The grand opening of the gargantuan Zaragoza project in October 2018 added almost 1,000 modern apartments to Mexico City’s housing stock. PENETRON ADMIX, a non-toxic admixture, was used to treat the project’s concrete drinking water tanks to counter the effects of the marshy ground and high-water table typical of the capital’s swampy geology.
A well-known developer and general contractor specialized in residential developments, Quiero Casa has designed and built over two dozen residential projects in and around Mexico City.
The Zaragoza residential development is located on Ignacio Zaragoza Road in the Agrícola Pantitlán neighborhood of Mexico City. Once a flat, salty marshland, it was drained for farmland to grow corn and beans and dotted with cardboard roof houses first erected in the 1940s. Over the next 20 years, rapid immigration brought factories and crowded housing to the area. Today, large housing projects, similar to Quiero Casa’s Zaragoza project, are changing the Agrícola Pantitlán once again, this time into a vibrant, modern middle-class district.
“The Zaragoza project was developed and built by Quiero Casa, a developer and construction company active in Mexico City,” notes Alejandro Mucino, the Managing Director of Penetron Mexico. “A key Penetron partner, Quiero Casa has successfully completed dozens of projects in Mexico City over the past 10 years.”
Reliable Waterproofing Solution Needed
Because of the outsize dimensions of the complex, the Zaragoza apartments – almost 1,000 units in total – were realized in four stages. The final stage brought the overall total to 979 units. Apartment layouts at Zaragoza feature 2-3-bedroom apartments with 1-2 bathrooms, elevators, and underground parking. The project also included a new “bodega” restaurant, multiple use rooms, a day care facility, a gym, and a lounge area, all surrounded by landscaped green areas – and within walking distance of the subway, shopping centers and schools.
“The four water tanks, installed below the underground parking garage, provide drinking water to the Zaragoza apartments and the whole complex. It was absolutely essential that a reliable and durable waterproofing solution was implemented,” explains Alejandro Mucino.
Penetron for Potable Water Applications
The concrete mix, supplied by CEMEX-Concretos (a Penetron partner), was treated with PENETRON ADMIX to ensure a completely non-toxic, NSF-61-certified waterproofing solution for all four potable water tanks, each with a capacity of about 60,000-liters (15,900 gallons). Added to the concrete during the batching stage, PENETRON ADMIX ensures the concrete will remain impervious to the hydrostatic pressure at that depth.
“The concrete tanks had to keep out any contaminants from the groundwater to keep the drinking water inside the tanks completely clean,” adds Alejandro Mucino. “Penetron technology, which is used for potable water applications around the world, performed seamlessly on both counts.”
Potable water application: The concrete for all four water tanks (each 60,000-liters/15,900 gallons) was treated with PENETRON ADMIX as a non-toxic, NSF-61-certified waterproofing solution.
Penetron-treated: Four waterproofed water tanks below the underground parking garage provide drinking water to the Zaragoza apartments and the whole complex.
