Can You Drink The Water In Costa Rica?

Water: one of the most important determinants of humanity’s wellness and life on earth itself. Human body is composed of 70% of this liquid treasure. 

Can’t stop to think if we are taking good care of it and the answer that in Costa Rica we are always trying to and every drop counts.

Yes you can drink the water in Costa Rica. 91.2% of Costa Rica’s population has access to high quality drinking water at home. We have this amazing privilege and yet some people don’t preserve it as they should.

Costa Rica is constantly working in education about both hygiene and conscience about water’s importance. This also means that even with the investment of resources to educate people, there’s still not a custom to wash our hands after going to the bathroom or before cooking meals so the spreading of stomach viruses and typhoid fever remain elevated. 

The Institute of Water, AyA, is in charge of legislation for 214 aqueducts that provide water to 48% of the population. It’s also in charge to supervise ASADAS, municipalities and ESPH. So 98% of Costa Ricans get water through pipes to their homes.

The Health  Ministry also plays an important part with water since it’s vigilant of compliance of the Water Protection Laws , including the construction of new structures because they need to prove with blueprints that they will plan ahead the management of clean and waste waters. 

Uruguay and Chile’s water is also very clean and healthy. As a matter of fact, according to a Canadian study, Costa Rica and Chile are the only two countries in Latin America where you can drink tap water peacefully without getting sick.

We keep investing to get the best results with parameters that are appropriate for regulations and we keep hiring professionals in our labs so water stays high quality in Costa Rica. Not all countries have their own labs for water standardizations and since this is a small country it is not that hard to carry out this task. 

The Rainy season has changed as well, so we have a little less water available. Some of the Central Valley’s lakes like La Sabana and Parque de la Paz were completely dry a couple of years ago but they can be used as reference. 

The usage of tree wood has been devastating, trees are very important in water amounts. So we need to create more sustainable ways to use wood without losing the forests near rivers and lakes.

Being conscious about the amount, quality and availability of Costa Rica’s water is key to protect it and administrate it wisely so water doesn’t get contaminated and that the country doesn’t lack the infrastructure to transport it through the pipes. 

Costa Rica still has a long way to go to appropriately use  the water it has. Even so, we have better practices than the rest of America and drinking water covers almost all the country, making sure our people stay healthy with this relevant natural resource.