We were up bright and early for our first day at Cantaro Azul — albeit with audible groans and sighs. Braving the 35 degree weather, we made it to the Cantaro Azul office where the entire team was waiting for us. After spending a couple of hours touring the office and getting to know the extremely friendly and smart people at Cantaro, we split off into our teams and got to work.

Los UV Hermanos began by demonstrating our solution to the resident Mesita Azul experts, Armando and Hector, who seemed to really like our prototype. Most of the day involved connecting our surge tank solution to the existing Mesita Azul setup, and explaining the theory behind our solution.

Our post-lunch work session included testing out some new ideas to replace the surge tank and discussing solutions to our bulkhead problem. Greatly helped by the guidance and input of Armando, Hector, Rodolfo and Dr. Loyo, we finished the work day with a very clear idea of our next steps: to build an easily replicable prototype with locally sourced materials that Cantaro can then improve upon and implement at each Mesita Azul site.

The Humedales team went on a tour to the “Casa de Agua”: a house made out of bioconstruction materials which will soon contain a lab and a classroom to demonstrate various water conservation techniques and principles to visitors. The extensive tour to the House of Water and the accompanying community garden, given by Simon and Pablo from Cantaro, was followed by an intense research session at a well-decorated coffeehouse in San Cristobal to bring themselves closer to their goal of designing a wetland to treat soapy wastewater from the sink.

 

As per Cantaro Azul work culture, we stopped working as soon as the clock struck 4 in the afternoon and regrouped at the coffeehouse to debrief and discuss next steps. The “muy rico” cafe con helado, followed suit with a Oaxacan dinner dominated by crunchy crickets and tasty tlayudas, was the perfect end to an extremely productive day!