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Tuesday, June 2, 2020begins in Guanacaste By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Work began on the expansion of the Bagaces Canton pipeline in Guanacaste Province with a budget of $8,567,008, announced the Public Water Institute, also known as AyA by its acronym in Spanish. The company Intec was hired to handle the project. The excavations phase and the delivery of the construction materials already began. The water will be taken from the Epiphany natural spring. From where 77 liters per second will be extracted that will be distributed in the city using 17.7 kilometers of pipe. Also, a new 2,500 cubic meter storage tank will be built. According to the Institute, the new aqueduct will benefit more than 17,000 people living in Bagaces when the project will be finished in two years. According to Yamileth Astorga, president of the Institute, specialists are working on alternatives to solve the problem with arsenic that has been detected in the aqueducts of the Bagaces community, "whose levels have increased as a result of the decrease in water sources." The Institute announced that it is in the design stage of another aqueduct project to supply drinking water to communities around Bagaces. The new project will benefit 2,800 people living in the communities of Agua Caliente, Falconiana, Montenegro, Bagatzí, Quintas Don Miguel, La Loba and Salitral. "This project has a preliminary cost estimate of $2,563,951." This is the second million dollar pipeline project announced by the Institute in less than one month.  On May 10, the project to improve drinking water service in the country was declared a public interest by the government. It is planned to distribute 2,500 liters of water per second from the Orosí Canton in Cartago Province to the metropolitan area of San José Province. According to the Institute, this is a project that cost $422 million and is in its design stage. "This pipeline project will provide drinking water to 600,000 people in the Metropolitan Area until 2041," Astorga said. She added that it will also include the construction of 42 km of pipes, 8.6 km of tunnels, a new water treatment plant and four storage tanks of 10,000 cubic meters each. The public interest declaration allows the Ministry of Environment to authorize the construction of infrastructure to supply drinking water from the State's natural resource. The current drinking water business is a government monopoly. In the case of this project, this authorization was necessary to install some of the pipes, build the entrances and exits of the tunnels and work on part of the land of the new water treatment plant. According to the institute, the construction of pipelines will begin in 2021, generating more than 600 jobs. The project is expected to be completed in 2025. In addition to this project, the institute announced progress in other 23 pipeline improvement projects also in the metropolitan area, at a cost of $54,756,594 for distributing drinking water to the inhabitants. According to the Institute, the deficit in drinking water service in San José province is because there have been two consecutive years of little rain, which has affected rivers and water wells, between 6% and 85 percent. People in communities affected by constant cuts in drinking water service are at a disadvantage for following the Ministry of Health recommendations to be constantly washing hands and following clean habits. Access to water and sanitation is a human right, according to a United Nations resolution made in 2010. -------------------------- What kind of a water shortages are in your community? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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