Cozumel, Q.R. — The government of Cozumel says over 210 million pesos will be invested in the island’s San Miguelito plant. The investment in the wastewater treatment plant was initially announced last year as part of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the infrastructure.
In December of 2024, Governor Mara Lezama said 100 million pesos would be invested in the island’s wastewater treatment plant during 2025. However Cozumel Mayor José Luis Chacón Méndez says the new figure is 210 million.
The money will be used in the expansion of the plant in two stages which will help increase its processing abilities. According to Chacón Méndez, the plant needs to be able to process more than 200 liters of water per second, nearly double its current capacity.
He says to meet that processing demand, an investment of 123 million pesos will be made in the first phase and in November, another 90 million will be injected in a second phase.
“Currently the plant barely processes 110 liters of water per second which is no longer sufficient. This investment will make it possible to resolve years of backlog and prevent wastewater from spilling into the water table, thus preventing environmental pollution,” he explained.
This week, authorities from the National Water Commission (Conagua) toured the wastewater treatment plant located in the north of the island. They were accompanied by personnel from the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp) who verified the current infrastructure requires expanding to meet island demand and prevent leaks.
The investment to modernize the plant will allow it to reach a processing capacity of at least 230 liters per second and increase the volume of water recovered for reuse.
