Acueducto de Guadalupe Wastewater Treatment Plant, Ciudad de México, Mexico

Acueducto de Guadalupe is a wastewater treatment plant located in the Gustavo A. Madero borough of Ciudad de México, Mexico. It serves a population of around 54,106 residents in the Colonia Aragón area, contributing to the city's extensive wastewater infrastructure. The plant is situated in the densely populated Mexico City metropolitan area, which faces significant water management challenges due to its high altitude and basin geography. As a medium-sized agglomeration serving over 50,000 people, the plant is subject to Mexico's official standard NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996, which sets maximum permissible limits for pollutants in wastewater discharges into national waters. This regulatory framework requires secondary treatment or equivalent to reduce organic matter and suspended solids. Facilities of this scale in Mexico typically employ conventional activated sludge or similar biological treatment systems. The plant discharges treated effluent into the local drainage system, which ultimately flows into the Valley of Mexico basin. This basin is an endorheic basin with no natural outlet, meaning treated wastewater is either reused or evaporated. The plant plays a crucial role in protecting public health and the environment by reducing pollution loads before water is reused for irrigation or other purposes within the basin.

The plant is located in the Valley of Mexico, an endorheic basin that historically contained lakes but now drains through artificial channels. Treated wastewater from the plant eventually reaches the Tula River via the Grand Canal and drainage tunnels, flowing into the Moctezuma River and then the Pánuco River, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The downstream environment includes agricultural areas that rely on treated wastewater for irrigation, making pollution control critical for soil and crop safety.