Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) indicated that in December 2015 the project for wastewater treatment will be completed in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), despite delays in the execution of the work.

Rafael Barboza, director of environmental improvement for the project, said the project has a total cost-to-date of $321 million.

Of this amount, $150 million is financed by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation.

The rest of the money will come from the Inter-American Development Bank with $50 million through a loan that has already been approved and the National Bank will provide $70 million.

According to Barboza, now with the final design of the pipes being completed and the secondary networks and traps, which are the tubes through which all waste water is transported. The official said that at the end of this month this stage would be fulfilled.

Moreover, he said the tunnel and outfall are completed. Now AyA must pass the construction phase of these projects, which have already been designed.

“We also have completed the work of the sub-collector that sits in San Miguel Desamparados, this work has a value of $4 million,” said Barboza.

With this infrastructure, AyA hopes to collect the sewage of 45,000 people in, Desamparados, Los Guido, San Miguel and La Capri.

The Project Manager said they expect to bid on tenders for each of the developments to meet the schedule.

This point is vital because the project shows a delay in their level of performance.

According to an audit at the end of last year it was projected to have a delay of 10 months.

Environmental Component

Barboza explained that the work is one of the first to be developed by AyA for wastewater management in the Metropolitan Area in a treatment plant which should be ready by 2015 in La Uruca.

At that site, the wastewater goes through a chemical and biological process to eliminate most of the pollution. Then, the liquid is treated and deposited in the Virilla River, which feeds the river of Tárcoles. This is the most polluted tributary of Central America.

The project aims to prevent waste water going into rivers without any treatment. “The idea is to convey channel the sewage to a collector for treatment, and then deposit it in the rivers,” explained the director of the project.

Source: Costa Rica North