Sewage Treatment and Runoff in Cozumel

[ScubaBackpacker]

Last summer when I was in Cozumel I was snorkeling north of downtown
and saw just offshore and in about 5 feet of water a 6 inch or so pipe releasing dark/discolored water. This article in the nytimes about a resort in the Philippines - similar to Cozumel because the population of locals and tourists has soared in recent years - got me wondering about the sewage/runoff situation on Cozumel.

Idyllic Philippine Resort Island of Boracay Is Closed to Tourists
By FELIPE VILLAMOR APRIL 4, 2018

Anybody have any solid facts about sewage treatment and runoff on Cozumel?

 

[NDL_Diver]

I think it is politely called nutrient rich.

Places out of town are not connected to a sewer "system".

Last November we picked ip divers at Secrets pier. The smell of raw sewer around the pier area was sickening.

 

[kmarks]

Last November we picked ip divers at Secrets pier. The smell of raw sewer around the pier area was sickening.

I stayed at Sabor several years ago. That may not have been raw sewer, that may have been the dining rooms. (Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it got old after a few days)

 

[Dave Dillehay]

The fact is that in the north there are lots of swamps behind the road and they do have drain pipes into the ocean. I doubt it was treated sewage, most likely just swamp overflow which would be dark. I know because sometimes large Crocks come swimming out and lay on the beach, especially El Cozumeleno.

Dave

PS All of the road work on Rafael Melgar between calle 5 and Mega is to fix busted sewer pipes. Quite inconvenient in high season.

 

[mediumone]

Replacing a smaller line on 8th between Melgar and about 15th as well. It would appear that they've completed the job, but highly concentrated raw sewage smell around 8th and 5th the night before last.

 

[ScubaBackpacker]

The fact is that in the north there are lots of swamps behind the road and they do have drain pipes into the ocean. I doubt it was treated sewage, most likely just swamp overflow which would be dark. I know because sometimes large Crocks come swimming out and lay on the beach, especially El Cozumeleno.

Dave

PS All of the road work on Rafael Melgar between calle 5 and Mega is to fix busted sewer pipes. Quite inconvenient in high season.

I was snorkeling just north of the center of town before you get to the airport, at one of the small waterfront restaurants more or less across from the army base. El Cozumeleno is way further to the north than I was.

 

[El Graduado]

ScubaBackpacker, you were snorkeling directly across from the sewage lift pump. It is hidden behind a fence between the north and southbound lanes of Avenida San Juan, the road that leads to the northern hotel zone, and it is located right across the street from the small thatched roofed restaurants. The sewer pipes run northward under this road, past the entrance to the golf club and out to the northern sewer treatment plant, halfway to Isla de la Pasion. There could have been some kind of accidental overflow situation at the lift station, but it would not be an everyday occurrence.

I know there are accidental releases from overflows at northern sewer plant, because the water in the large dips in the dirt road that the cruise ship excursionists love to splash their dune buggies through like Rambo are filled with the bright green algae that grows in nutrient-rich, sewage-contaminated water. And these "muddy" water-filled dips in the dirt road are located directly adjacent to the northern sewer plant.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Mangroves also have a nice rotten egg smell that is pretty common farther north.

 

[mediumone]

Mangroves also have a nice rotten egg smell that is pretty common farther north.

Raw sewage does not smell like rotten eggs.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Raw sewage does not smell like rotten eggs.

Didn’t say it did. Just pointing out another source of unpleasant smells there.