremendous incentives to improve quality of service.

Current Approach

The program to date has focused upon the following activities:

• Partner with municipal water utilities to develop case studies of energy efficiency savings potential in Mexico
• Perform workshops on technical topics to demonstrate the potential for savings through energy efficiency measures
• Comprehensive energy audits of the water treatment and distribution systems
• Recommend low and no-cost energy efficiency measures and work for implementation
• Negotiate with utilities and outside agencies to fund higher capital cost measures
• Collect data on implementation of energy efficiency measures, tracking amount of energy saved, amount of money saved and level of service improvement
• Encourage in-house monitoring and verification of energy efficiency indicators.

Please see www.watergymex.org for spanish-language updates on the program. Also refer to the Alliance's Watergy case study for Veracruz, Mexico.

Alliance Partners

The Watery program has benefited from the participation of key national organizations including CNA (Comisión Nacional del Agua), ANEAS (Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Agua y Saneamiento) and FIDE (Fideicomiso para el Ahorro de Energia). Key to the success of the technical workshops has been the water technology manufacturers and consultants that have partnered with the Alliance to offer their expertise and equipment. The Alliance has partnered with: Badger Meters , Grundfos , Goulds , Constructora Cosatla and Ergon Plus. The Alliance 's work in Mexico is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Monclova-Frontera

The Alliance is working with Sistemas Intermunicipales de Aguas y Saneamiento (SIMAS) de Monclova y Frontera to install new pumps and motors to improve electromechanical efficiency in the city of Monclova. Fideicomiso para el Ahorro de Energia (FIDE), a private non-profit organization supported in part by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico 's national energy utility, is providing funding for the project. The installation of this new equipment from FIDE will result in about 3,317,300 kWh and $331,700 annual savings, about 14% of the SIMAS' total energy cost. SIMAS has also implemented a low-cost measure recommended by the Alliance that is expected to save 32,000 kWh per month. Verification of savings will be made upon receipt of the energy bill from CFE. Water savings from loss reduction in the Obreras sector have been verified at 35,000 m3 in May 2005.

Tijuana

The Alliance is helping Tijuana 's water and wastewater utility (CESPT) to conduct electromechanical efficiency evaluations of various pumping systems. The profiles generated will be used to develop an analysis of the current operation of these systems and to find opportunities to optimize operations through peak demand management. Consolidated data for the five sectors being evaluated show a savings potential of 2.8% of CESPT's total energy consumption. Installation of automated controls in some sectors shows a potential savings of 4% of energy consumed. CESPT has agreed to acquire a datalogger that will measure wastewater flows so that an evaluation of the wastewater pumping system can be performed. With the data from the wastewater system, savings potential is expected to reach 8% of total energy consumption from pumping systems efficiencies alone.

In April 2005, the Alliance facilitated a water loss reduction workshop, in partnership with Suproval S.A. de C.V. Twenty-five participants from all over Baja California , including the neighboring municipalities of Ensenada and Tecate, spent one day in a highly interactive classroom training session that covered theory and design of a loss reduction program. Field staff gave real examples from the Tijuana system to counterbalance the theoretical information.

Querétaro

The Alliance worked with the State Water Commission (CEA) of Querétaro to summarize energy savings calculations based on electromechanical efficiency audits. The next steps with CEA include implementation of these projects in order to confirm the estimated energy savings, and follow-up on Watergy activities to confirm results of the installation of a variable speed drive in the Carretas well.

National Inter-Institutional Partnership for Disseminating Watergy Concepts

The Alliance held a series of five regional seminars on Watergy efficiency in partnership with ANEAS in May and June 2005. These seminar series were part of the agreement reached at the March 2005 National Watergy Stakeholders Meeting held at ANEAS offices in Mexico City.

The Alliance, CNA, and FIDE gave presentations at each seminar during the portion entitled “Institutional Support and Energy Efficiency Programs.” A presentation on “Key Technologies for Achieving Integrated Water and Energy Efficiency” gave Alliance partners a chance to describe the role their technology might play in reducing water and energy waste. Representatives were included from the following: CEMCAS, a non-profit technical training organization; Grundfos, a pump manufacturer; Danfoss, a variable speed drive manufacturer; Badger, a metering company; Bermad, maker of control valves; Gutermann, supplier of automatic leak detection equipment; and CIATEQ, a consulting company that provides automation systems.

The Third Annual National Watergy Seminar was held October 18-22, 2005 in Tlaxcala.