Water is the essence of life and will become the defining issue of this century.
Where does it come from? Where does it go? Why does it matter? Experts Kenneth Binnix and Jose Wachong, from Water Systems Integrators tell us why.
Are we going to run out of water?
We will always have water, but if we don’t treat it now, we are going to run out of water we can drink. Writers and thinkers around the world are saying the next world war is going to be over water, not oil. In many parts of the US car washes and golf courses cannot use potable water and must recycle it. In Guanacaste water is a very precious commodity and its use needs to be restricted and regulated. The Costa Rican government is very much aware of this.
What exactly is waste water?
Everything that goes down toilets, sinks, and drains. We treat waste water generated by new developments where no other public sewer system is available.
Can you drink the water after it’s been treated?
Not according to Costa Rican law, but it can be used for other purposes. The plant cleans the wather back up bye removing the solid waste. The water is further treated, disinfected and can be recycled for agricultural or landscaping purposes, The stuff that’s left over – the sludge – is composted to remove pathogens (disease causing bacteria) and then it can be used as agricultural fertilizer.
What happens when there isn’t a wastewater treatment plant?
Septic tanks are one option. On limited use and depending on the density of the population you can have septic tanks that hold the waste underground allowing the solids to settle out while the water percolates into the soul through pipes in a drain field.
But aren’t there too many of us living too close together for septic tank system to work?
The ideal is 20 people per hectare. In this parto of Guanacaste we’re talking about over 200 people per hectare. In these cases they are not a solution because the soil becomes over-saturated. That means you have untreated raw sewage going out into the environment.
Why should I care?
Because eventually it’s going to make you sick. You’re contaminating streamsand the environment in many different ways. Water treatment is the sanitary boundary of society. Without it diseases can get into the soil and water and pose a serious risk to public health. Also, all it would take is one earthquake to break the rock layer that separates the dirty topsoil from our aquifers and to contaminate our drinking water. Once that happens that’s it – your water is no longer suitable for human use.
Is situation hopeless?
No, because water treatment makes sense. Addressing the issue as development takes place is a much cheaper alternative in the long run than the cost of cleaning up a polluted environment. Without it you are going to create a very unhealthy environment for humans and animals.
Development- Services 
