Mérida, capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, is piloting Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to combat groundwater contamination by building rain collectors that filter and clean runoff.

Residents of the southern neighbourhoods of Mérida lacked basic infrastructure, including sewage and water drainage, and the city more broadly struggles with groundwater contamination, due to the use of unfiltered wells for drainage. 

In 2017, the city launched its Circuito Sur project, which aimed to further connect and integrate the southern regions of Mérida with the city centreand other industrial areas where more jobs are located. As part of this project, the city tested new drainage infrastructure initiatives. Mérida partnered with the World Resources Institute under the CityFix Labs initiative to develop a new nature-based alternative called Sustainable Drainage Systems.  The SuDS project has built rain collectors that pass water through rain gardens, which then filter and clean runoff before it enters the city's water supply.

The program is being evaluated with the hopes of scaling it citywide.

Photo by Peter Lloyd on Unsplash