Mexico's wastewater plant repair slows sewage pollution in San Diego
CORONADO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Mexico's Punta Bandera Wastewater Treatment Plant has been repaired and is back up and running at full capacity, helping to stop some of the sewage from entering the Pacific Ocean in southern San Diego County, and the South Bay community is starting to return to the beaches after the polluted water signs have begun coming down.
The Punta Bandera Wastewater Treatment Plant — known as the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant — is located six miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana.
EPA administrator tours Tijuana River Valley, address sewage crisis
Coronado Mayor John Duncan has confirmed the wastewater plant has been repaired after the Mexican government, in coordination with the International Boundary and Water Commission, took over the reconstruction of the dilapidated plant that has been contributing to the pollution at southern San Diego beaches from Imperial Beach to the Hotel del Coronado for years.
The Mexican military completed the rebuild project in about a year. It was initially slated to be finished in the fall of 2024, but was finalized in April 2025, according to Duncan.
'Historic day' as ground is broken on sewage treatment facility south of the border
Unless it breaks down again, the plant at Punta Bandera will remove 18 million gallons of raw sewage from entering the Pacific Ocean everyday, but that is only a fraction of what's been flowing across the border daily for years.
Now, with 18 million gallons being treated across the border in Mexico, and 25 million being treated on the United States side, things appear to be changing.
The pollution signs in Coronado were removed Tuesday, and people were swimming and surfing in the Pacific Ocean in an area that has been closed on and off for several years.
Free air purifiers available for South Bay residents: Here's how to apply
Tijuana River the second most endangered river in US in 2025
County launches new interactive map of Tijuana River sewage impacts
Before San Diegans head to the beach anywhere in the county, they can check the water quality at sdbeachinfo.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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