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Published Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Drinking water supply cuts begin
in March, warns Water Institute
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
According to the Public Water Institute, AyA, beginning March 1 during one of the driest months, drinking water services will be suspended to approximately 78,000 people.
In the case of customers located in San José Province, the cuts would begin in the cantons of Desamparados, Mata Redonda, Alajuelita, Hatillo, Patarrá, San Miguel, Moravia, Santa Ana, Salitral among others. It is expected for the suspension of drinking water service to last between 8 to 10 hours.
For the rest of the country of 1.3 million clients, they will not experience drinking water service suspension during March.
According to Alexander Solís, president of the National Emergency Commission, the government is developing strategies to protect agriculture and livestock during the summer months, from March to June, due to the lack of rainfall.
The plan includes the purchase of supplies and equipment to support the farmers as well as the purchase of food to distribute to the farms with animals.
In addition, AyA announced plans to buy pipes and improve the interconnection between the water pumping stations located in Santa Ana and Puente Mulas.
However, the institute is still in the process of analyzing the construction of two water storage tanks to supply the residents of the Guadalupe Canton in San José. They are also in the process of purchasing pipes and accessories to improve the water services in La Valencia Canton, Heredia Province.
The wells in La Valencia and Belén are part of the piping network that provides drinking water to the Greater Metropolitan Area (which is the zone made up of cities in the outskirts of San José such as Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago). It is estimated that 7,000 people will suffer from the drinking water service outages during the summer.
According to the institute, if each family reduced their consumption to 275 liters per day, the water would be enough to supply to all the AyA clients.
Daily updated notices of the places and dates in which the drinking water service will be suspended can be found on the Institute's Facebook page.
In Costa Rica, the AyA is in charge of the administration and direct operation of the pipes and sewer systems mainly in urban areas. Also, municipalities provide drinking water to 16% of the population. The rest of the population receives the drinking water service from the Community Associations, ASADAS.
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