The trip to San Cris was a great opportunity to learn about the projects that Cántaro is currently working on and to discuss the best projects for collaboration. There are many different things we could do together, and we will continue working on projects through the CEVE/GLHT 314 course, but we have started to think of more comprehensive ventures.
Cántaro is very interested in starting work on sanitation to complement their drinking water work. They will have greater capacity to build testing systems this summer, once their new building at the El Encuentro park is built. (Sophia wrote about this here.) Besides being a beautiful place to work, it seems ideal to test gray water treatment systems based on constructed wetlands, and other strategies to protect el río Amarillo from contamination. El Amarillo runs through the park and is one of San Cristobal’s rivers, although not as interestingly named as the other river, el río Fogótico. There was some confusion as to which one of the two runs through El Encuentro, but I think we figured it out in the end…
We would also like to continue working on dechlorination with activated carbon and hyperchlorination. I visited San Francisco de Asís in Pantelhó, which has one of these systems installed. The hyperchlorination/dechlorination system was not the only reason to visit the community. Cántaro is considering installing some sort of gray water treatment/reuse here as well.
In addition, their community septic tank is one of the reasons Cántaro is interested in sanitation. The tank was installed around a decade ago, it has never been maintained and now is releasing a liquid permanently. Septic tanks need to have an effluent of course, but this one seems to release a lot more water when it rains (maybe the tank was not sealed properly or has developed leaks in the tank itself or the collection system) and the people in San Francisco complain about foul odor. The tank sits on the side of a hill, and it’s easy to miss. Even the outfall was difficult to find.
The trip to Pantelhó was quite long, but I had a good time talking to Armando, who skillfully drove Cántaro’s camioneta on the sinuous gravel roads through the fog, while teaching me about Tzeltal communities and culture.
Community mural in San Francisco de Asís
Another point of collaboration that is very interesting to me is the research on water quality and water quality improvement. Working with the Gestión del Conocimiento team, including Héctor, Sinead, Fermín, and Ane (whom I have not met yet) will be a lot of fun.
And last but not least, the Technology team promises to be a great source for CEVE/GLHT 314 and ENGI 120 projects!
-Jorge