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20 years

One million people receiving tap water contaminated with fecal matter: AyA

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(Archive/stock image)

(Archive/stock image)

December 15th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) One million people who rely on community water systems known as ASADAs are receiving tap water contaminated with fecal matter, the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) said during a Friday press conference at AyA headquarters.

 

AyA executive president, Yamileth Astorga told reporters that the institute plans to address the problem in 2015, which especially affects those living in rural areas, 82% of which rely on community ASADAs for their water supply.

 

“We must ensure universal access to safe water and sanitation,” Astorga said.

 

Biological contamination not a new problem

 

A September 2013 report by the Comptroller General’s office indicated that 370 community-operated water systems in the country were contaminated with microbiological and other elements in excess of allowed limits.

 

In the 2013 report, contamination was found in the greater San Jose metro area and the Central Pacific, in addition to rural areas.

 

In addition to excessive microbiological contamination, the 2013 report found contamination by agrochemicals, grey water, excessive amounts of iron and calcium, and hydrocarbons.  The report said that insufficient water treatment was in large part to blame.

 

According to the 2013 report, as many as 1,350 community water systems are not chlorinated at all.  Those that do treat their water and were visited by the Comptroller General said they have never received the advice of AyA in regards to proper dosage or treatment methods.  Operators who do chlorinate their supplies use a number of varying methods, from chlorination pills, sodium chloride and liquid chlorine.

 

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  • prdatki

    Maybe the top 1,000 people at AyA should go to jail or have the pay cut bu 70% and pay for water treatment.I am afraid the President we now have is no better than the last two fools.

    • SDPUS

      These type of government criminals do need to not only be replaced but they must be jailed. Costa Rica is a free for all when it comes to crime. The real criminals who cause so much harm work with GUARANTEED public impunity. Thanks Jorge Chavarria!!!

      On another note, it did take someone to release this info on how Aya is a public harm that needs major leadership change.

      At least President Solis is releasing the info that his “studies” are finding. The previous administration ultimately created these problems, by entrenching their people throughout the government hierarchy. And all they do is deny responsibility for the countries problems.

      In order to change the culture of corruption that inherently exists in this government, the system of laws must be enforced equally. That means putting government crooks behind bars and creating examples, to show this behavior will not be tolerated.

      I am yet to see anyone with a backbone to do this, and sadly it looks like President Solis is also unwilling to take on the traditional powers that have created this system of government crime and impunity.

      I find it unbelievable how widely institutionalized corruption is in Costa Rica. There is not an institution here that is not beleagured with internal crime.

      • HONEST MAN

        Really sad to see what is happening with Costa Rica goverment. Water is a right and Costa Rica should have no problem giving clean water to the poor and middle class. I guess we now have to become like Mexico and drink from a bottle and start buying water. I am so sick of PLN ex goverment they should all be put in jail. Start with the last two president they should be kicked back to the USA they where puppets of CIA and NSA and the state department.

        • jimbo97

          Water is a “right”? Sounds just like the thousands of people in Detroit who went for years without paying their water bill (each owing thousands of dollars). When the city finally decided to start shutting off the water to the worst offenders, they screamed “Water is a RIGHT!”. They weren’t willing to pay their bill, but expected the water to continue to flow. Nothing is a “right” if someone else has to pay so you can get it for free…

          • mhogan

            Water should be a “right” — it is not made by Man. However, the distribution (tuberia, filtration, purification) system have to be paid by users, as it should be. The only fair way to charge for the service to get clean water to wherever one lives is to charge by meter for consumption. That being said, if the government should only charge for the distribution systems, it is incumbent on them to provide safe, reliable drinking water that will not cause harm. If they are not doing it, then we have a “right” to protest and demand we get what we are paying for. Basically, the government is committing FRAUD to the people by charging but not delivering.

          • jimbo97

            I certainly agree that if the consumer is paying for water service, they have a “right” to expect clean potable water. I however don’t believe that every citizen has the “right” to free water (delivered to their home at the expense of others) as it appeared that Honest Man was implying with his comment above.

          • mhogan

            ..

          • SDPUS

            Well there is an ignorant statement of misconstrued facts on what happened in Detroit. I suggest you dig a little deeper into what exactly happened and not take what you hear on Fox News as fact. This was just another ploy to try and privatize a public industry.

          • jimbo97

            Misconstrued facts?
            Mind explaining exactly what facts I stated that were incorrect?

            http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/09/23/detroit-officials-to-testify-in-water-dispute-we-cant-give-away-free-water/

            “….. You know you were right when they mention Fox News.”

          • SDPUS

            Jim- the problems going on in Detroit are much deeper and more complex than what you initially stated. You have corporations, golf courses and many abandoned houses who have water bills that are astronomical. You have infrastructure leaks. All of these problems have caused bills to sky-rocket. We are talking individual bills that are as high as $200K. But yet the city of Detroit decided to go after poor residences, who were a couple of bills behind ($200 bucks) and shut them off, rather than going after big businesses who were delinquent.

            Let me remind you Detroit is surrounded by the Great Lakes, home to 1/5 of the freshwater on earth.

            The fact that many report that there is a conspiracy amongst citizens of Detroit to just quit paying their bills is ludicrous. There is a broken local government who is trying to sell the municipal water system to privateers. Meaning lets make water into a commodity for profit. In order to do this, first it must be clear that all government is inept. It is important to make it appear that average citizens just want something for free. That is clearly not the case. But yet we see the privateers trying to take over education, healthcare and other public utilities…WHY? Because in this greedy world we live in, smart business people realize that MONOPOLY is the name of the game. And they could care less at whose expense that comes. Why wouldn’t big business want to control 1/5 of the worlds fresh water supply?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hh_YBMe3ko#t=186

          • jimbo97

            How about you go preach that Socialist utopia stuff to someone else… I don’t share your “everyone should be equal” views.
            All that talking and you never did say which one of my statements was misconstrued. Was it my statement that thousands of people in Detroit went for years without paying their water bills? or was it the activist trying to get the Untied Nations involved (and failed) to keep the water running.
            I don’t care about what may or may not be going on with the water department. That’s been a fight that’s been going on for years. My original comment was regarding Honest Man’s assertion that water is a right and a lot of people in Detroit that don’t pay their bills feel the same way. Blab all you want – re-read my original comment instead of crowing about how bad Capitalism is… you know what I said is true.

          • SDPUS

            The problem has more to do with large corporations not paying their water bills, than it does individual homeowners trying to get water for free. If you equate Oligopoly to capitalism you are highly naive. I realize reading is difficult for most Republicans, and that is why I included the video.I am fine with a capitalistic structure. I am not fine with crony capitalism. And there is a big difference.

          • SDPUS

            Not sure where you got Utopian Socialist or “everyone should be equal”, but I am willing to bet it is from your “fair and balanced” tv shows. And you are living proof of why Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News have been a disaster for our society. They teach and entice people to be disrespetful idiots. We don’t receive objective news anymore. Not from any of the networks, because they all found have found it necessary to compete with Fox’s ideological programming.

            I simply stated that certain facets of society should not be privatized: utilities, schools, healthcare and banking.

            But greedy privateers love to bash all government. Civilized society can’t function without it. And since Ronald Reagan has implemented his Trickle Down Society initiatives the world has gone into a tailspin of inequity. And we must listen to uninformed opinions like yourself label things as socialist or utopian. That is plain ignorance, just as your initial comment on the water situation in Detroit.

            It is time to enforce the anti-trust laws that are already on the books. We must stop greedy crooks from buying government employees…

          • jimbo97

            Still blathering on I see… How about you go polish you “I heart communism” and Warren/Clinton 2016 bumper stickers and F.O.?

          • SDPUS

            If you are only getting your news from the profit driven corporations who control the media, thru Oligopoly, then that is your very problem. Corporate media is great at telling you what you want to hear, whether it be Fox or NBC…they are not at all objective in news, but in actuality they are profit driven. They cater to fears, racism etc.

            The corporations have bought are governments throughout the world. And they seem to get what they want, no matter how hurtful they are to society.

            I am for people and Democratic institutions. To hell with the multi-nationals and the crony capitalism that they have bought and forced on the rest of us. And to top it off, these governments work with impunity. They protect criminals within their system. We see it in the USA. We see it in Costa Rica. It is happening everywhere at the citizens expense.

            They have thus far succeeded at “divide and conquer”. But things are slowly changing. As people have awaken to the inequities in society that have developed. Hence how we have super wealthy suburbs that surround the dirt poor inner city of Detroit.

            What is next? The privateers of Great Lakes water start selling it to California and Texas, because they can afford to pay a higher price (capitalism)?

            The very corporations that have caused global climate change (and denying it) are the ones who are now trying to profit off of these public resources. Look at Nestle bottling up water for profit in drought stricken California. This systemic greed needs to be stopped! Otherwise we continue on this feudal trend of being Serfs to the nobles…

            It is time to start breaking up big business by enforcing Anti-Trust laws…just as Europe is trying to do with Google. In recent decades we have de-regulated society, and in effect created a lawless culture for big business to run amok. It has corrupted our governments, from the local level all the way to our National Politics.

            It is time for the people to take back their Democracies!

    • HONEST MAN

      It will not take much to be better than the Corupt PLN EX prez they stole so much. It least now Johnny Araya is gone for 4 years.

  • richard schlinder

    Again,another indication of Tico planning or better yet, the lack there of.On my farm I have three year round springs that supply beautiful water. I have had them tested several times through the years. I was aware of the poor quality of water in C.R. and the water shortages as well. I wasn’t going to wait for AyA to get modern or get safe water.

  • disgsted

    Guanacaste being threaten with high arsenic levels in the water.. Government solution was a barrel with clay and rusty nails for filtration.. Tis is near Liberia/’Bagesces area. This is know as a heavy metal effects of mental development , Kidney, liver disease. Noticed CR keeps this quiet.. Also out in Turrialba local were getting stomach illness.. Noted the water supply they were drawing from had cattle in the water shed area. Fecal contaminates are present in every river with a popularization rivers flow though San Jose are just open sewers.

  • paul schmidt

    When water originates from a pristine area it will be relatively clean. When people begin to settle these area, make roads, cut the timber, install substandard septic systems, release grey water, keep livestock, plant crops, spray ag chemicals the water degrades in a real hurry.. I’m afraid that the shallow ground water springs that so many use are the first to go bad and the first order of business was to protect the watersheds but a growing population and no local or federal regulation created these problems.

  • Yeims

    I know this sounds crazy, but several years ago I concluded that ticos buy and large know germs exist, and they will acknowledge it, but when it comes to practices, it seems they really don’t believe that something you can’t see can hurt you. In the public buses, for example, in cooler weather all the windows are shut tight, eliminating all ventilation because it is cold air that causes colds and the flu. Knowing the cause of sickness, then, babies in the winter here are dressed for the arctic.

  • John Q Smith

    you see? and soon enough looks as though we can begin the dismantling of Cuba as well… following suite…

  • paul

    It would be helpful if a list of the communities affected would be available. Then individuals or communities could take action to remedy the situation either at a community or individual level. In response to those who deride the government and its departments, this is Costa Rica where we all know things do not proceed without the trials and tribulations of a third world country rifled with graft and corruption – get over it, and do something constructive to help at a local level.

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