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I'm staying in SJO. Is the water safe to drink? Ice cubes? Fruit & Veggies?

129,000 people lack access to safe drinking water in Costa Rica

December 27, 2012

12:02 am

Maria Siu


Incredibly, in Costa Rica there are still people living without access to clean water. Data from the Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) talk about this part of the population amounts to 129,000 people, which represents almost 3% of the country's inhabitants.

The director of the National Water Laboratory, Darner Mora, said that this problem occurs most frequently in rural areas and in some municipal water systems. "Only 2.4% of the population does not have a reliable source of water, 90% of the population has access to potable water quality and 97.6% to piped water inside the house," he added.

Mora acknowledges that occasionally these people inside pipe may have some difficulty. This means that the number of people with drinking water could reach 430,172, ie 10% of the population in some seasons.

According to Mora, but Costa Rica has not yet achieved universal drinking water is one of the economies with greater coverage and quality of water in the world, ranking number 20 and the third in Latin. "To achieve universal need to implement a national project, which incidentally the undersigned are writing to be approved by the health authorities," the official said.

Among AyA projects for next year include the Aguan Reduction Program Unaccounted, with which, according to Mora, the goal would be achieved. Another plan for next year is the installation of the fifth stage of the Metropolitan Aqueduct and the implementation of projects financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration wellfield expansion of Potrerillos, Wells Northeast and expanding Plant San Antonio de Escazú, Santa Ana Salitral, Periurban Plan and Master Plan Integration Orosí Aqueduct, and there are several projects underway by the emergence of the Storm Thomas.

In the country, the per capita water consumption is 200 liters per person per day. At the moment there is no indicator that says water consumption per person in 2030, however by 2021 should drop to 150 liters per person.

Lettuce is a prime offender as poor farming practices allow runoff from livestock to get into the crops. Lettuce absorbs the bacteria into its flesh whereas most other fruit and veggies keep it on the surface and can be washed or peeled.
The water in Costa Rica is generally fine. I'd watch it in very rural areas only.

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