Having demonstrated a functional prototype of our surge tank on Day 2, Day 3 was focused on rebuilding the prototype using local materials found in San Cristobal. Early in the morning, our team went on a shopping trip and visited a half dozen stores in search of replacement materials for our prototype. Sadly, we were unable to find many of the components we wanted, and only succeeded at finding a replacement container. This is part of problem solving, however, so we went back to the workshop at Cantaro to rethink our strategy.

A few minutes after arriving at Cantaro, we noticed a distinct burning smell and soon after a thick smoke enveloped the area. At first we assumed some neighbors were burning trash, but then the employees there started acting frantic and filling up buckets with water. The field next door had caught fire!

Everybody at Cantaro, including us, attempted to help and bring water, but pretty soon the fire department was on location and quickly put the fire out. Luckily, nobody was hurt and no property was damaged; it was just a grass fire.

After things quieted down our team resumed prototyping and began to work out the issues from the morning.

For the remainder of the afternoon we found solutions to most of the problems, found more problems, solved those, and by 4:00 we again had our prototype working as intended!

After work we walked through the market and saw the river that runs through San Cristobal, which was a stark reminder of why we had come to Mexico.

The sight of this polluted river put our work into proper context, and made us realize that this was no longer just a school project for ENGI 120: the water crisis is real, with real consequences involving real people. And somehow, in some small way, a team of freshman from a university 900 miles away is able to contribute to this growing problem. What an incredible opportunity.