PXL_20250419_145209992

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:23 +0100

WATER SUPPLY AND STORAGE

Water supply was limited for the great City of Uxmal all year round, its old inhabitants were forced to exploit at the maximum the capability of harvesting rainfall water and store it in large amounts. To accomplish this, they used natural depressions, but more frequently they built underground cisterns known as chultunes, beside the bukteoob; more than ten of these have been found in Uxmal, the most important is known as Chen Chan Akal "the well of the serpent", and the water holes that were designed wilth water inlets and outlets, similar to an irrigation ditch.

The chultunes interior was coated with a fine stucco layer for preventing loses of the vital liquid through filtration. The middle-sized ones could store around 35000 liters of water. These were common in habitational groups, in the palace-type buildings, in the plazas, etc.