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Inside Costa Rica reports a dirtly little secret about CR in Monday's edition as to why you shouldn't use the rivers here or wade in the surf where any of them empty into either ocean.

97% of every time somebody flushes the toilet in SJ it winds up in a creek and then into the Tarcoles river, as well as whatever else gets dumped down the sewer.

The same thing happens in most of the rest of CR and other rivers in CR. There are only a handful of treatment plants in the whole country.

And that includes those little creeks up and down both coasts which really are the sanitation system for most of the beach towns. In Quepos, where I live, there's the one little stream at the north end of the beach in Manuel Antonio where those big rock formations are and on the south end near the entrance to the national park. Whenever I see the little tico K*ds playing in that I cringe.


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I understand what you're saying. Ever see that little river that flows behind the zoo in San Jose? It's disgusting.

Keeping the streets, rivers, etc. clean in Costa Rica doesn't seem to be much of a priority. I cringe every time I see a tico littering in the streets, as if it is the "OK" thing to do. Indeed, once while I was walking back from the Ch*ldren's Museum with a chica friend and her little daughter, the daughter dropped a soda can and candy wrapper onto the sidewalk. I corrected her, telling her she shouldn't litter and we picked it up and deposited it in the trash. I told her mother that it has to start somewhere, though the mother seemed to have little interest.

Come to think of it, I often see gringos littering in San Jose....they should know better.

Zebra

Been rafting a number of times in CR. The Pecuare is a whole lot cleaner than the city rivers. I have no problem with the water. The river behind the zoo and the SL is pretty discusting.

River rafting is going to be my cover for my next trip so I don`t want to hear about this toilet business. LOL

I don't know about old construction, but I am a developer and the Ministry of Health and Setena require every new development, have its own waste treatment plant. The end result of these plants is water that is very clean.

I try not to dwell on things like that as I tried my luck at surfing in Jaco. I didnt smell anything there.Man has been using the bathroom outdoors for how many millions of years. Ive never dug up an ancient turd while plowing my garden. Many american cities dumped sewage in creeks and rivers as well years ago.CR is just a few years behind us in technology and priority of things like this.