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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



given its name to the nearby Calle del Arco), and 

 continues diagonally southeastward to the brick 

 alcantarilla in the Plazuela de Valle. From this 

 tank metal pipes go southward in two lines: 

 (a) By way of the jnla m the Plazuela de Valle 

 and the watering trough in Abasolo to the pila 

 in the Plazuela de Bravo, and (b) down Ram6n 

 Corona to the pila in the Plaza Principal and on 

 via the Calle Nacional to pilas in the Plaza de los 

 Martu-es and the Plazuela de Mina. The above- 

 mentioned six pilas constitute all of the munic- 

 ipally provided sources of free water in town. 

 Formerly there was a pila in front of the chapel of 

 San Vicente, but the piping was taken out in 

 1928, and the foimtain was removed in the 1930's 

 when Benito Juarez was widened and paved. 

 There are a few subsidiary pipe lines, some under- 

 ground and some running on the surface of the 

 streets and sidewalks, which carry water to a few 

 homes and places of business. In 1945 only 

 65 buildings (of the 725 m Quu-oga) had piped 

 water, and 43 of these were in the two western 

 cuarteles. The two districts or barrios known as 

 El Calvario (north of Doblado, Valle, Cuerno, 

 and Ohvo) and El Pueblo Nuevo (east of Guerrero 

 and PuebUta) have no piped water and no pilas. 

 The bulk of the water for domestic use is carried 

 by women and girls in ollas or water jars (carried 

 both on the head and on the shoulder) from the 

 nearest pila to their homes. Those who can afford 

 it employ water-carriers or aguadores who carry 

 10 gallons of water from pila to house for 10 cents 

 Mexican (10 centavos). These aguadores attach 

 two 5-gallon kerosene cans or latas by cord or 

 wire to the ends of a short pole which is balanced 

 across one or both shoulders. The whole arrange- 

 ment is known as a maroma. In recent years (due 

 to deforestation, denudation, erosion, and acceler- 

 ated run-off) the springs in the cajas de agua 

 have not been able to supply the needs of Quiroga 

 dm-ing the dry season. In 1945 the Pila de Mina 

 dried up March 27; and by the 4th of April the 

 Pila de los Martires and the Pila de Bravo were 

 dry, and the other jnlas were low. In addition to 

 the absolute lessening of water supply through 

 increased run-off at the time of the rains, part of 

 the difficulty in the town's water supply has been 

 occasioned by the use of old tubes and pipes which 

 lose a great deal of water through cracks and by 

 percolation. The present canerla and tuberla date 

 from a renovation in 1878-84 and partial replace- 



ment in 1923. The ayuntamiento in 1946 acquired 

 some concrete piping and was attempting to obtain 

 sufficient State and Federal assistance so that a 

 complete new water system could be installed, 

 including pilas or outlets for El Calvario and El 

 Pueblo Nuevo. Besides the piped water and 

 fountains, there are some other supplementary 

 somxes of water. There are 46 wells, varying in 

 depth from 5 to 10 meters, which supply water to 

 the families owning the wells (which are in the 

 back yards). However, most of these wells run 

 dry toward the end of the dry season (usually in 

 April and May); a number of them have but a 

 small supply of water at best; and the majority 

 have polluted water which is used only for watering 

 plants and laundering clothes. Most of the wells 

 (34) are in the two lower cuarteles in the vicinity of 

 the arroyos ; three wells are on the southern margin 

 of El Calvario; and four wells are in El Pueblo 

 Nuevo. Most of the animals are watered at the 

 trough on Abasolo, and practically no use is now 

 made of the horse bath or Bano de los Caballos 

 which is a circular brick and masom-y basin 2 

 meters deep and 14 meters in diameter located just 

 west of the Plaza de la Constituci6n and fed by 

 several small springs. The slaughterhouse, some 

 irrigated gardens and orchards, a public bathhouse, 

 and several tanneries and tile and brick factories 

 located in the western portion of town obtain their 

 water by pipes from the spring of Atzitzindaro 

 and from the run-off of the several small springs 

 that are in that area. The spring of Petatario 

 northwest of El Calvario is used by some of the 

 residents of the northern part of El Calvario, and 

 the sprmg of La Tepdricua is utilized by the people 

 in the northeastern part of El Pueblo Nuevo. 

 Most of the laundering of clothes is carried on at 

 the various springs, and at several of the more 

 permanent pools in the Arroyo de Quiroga and the 

 Arroyo del Cerro Azul. 



When the various plazas, plazuelas, and pilas 

 were first established is not known. We have 

 already discussed some conjectures concerning the 

 mam plazas. It is claim.cd that the two alcanta- 

 rillas and a former jnleia in the Plaza Principal 

 near the sole bald cypress constituted the main 

 elements of the town's water system a century 

 ago. In 1857-58 the modern system was inaug- 

 urated, and on January 1, 1858, the pila and the 

 50-foot column with the statue of "America" in 

 the Plaza Principal were dedicated. Between 1861 



