The region inhabited by the Mayans was not conducive to agriculture, since most of its lands experienced prolonged droughts for much of the year. Despite these climatic challenges, their advanced civilization managed to prosper. They built large cities equipped with drinking water supply systems and extensive agricultural areas with irrigation systems. Currently, researchers are focused on understanding how they could develop in such an adverse environment.
The Mayans had drinking water in completely arid areas
The Mayans evacuated these vast cities in approximately the year 900 AD, as a result of a severe and merciless lack of rain. This period of extreme drought turned many regions of Central America into desert and impassable areas.
When the Spanish arrived in these lands, unknown to them, they came across the ruins of a prosperous civilization that had already disappeared. Despite the decay, these ruins were preserved in their entirety, providing valuable information to science about life and the strategies used by the Mayans to prosper in that region for an extensive period.
Lisa Lucero, from the University of Illinois, investigated the strategy adopted by this civilization to ensure access to drinking water in a region scarcely provided with this resource. Also, how did they deal with the lack of adequate technology to address this challenge.
They used plants to purify water
Most Mayan cities were built in regions where the presence of surface water was scarce, a particularity that remains evident in those areas to the present. In order to overcome this limitation, they devised systems of reservoirs, canals and storage tanks. Over time, reservoirs underwent changes, increasing in both size and complexity.
Experts discovered that they used complex mineral filtration systems to purify the water. However, recent research indicates the existence of more advanced aspects in this process.
According to Lucero’s descriptions in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they used a plant-based water purification system. They used aquatic plants, such as cattails, reeds or sedge, to remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the water. After a certain time, they replaced the plants and those they removed became fertilizer for the planted fields.
Likewise, they not only used aquatic plants to purify water, but also used them to control the purity of the water. For example, a plant like the water flower (Nymphaea ampla), only blooms when the water is really clean, and it was their method of knowing that the water was drinkable.
Mayan methods can improve the future of water supply
Lucero holds the belief that it is possible to contribute to improving the future of water supply for humanity by adopting the methods used by the Mayans. In his opinion, “the benefits of constructed wetlands far outweigh traditional water treatment systems.”
Applying the strategy used by the Mayans would imply the adoption of a low-tech economic system that would result in significant energy savings. However, it is important to note that during the historical period of the Mayans, they did not face the pollution challenges associated with the modern lifestyle.
