Sewer Work Finally Begins!

It's no secret that Sayulita is and has been experiencing some severe growing pains.  The promotion of our small town by the Riviera Nayarit Tourism Agency, Sayulita's designation as a Pueblo Magico and the recent overall rise in popularity of the this area of Mexico has caused many issues.  Good solutions for traffic, parking, trash collection, construction regulation, utilities, local taxation etc have all been slow in coming.  Water and sewage treatment are at the top of the list.

With the increased number of visitors(the biggest increased % in Mexico), lodging construction and a boom in new home construction, Sayulita's outdated and functionally limited sewage treatment system was way over due for an upgrade.  What may have worked 10+ years ago or more could no longer handle the volume.  Add years of local corruption where money that should have been committed to maintaining and upgrading the system just disappears and the town has a big problem to correct.

One particular area of town has been the problem.  It is the lowest point in town and is the convergence of several sewer lines before there is a crossing of the river to the sewer plant.  A few things needed correcting and I am being very general not to go on at length.

The pipe in this area needed to be replaced.  Essentially it was not big enough to handle the increased flow of all of the lines coming into it.  As a result, during high flow times, the line would literally overflow and there would be raw sewage bubbling up from the manhole covers in the streets.  This "black water" would follow the the slope of the road and end up draining into the river where it would empty out into the ocean/beach nearby.  This line is being resized and appropriately sloped to help prevent future overflows.

Another problem was that the pipe that crossed the river was often damaged due to the river bed being used as a road during dryer months of the year.  Cars and trucks would literally just crush the existing pipe that was insufficiently buried sending black water out into the river until repaired.  A new pipe at a proper depth with protection from vehicles will be installed.

Lastly, the sewer plant needed to be repaired and upgraded so that capacity could be met sufficiently.  This is just the beginning.  The next phase is to send a "emissor pipe" that will transport treated effluent from the plant out to sea several miles where the natural process in the ocean can also help the treatment process.

This project was funded by public donations and memberships through Pro Sayulita and will go a long way to help Sayulita's image when it comes to it's biggest asset, it's water front.  It has been so discouraging to see tourists and locals alike tip toe through ankle high water bubbling up from manhole covers each year covering the streets in this area, draining down to the river and then to the ocean.  In recent years people have blamed this situation on getting sick in Sayulita.  Where I do think this is part of it and is easy to point at as the cause, I think there are other factors in play for people getting sick in town each busy season.  Anyway, this is certainly a HUGE step in the right direction and will go a long way to keeping the town a more enjoyable place to visit and safer for everyone.