Charity Works: Caminos de Agua, A Salute To The Architecture Of Water

By Danita Brisson

Water, or the absence of it, sculpts the global landscape. Flora, fauna and humanity thrive where it exists and fail where it does not. It was the 16th century discovery of a water source by Fray Juan de San Miguel that precipitated the founding of our beloved city. The site boasted two freshwater springs, Batán and Izcuinapan, which supplied all of the town's water until the 1970s. As our population and water usage have swelled, our once-dependable water table has dropped by nearly 2 meters annually.

San Miguel sits within the Upper Río Laja Watershed where naturally occurring arsenic and fluoride exist in its volcanic bedrock. The depletion of the water table has necessitated drilling ever deeper wells. Contaminants at those levels are more concentrated; thus, the more groundwater we draw, the more polluted is the water we harvest. Fortunately, Caminos de Agua has been addressing this for over 13 years with a mission to improve human health and community well-being through clean water access.

Dylan Terrell, Founder and Executive Director, reports that to date, the local nonprofit has installed more than 1,500 large-scale rainwater harvesting systems. Rainwater is naturally free of arsenic and fluoride, and coupled with basic filtration, provides a safe drinking source. However, at a cost of around $1,200USD per family, it’s expensive to scale across entire communities. Moreover, these systems are susceptible to the vagaries of the weather. San Miguel’s current drought conditions may be an anomaly or may be our new climactic norm. Regardless, Caminos’ strategies persist in resculpting our landscape through the architecture of water.

Dylan explains that Caminos’ determination to find a broader, more sustainable solution spawned the Groundwater Treatment System (GTS).

Caminos and global partners spent seven years developing the award-winning innovation that removes arsenic and fluoride from well water efficiently, affordably, and on a community-wide scale. One GTS unit can treat up to 1.5 million liters of water per year. That supplies 1500 people with 3 liters of drinking water each, per day, achieving national consumption guidelines. This month marks the first anniversary of the installation of Caminos’ second GTS, in Alonso Yáñez near the Presa Allende. It ensures 270 families long-term independence and resilience by providing safe and sustainable drinking water. Residents have taken ownership of the water system and their health. Says Matías Ramírez, of the local GTS Committee, “The system belongs to us, to the community. We don’t need to depend on another organization. We have the ability to be self-sufficient.”

Dylan explains the benefits of GTS for San Miguel this way, “Unlike many commercial systems, it doesn’t require a continuous electricity supply, wastes almost no water, and can be operated by trained local residents. Even with these considerable efficiencies, each installation is about one eighth the cost per person of rainwater harvesting systems he says. “A GTS costs between $25,000 and $50,000 USD depending on the community size, contamination levels, and other factors. For reference, the GTS in Alonso Yáñez cost roughly $40,000USD”

To date, Caminos’ clean water technologies have improved the lives of over 55,000 residents. As groundwater quality continues to decline, they plan to install 8 more GTS, reaching over 10,000 additional local residents in the next 5 years. They will carry on building rainwater systems where appropriate, monitoring water quality, training local youth and technicians to secure self-sufficiency and safe water access, and building networks of GTS communities. Globally, as GTS technology spreads to other countries, the architecture of water will resculpt the landscape and lives of millions of people, thanks in large measure to the efforts of our local team.

Says Dulce Abigail of Alonso Yáñez “GTS has become a project of unity in which people once again believe in possibilities. It gives us hope that we, as younger people, know that our brothers and sisters are consuming clean water. I invite you—come to learn about the GTS in Alonso Yáñez, meet the people who keep this system running on a daily basis. And let me offer you a small glass of water, treated water fresh from the GTS, clean water from my community’s well.”

We should all raise our glasses and salute the world class work of Caminos de Agua, because their cause impacts us all. Their success is our success, and their failure is not an option.

To learn how you can help ensurea safe water supply for yourselfand your community, subscribe to Caminos’ newsletter at: www.caminosdeagua.org