The challenge
In Cerro de Oro, a village of about 9,000 Indigenous Tz’utujil Maya people, the “Morada Apla” hospice cares for the terminally ill for free. There, clean water isn’t a convenience — it’s a basic part of dignity in someone’s final days.
But the municipal supply runs only a few hours every other day, and Lake Atitlán — the natural source — is polluted by sewage from nearly half a million basin residents and carries naturally high arsenic from the region’s volcanic geology. For vulnerable patients, that water is a real danger.
Our solution
We’re designing a two-phase fix. Now: chlorinated lake-water delivery plus point-of-use Ecofiltro units (clay, activated carbon, colloidal silver). Next: an on-site cistern with gravity-fed ultrafiltration or chlorination — sized for roughly 16 gallons of drinking water and 70 gallons of sanitation water a day — plus a proper septic system.
Our engineers, including in-kind support from McCord Environmental who assessed the site in person, lead the design. Sister Maria’s team at GOLD builds, permits, and operates. We’re their water advisors, on call whenever the questions get hard.
Who does what
We are force multipliers, not occupiers — the local partner leads and we supply the science, the design, and the funding.
- Design the storage and treatment system
- Assess source water and arsenic risk
- Troubleshoot on site (McCord Environmental, in-kind)
- Stay on call as the facility’s water advisors
- Build, permit, and operate the facility (GOLD)
- Manage construction and local logistics
- Run the system day to day
The team behind it
Volunteer scientists and engineers donating their expertise to this project — click anyone to see their work.
From the field
