Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges

Despite Costa Rica's reputation for being a leader in environmental policy and its thriving nature-based tourism industry, the nation has had poor surface water quality. Reasons for poor water quality include the lack of sewerage treatment, overuse of septic tanks, and the application of large quant...

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Autor principal: Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: IWA Publishing 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/12813
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author Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
author_browse Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
author_facet Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
author_sort Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
collection Repositorio CATIE
description Despite Costa Rica's reputation for being a leader in environmental policy and its thriving nature-based tourism industry, the nation has had poor surface water quality. Reasons for poor water quality include the lack of sewerage treatment, overuse of septic tanks, and the application of large quantities of agrichemicals. Although Costa Rica has policies to maintain surface water quality, they have not been sufficiently implemented. Recent initiatives have addressed surface water quality, including an ambitious plan to expand treated sewerage systems in all urban areas. Current efforts to meet this goal have focused on the San Jose metropolitan area and coastal communities. This paper reviews the advances and challenges to Costa Rica's efforts to improve water quality.
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institution Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza
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spelling RepoCATIE128132025-05-15T22:54:29Z Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger Wastewater treatment Water policy Water quality Water supply and sanitation Sede Central ODS 3 - Salud y bienestar ODS 6 - Agua limpia y saneamiento Despite Costa Rica's reputation for being a leader in environmental policy and its thriving nature-based tourism industry, the nation has had poor surface water quality. Reasons for poor water quality include the lack of sewerage treatment, overuse of septic tanks, and the application of large quantities of agrichemicals. Although Costa Rica has policies to maintain surface water quality, they have not been sufficiently implemented. Recent initiatives have addressed surface water quality, including an ambitious plan to expand treated sewerage systems in all urban areas. Current efforts to meet this goal have focused on the San Jose metropolitan area and coastal communities. This paper reviews the advances and challenges to Costa Rica's efforts to improve water quality. 2025-05-14T21:23:23Z 2025-05-14T21:23:23Z 2024-11-04 Artículo https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/12813 openAccess en Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2024.144 12 páginas application/pdf IWA Publishing
spellingShingle Wastewater treatment
Water policy
Water quality
Water supply and sanitation
Sede Central
ODS 3 - Salud y bienestar
ODS 6 - Agua limpia y saneamiento
Madrigal-Ballestero, Roger
Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title_full Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title_fullStr Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title_short Surface water quality in Costa Rica: new initiatives and challenges
title_sort surface water quality in costa rica new initiatives and challenges
topic Wastewater treatment
Water policy
Water quality
Water supply and sanitation
Sede Central
ODS 3 - Salud y bienestar
ODS 6 - Agua limpia y saneamiento
url https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/12813
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