Lima , Peru ’s Das Kapital , is running dangerously low on weewee , but archaeology may furnish an answer in the form of a system of water storage developed by the area ’s indigenous people 1,400 years ago .
Much of the world has seasons of wet and ironical and must front the problem of urinate urine provision last until the next rain come . Few spot have it as bad as Lima , however , the big city in western South America . Located in an extreme desert , the city get a bantam fraction of the rainfall necessary for life , instead count on rivers run from the highlands , which dry up for months at a time . On the other hand , inland wet seasons can bring severe floods . As usual , climate change is ask to make both problems bad .
Building dkm has become the general response , but besides flooding precious river vale , much of the urine store this way evaporates before it can be used . Ancient people in what is now Peru had a unlike approach . They diverted water from watercourse in the wet season into rock fractures . The water would then trickle through underground chap , emerging downstream just when it was require the most .
Researchers from Imperial College London have been studying the working of these scheme , today known as mamanteos after the Spanish for suckle , and believe they could be scale up to solve Lima ’s modern - day problems .
A squad led byDr Boris Ochoa - Tocachiplaced dyes in a recently restored mamanteo system of rules during the 2014 and 2015 wet time of year . Located at Huamantanga 3,300 meters ( 11,000 foot ) above sea stage , this is one of the few mamanteos in usage today . InNature Sustainabilitythey cover dye water surfaced an norm of 45 days later , with some taking eight months .
" With the advent of modern science , you ’d be forgive for inquire how ancient methods could employ to modern - day problems . However , it turns out that we have lots to find out from our ancestors ' creative trouble - solving skills , " Ochoa - Tocachi state in astatement .
The authors extrapolate that 99 million three-dimensional meters ( 2.8 million cubic feet ) could be diverted each year through the tilt systems of Lima ’s catchment area . In the other part of the ironical season , this would increase available water resourcefulness by 33 percent , providing nearby farmers with an extended period of time during which crops could grow .
Later in the dry time of year , when urban piss supplying are play low-pitched , the water that take the slowest way of life would provide a small but crucial top - up .
Such diversions would cut down the scourge of floods when the wet season score too hard . The authors do not consider redirecting rivers in this manner a terminated solution to Lima ’s pee problem but think it could be combined with modest - graduated table dams to meet the growing metropolis ’s future needs .
