Water Is Work: Lessons from San Cris💙

Holisss!😊

We’re already at the end of our third week in Mexico and our second in San Cristóbal de las Casas, and I honestly can’t believe how fast time is moving!
This week was full of fieldwork, reflection, design, and MANY café study sessions. More than anything, it was a week that pushed me to really think about what “access to clean water” actually looks like, and how the work we’re doing connects to people’s daily lives.

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🌿 Tseinan Visit & Project Feedback

We started the week by visiting Tseinan, a nonprofit that supports children and families in rural communities with cleft lip and palate care. We had the chance to present Rice students’ ENGI 120 projects and get feedback from the Tseinan team.

It was amazing to see how excited they were about the designs, and also how much room there is for engineering solutions to improve health care in under-resourced areas.

The visit grounded me in the idea that empathy belongs at the center of design, especially when working with communities whose needs are often overlooked.

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💧🧪 La Kisst Fieldwork & Projects

Later in the week, we collected water samples from La Kisst, a local lagoon, for our Projects 2 & 3. Though this may sound like a simple task, we had to collect gallons of water and carry it through the town back to our villa. I do have to admit,  I was exhausted after just five minutes and gave the water back to the guys .😭

It really put into perspective how many people, especially women, do this daily, often with no alternative.

Project 2 focuses on removing turbidity using Moringa oleifera, while Project 3 explores disinfection using UV light, with and without lime juice. These projects are testing natural and low-cost methods to make contaminated surface water safe to drink.

These results are still in progress!

This week was heavy on project time, and it was actually kind of peaceful. We prepared our moringa solutions, set up our UV-lime samples, and disassembled more components of the BRITA Elite Faucet System for our engineering design/manufacturing project.

What stood out to me was how much I’ve learned about materials, manufacturing processes like injection molding, and how these designs can (or can’t) be replicated for local use in Mexico. It’s one thing to understand how something is built—but another to ask whether it can actually be built affordably, accessibly, and effectively in a different setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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💙 El Encuentro with Cántaro Azul

Midweek, we visited El Encuentro, a beautiful park where Cántaro Azul and othe

r local organizations come together to work on sustainable solutions for water access.

We got to see a new water purification system they implemented for river water! This system combines filtration and thoughtful design, right at the community level.

 

It was inspiring to witness collaboration that’s grounded in local needs, environmental protection, and long-term sustainability. It reminded me that no one organization can solve water issues alone, but together, we can do a lot.

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🌊 Sumidero Canyon, Dams & Hydropower

We wrapped the week with a boat ride through the Sumidero Canyon, a natural wonder that took my breath away, and not just because of its cliffs. We followed the Grijalva River to the Chicoasén Dam and the Manuel Moreno Torres Hydroelectric Power Plant, one of the most important energy-generating sites in the country.

What amazed me most was seeing, in real life, the scale of water infrastructure I’d only ever studied in class. Seeing how rivers are redirected, energy is generated, and entire regions depend on these systems made me rethink the balance between natural resources, human needs, and environmental impact. It was engineering on a whole new scale and a perfect way to connect what I’ve been learning to real-world systems.

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🥹 Saying Goodbye (A Little Early)

 

Although we still have time left in the program, this week we had an early goodbye dinner (since Dr.Loyo was leaving) and it was such a special night. We shared an amazing meal, watched traditional Chiapas dancers, and celebrated everything we’ve learned together so far.

It’s wild to think how close we’ve all become, and how much we’ve grown, just in a few weeks.

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💭 What I’ve Learned About Water

These last few weeks have completely reshaped how I think about water access:

• Safe water is not just about chemistry, it’s about context. Every solution must be tailored to geography, culture, and resources. In Mexico City, we saw how rainwater harvesting systems like those from Isla Urbana serve neighborhoods with limited groundwater but abundant rainfall. In Chiapas, we learned how UV disinfection systems like the mesita azul meet the needs of families who depend on well or river water. Each solution is designed in response to local geography, culture, and need.

  But more than that, I’ve learned that design must center the user. One version of the mesita azul was more efficient on paper but failed in practice because it wasn’t convenient or durable for real families. That example—shared by Fermín himself—taught me how even a great idea can fail if it doesn’t fit people’s lived reality.

• Carrying water made it real.

  It’s easy to talk about water equity in a classroom; it’s something else to feel it in your arms. Walking with gallons of water from La Kisst reminded me that safe water access isn’t just about treatment, it’s about availability, reliability, and dignity.

• Collaboration matters.                                                              NGOs, engineers, and communities all need to work together to make sustainable access possible. Clean water doesn’t equal accessible water unless it’s sustainable, affordable, and designed with empathy. And that shift in thinking is something I’ll carry with me far beyond this trip.

Week 3 reminded me that every drop of clean water comes from intention, design, and teamwork. I’m excited (and a little emotional) as we head into our final days here in Chiapas. Still more testing to do, more learning to soak up and definitely more café time ahead. ☕💧

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I can’t wait to share more upcoming adventures from Chiapas, stay tuned!

See ya soon besties!😝