Tests Show Reynosa Sewage Problem Getting Worse

City officials say new water treatment plant won't be finished for at least a year

REYNOSA, Mexico - In May, NEWSCHANNEL 5 confronted Reynosa city leaders about a rundown and abandoned water treatment plant. Instead of sanitizing the city's sewage, it was being dumped directly into the river which feeds Valley farms and faucets.

Reynosa leaders promised to install new equipment to dramatically reduce river contamination in six months. NEWSCHANNEL 5 returned to see Reynosa city trucks still dumping raw sewage into the river and no new equipment treating the water.

In our first report, a lab test found 200 times the legal limit of fecal bacteria. This time, a sample of the water sent to lab has so much fecal bacteria, the lab says it's "too numerous to count!"

According to experts, coming in contact with this water can make you sick. This bacterium carries disease like e-coli and hepatitis.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 asked why things haven't improved as promised. Officials keep saying change is coming. Arturo Alonzo of the City of Reynosa says, "We're going to build a new water treatment plant and we're going to recycle the water." That means eventually the city won't dump any more sewage into the river.

But the project won't be finished for at least a year.

Experts warn the river can only take so much and the more toxic the water becomes, the harder it is to treat.