Water is one of the most contentious sigues around.
Who gets it and who doesn’t can make the difference between wealth and poverty, and in extreme cases, life and death. In Guanacaste, besides the heavy demands of agriculture, local aquifers are now under heavy pressure from the rapid growth in construction and tourism. For local residents, this means that water cuts and quality problems have become an increasingly frequent reality. Meanwhile, AyA is fighting a thankless, losing battle trying to keep up with demand. Especially challenging is meeting the demand from new development at the boundaries of its network, i.e. from coastal communities. But should it need to?
If a scenic hillside villa with three bathrooms, landscaped gardens, and swimming pool is in competition with a primary school for water resources, then who has the greater right to the available supply?
In this case, the school, obviously. But developers and homeowners need not despair: the answer is falling from the sky above. Rainwater collection, or rain harvesting, is not a new idea by any means. There are records of it being practiced as far back as 4000 years in arid and semi-arid regions of Lebanon and India.
Today, modern rainwater collection systems are found across the globe from Thailand to Hawaii, and now, Costa Rica.
According to Jim Ryan, founder and president of Agua Solutions, Costa Rica receives in the region of 4000 mm of rain a year, four times more than in Seattle, Washigton, a city in the United States famed for its semi-permanent state of dampness. He argues that there is no waters shortage here, only a shortage here, only a shortage of water resource management. His company provides a variety of eco-friendly solutions to water-related issues. The bulk of this company’s work is focused on setting up sustainable rainwater harvesting systems for anybody who needs water, from the melon grower to the villa owner. And because of the abundant quantity of rain that falls here and distinct seasonal wet and dry periods, the residents of Guanacaste are the ideal beneficiaries of this type of technology.
Most residential systems use the for space as a catchment area for rainwater that is them filtered and stored in secure underground tanks for later purification and use, providing naturally soft and pure water without the use of chlorine. Depending on the size of the storage tanks you can expect to meet all or most of your water needs throughout the year. It’s great long-term, low-maintenance option, providing those in remote, coastal or mountainous areas that do not have access to wells or sanitary supplies with pure, naturally distilled water. Added advantages include the elimination of standing water, inhibiting mosquito populations, and the peace of mind of having an independent, secure supply in a seismically active region. All advantages which are equally beneficial to those living in remote or well populated urban centers.
For those interested in literally ‘singing in the rain’ the next time they shower, or just finding out more about rainwater harvesting and their stock of other ingenious technologies, contact Agua Solutions.
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