Next Article in Journal
Educational Technology and E-Learning as Pillars for Sustainable Education
Previous Article in Journal
From Feature Selection to Forecasting: A Two-Stage Hybrid Framework for Food Price Prediction Using Economic Indicators in Türkiye
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Sustainability
Volume 18
Issue 1
10.3390/su18010510
sustainability-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Ecotechnologies Versus Conventional Networks: A Socioeconomic Analysis for Water Management in Rural Communities

by
Blanca Yessica Sevilla Angulo
1,*,
Daniel Tagle-Zamora
2,
Alex Caldera-Ortega
3,
Jesús Mora Rodríguez
4 and
Xitlali Delgado Galván
4
1
División de Ingenierías, Universidad de Guanajuato, Av. Juárez 77, Zona Centro, Guanajuato C.P. 36000, Guanajuato, Mexico
2
Departamento de Estudios Sociales, División de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus León, Blvd. Puente Milenio 1001, Col. San Carlos la Roncha, León C.P. 37320, Guanajuato, Mexico
3
Departamento de Gestión Pública y Desarrollo, División de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus León, Blvd. Puente Milenio 1001, Col. San Carlos la Roncha, León C.P. 37320, Guanajuato, Mexico
4
Departamento de Ingeniería Geomática e Hidráulica, División de Ingenierías, Universidad de Guanajuato, Av. Juárez 77, Zona Centro, Guanajuato C.P. 36000, Guanajuato, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2026, 18(1), 510; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010510 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 18 November 2025 / Revised: 13 December 2025 / Accepted: 15 December 2025 / Published: 4 January 2026
Versions Notes

Abstract

Arid and semi-arid regions of Mexico, such as the Bajío of Guanajuato, face a huge challenge in water resource management. The municipality of León, located in the State of Guanajuato, persistently lacks access to water resources despite having high coverage in urban areas by the León Water Utility System (SAPAL, the abbreviation in Spanish of “Sistema de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de León”), particularly in peri-urban and rural areas. In this context, this study compares water distribution network expansion with rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in four rural communities of León. A cost–benefit analysis (CBA) with a 20-year horizon and a 10% social discount rate (SDR) was applied. Results indicate that network expansion is financially unfeasible, whereas RWH emerges as a technically and economically viable alternative, providing household savings and strengthening community resilience.
Keywords: water; rainwater harvesting; public policy; cost–benefit analysis; sustainability; water justice water; rainwater harvesting; public policy; cost–benefit analysis; sustainability; water justice

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Sevilla Angulo, B.Y.; Tagle-Zamora, D.; Caldera-Ortega, A.; Mora Rodríguez, J.; Delgado Galván, X. Ecotechnologies Versus Conventional Networks: A Socioeconomic Analysis for Water Management in Rural Communities. Sustainability 2026, 18, 510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010510

AMA Style

Sevilla Angulo BY, Tagle-Zamora D, Caldera-Ortega A, Mora Rodríguez J, Delgado Galván X. Ecotechnologies Versus Conventional Networks: A Socioeconomic Analysis for Water Management in Rural Communities. Sustainability. 2026; 18(1):510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010510

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sevilla Angulo, Blanca Yessica, Daniel Tagle-Zamora, Alex Caldera-Ortega, Jesús Mora Rodríguez, and Xitlali Delgado Galván. 2026. "Ecotechnologies Versus Conventional Networks: A Socioeconomic Analysis for Water Management in Rural Communities" Sustainability 18, no. 1: 510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010510

APA Style

Sevilla Angulo, B. Y., Tagle-Zamora, D., Caldera-Ortega, A., Mora Rodríguez, J., & Delgado Galván, X. (2026). Ecotechnologies Versus Conventional Networks: A Socioeconomic Analysis for Water Management in Rural Communities. Sustainability, 18(1), 510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010510

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop