Some of the older houses still use these water filters and coolers in summer. You put the water into the bowl at the top, made of a porous stone (I think it’s volcanic tuff). The water filters through, and drips into the bottom bowl, which isn’t porous. Obviously this filters out any impurities, and because some of the water evaporates, the rest cools down.
The stand for the wooden bowls always seems to be wooden, and some are beautifully carved. And the top bowl often starts growing ferns.
This one is is the island’s museum, in Santa Cruz. There’s another in La Distiladera Craft Shop in Breña Alta (where most of the goods are produced by mentally handicapped adults in the Employment Centre next door).
It’s a nice piece of low technology, and I can personally testify that they do work.
