Zeolite water filtration at Tikal
Filtración de agua con zeolita en Tikal
- Date
- c. 150 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Corriental Reservoir, Tikal, Petén, Guatemala
- Credited to
- Maya of Tikal
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Zeolite and quartz sand brought from afar and placed at the inlet of a reservoir, capable of retaining heavy metals and microbes. It would be the oldest water-purification system in the Western Hemisphere.
Tankersley et al. (Scientific Reports, 2020); the deliberateness of the filter is an interpretation.
What it led to
- safe drinking-water supply for a city of tens of thousands of people