Ancient Maya Water Filtration System Still Works Today

Archaeologists discovered that the ancient Maya civilization in Central America used a natural water filtration system approximately 2,000 years ago, a method researchers say could still be effective in the 21st century. The system, found in the Corriental reservoir at the Maya city of Tikal in modern-day Guatemala, used a mixture of zeolite and crystalline quartz to filter water. These materials were transported from a source about 29 kilometers away, suggesting the Maya deliberately replicated a natural purification effect they had observed. The findings, published in Scientific Reports in 2020, represent one of the oldest known zeolite water purification systems. Lead author Kenneth Barnett Tankersley noted the Maya's engineering capabilities in water management were millennia ahead of other ancient civilizations, though the system's effectiveness against all microorganisms remains unproven.