Assessment of drinking water suitability in low income rural areas: a case study in Sixaola, Costa Rica

Leonardo Mena-Rivera; José Quirós-Vega

doi:10.2166/wh.2018.203

Assessment of drinking water suitability in low income rural areas: a case study in Sixaola, Costa Rica

Leonardo Mena-Rivera^*, José Quirós-Vega

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Vegas-Las Palmas is a rural settlement located in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica on the border with Panama. Its population does not have access to potable water, and inhabitants depend on water from wells at the water table level to meet their needs. These wells lack basic infrastructure to protect this water from contamination. In this study, water quality was evaluated at 12 wells from 2014 to 2016 (n ¼ 72). The results revealed high concentrations of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli with maximum values of 4.6 × 10⁴ MPN/100 mL and 1.1 × 10⁴ MPN/100 mL, respectively. In addition, maximum values of pH, conductivity, turbidity, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were found to be outside the standard limits (nationally and internationally) for potable water. Possible sources of water contamination are associated with the geomorphological characteristics of the area, as well as with hydrometeorological and anthropogenic factors such as the lack of sewerage, the presence of latrines, animals near the wells and the use of agrochemicals. The water quality was heterogeneous among wells, and all of them were found to have conditions that caused water to be unfit for human consumption.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	403-413
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Water and Health
Volume	16
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2018.203
Publication status	Published - Jun 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarría-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzmán, B. Umaña-Gonzáles and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis.

Funding Information:
This study was undertaken within the framework of the project ‘Promotion of food and nutritional security in parcels of land in the Vegas-Las Palmas area of the district of Sixaola, in the canton of Talamanca’, code SIA 0511-13, financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarría-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzmán, B. Umaña-Gonzáles and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors.

Keywords

Drinking water
Health
Pollution
Water quality

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@article{54e2fc6351774925a8753d422ec2646b,

title = "Assessment of drinking water suitability in low income rural areas: a case study in Sixaola, Costa Rica",

abstract = "Vegas-Las Palmas is a rural settlement located in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica on the border with Panama. Its population does not have access to potable water, and inhabitants depend on water from wells at the water table level to meet their needs. These wells lack basic infrastructure to protect this water from contamination. In this study, water quality was evaluated at 12 wells from 2014 to 2016 (n ¼ 72). The results revealed high concentrations of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli with maximum values of 4.6 × 104 MPN/100 mL and 1.1 × 104 MPN/100 mL, respectively. In addition, maximum values of pH, conductivity, turbidity, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were found to be outside the standard limits (nationally and internationally) for potable water. Possible sources of water contamination are associated with the geomorphological characteristics of the area, as well as with hydrometeorological and anthropogenic factors such as the lack of sewerage, the presence of latrines, animals near the wells and the use of agrochemicals. The water quality was heterogeneous among wells, and all of them were found to have conditions that caused water to be unfit for human consumption.",

keywords = "Drinking water, Health, Pollution, Water quality",

author = "Leonardo Mena-Rivera and Jos{\'e} Quir{\'o}s-Vega",

note = "Funding Information: financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarr{\'i}a-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzm{\'a}n, B. Uma{\~n}a-Gonz{\'a}les and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis. Funding Information: This study was undertaken within the framework of the project {\textquoteleft}Promotion of food and nutritional security in parcels of land in the Vegas-Las Palmas area of the district of Sixaola, in the canton of Talamanca{\textquoteright}, code SIA 0511-13, financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarr{\'i}a-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzm{\'a}n, B. Uma{\~n}a-Gonz{\'a}les and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors.",

year = "2018",

month = jun,

doi = "10.2166/wh.2018.203",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

pages = "403--413",

journal = "Journal of Water and Health",

issn = "1477-8920",

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T1 - Assessment of drinking water suitability in low income rural areas

T2 - a case study in Sixaola, Costa Rica

AU - Mena-Rivera, Leonardo

AU - Quirós-Vega, José

N1 - Funding Information: financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarría-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzmán, B. Umaña-Gonzáles and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis. Funding Information: This study was undertaken within the framework of the project ‘Promotion of food and nutritional security in parcels of land in the Vegas-Las Palmas area of the district of Sixaola, in the canton of Talamanca’, code SIA 0511-13, financed by the National Council of Rectors of Costa Rica through the Special Fund for Higher Education. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of M. Dumani-Echandi, S. Barboza-Flores, A. Chavarría-Chang, S. Vargas-Oreamuno and Y. Vargas-Trejos in data collection; as well as I. Vega-Guzmán, B. Umaña-Gonzáles and J. Arroyo-Porras in sampling campaigns and laboratory analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Authors.

PY - 2018/6

Y1 - 2018/6

N2 - Vegas-Las Palmas is a rural settlement located in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica on the border with Panama. Its population does not have access to potable water, and inhabitants depend on water from wells at the water table level to meet their needs. These wells lack basic infrastructure to protect this water from contamination. In this study, water quality was evaluated at 12 wells from 2014 to 2016 (n ¼ 72). The results revealed high concentrations of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli with maximum values of 4.6 × 104 MPN/100 mL and 1.1 × 104 MPN/100 mL, respectively. In addition, maximum values of pH, conductivity, turbidity, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were found to be outside the standard limits (nationally and internationally) for potable water. Possible sources of water contamination are associated with the geomorphological characteristics of the area, as well as with hydrometeorological and anthropogenic factors such as the lack of sewerage, the presence of latrines, animals near the wells and the use of agrochemicals. The water quality was heterogeneous among wells, and all of them were found to have conditions that caused water to be unfit for human consumption.

AB - Vegas-Las Palmas is a rural settlement located in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica on the border with Panama. Its population does not have access to potable water, and inhabitants depend on water from wells at the water table level to meet their needs. These wells lack basic infrastructure to protect this water from contamination. In this study, water quality was evaluated at 12 wells from 2014 to 2016 (n ¼ 72). The results revealed high concentrations of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli with maximum values of 4.6 × 104 MPN/100 mL and 1.1 × 104 MPN/100 mL, respectively. In addition, maximum values of pH, conductivity, turbidity, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Mn, Cd and Pb were found to be outside the standard limits (nationally and internationally) for potable water. Possible sources of water contamination are associated with the geomorphological characteristics of the area, as well as with hydrometeorological and anthropogenic factors such as the lack of sewerage, the presence of latrines, animals near the wells and the use of agrochemicals. The water quality was heterogeneous among wells, and all of them were found to have conditions that caused water to be unfit for human consumption.

KW - Drinking water

KW - Health

KW - Pollution

KW - Water quality

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U2 - 10.2166/wh.2018.203

DO - 10.2166/wh.2018.203

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 29952329

AN - SCOPUS:85049657817

SN - 1477-8920

VL - 16

SP - 403

EP - 413

JO - Journal of Water and Health

JF - Journal of Water and Health

IS - 3

ER -

Assessment of drinking water suitability in low income rural areas: a case study in Sixaola, Costa Rica

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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