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Water Quality Maintenance

Human manipulation of the natural environment can result in unintended consequences. For instance, storing water not only can result in decreased water quality but also enable endemic diseases and pests, such as parasite-ridden flies and malaria-bearing mosquitoes, to flourish. Additionally, fungal species can proliferate in improperly stored or stressed maize which can produce chemicals like aflatoxin, a deadly liver carcinogen. However, the Maya were adept in constructing reservoirs that could guarantee high water quality. The Maya applied their knowledge of wetland biosphere ecology and ensured a balance of hydrophytic and macrophytic plants and other organisms. For example, the Maya widely adopted the dotleaf waterlily, Nymphaea ampla, in their reservoirs' bodies of water. Dotleaf waterlilies, have bluish undersides that prevent passage of light and thus minimizes algae growth, inhibits evaporation, provides shade for predators of pests, removes nitrogen through their roots, and serves as an indicator of acidic conditions as water lilies cannot tolerate low pH levels; low pH levels have been linked to tooth corrosion and disruption of gut homeostasis. Lastly, lining the reservoir with clay was also intelligently applied to help stabilize water pH.