Costa Rica Clean Water Project
Origin Story
While working on a Habitat for Humanity housing project, P90 members reached out to Developing World Connections, an organization focused on hosting volunteering opportunities around the world. After initial discussions, our team settled on improving clean water access to the rural community of Taus, Costa Rica
About Taus
Taus is a community with a population of ~100. With young talent leaving the community for opportunities in the city, this community was left with an aging infrastructure that could not be maintained by the elderly population. One key issue was the deterioration of Taus’ water system.
Quick Facts:
- Access to clean water is Sustainable Development Goal #6 at the United Nations, with over 2 billion people lacking adequate access
- Taus’ resources have been facing increased strain as it becomes a tourist hub as a result of it’s location along the East - West Trail across the country
- Taus hosts another 100 temporary residents in the form of students studying at a local environmental education institution.
- Taus’ 30-year water system is completely disconnected from the main country, sourcing water from it’s own well near the village,
Planning Period
Starting July 2024, our team participated in meeting with DWC and community leaders in Taus to understand the key tasks of this project:
- Repair the main storage tank from 25% —> 100% capacity
- Implement a sedimentation capture system for the well
- Create a second water capture system for the well
- Improve flow regulation throughout the community
- Begin a greywater capture system to keep the Pejibaye River clean
A key barrier that the team had to overcome was the language gap. With the help of UCalgary student Mirei and UN Peace Corp volunteer Margaret in Costa Rica, both sides were able to translate their messages between English & Spanish.
Securing Funds
After struggling with gaining interest from local companies and matching scholarship cycles with our project timeline, our team was struggling with accumulating enough funding to have students travel and volunteer on-site for the project they had spent almost 10 months developing.
Thankfully, just 7 days before our funding deadline, we were able to reach our funding goal and were given the green light to book all of our tickets.
First Impressions
After months of hard-work, our team was finally set to travel for a week to Costa Rica in the first week of May. Prior to getting started with the project itself, the team went for some horseback riding, a surprisingly difficult hiking trip, and some heartwarming welcomes hosted by the incredibly hospitable local community.
Some of the highlights including meeting the local celebs that we had previously only seen photos of on our screens & a special rendition of “Hallelujah” sung by the locals in English.
The REAL Work
The Project90 team split into 3 main groups for the majority of the work: repairing the current storage tank, and creating the new capture tank and sedimentation system.
Storage tank repairs:
The main repairs consisted of scooping out lots of mud out into a 2” diameter hole, scraping clean all interior surfaces, reinforcing the floor & roof of the tank with extra cement, and creating a second ventilation tank to abide by code.
One of the highlights of this project was working alongside local construction workers, simulating a worksite experience for the team members.
Water Capture Tank:
For improved efficiency, this extra water capture tank was made in two pieces, one for capturing the actual water from the well and funneling it into the second part which would store the water. As such, they had to be installed separately, and being made out of concrete, this project took 2 days in order to the first part set for a whole day before the second part was made, hardening the day after.
With the well being fairly far from the village, it was a very steep hike, making it quite challenging for team members to travel to the site, especially when bringing materials to and from the 2 locations.
Sedimentation Tank:
Similar to the Water Capture Tank, concrete was the material of choice for the Sedimentation Tank alongside rebar for additional strength. the Sedimentation and Water Capture tanks are positioned nearby each other, so similar struggled regarding the hike were present for this task as well. For the concrete, a wheelbarrow was used for both material transportation and mixing the ingredients, namely water, gravel, salt, and concrete mix.
A particular challenge for this task was the requirement of high precision to make sure minimal waste entered the main water tank. As such, team members took time in making sure concrete pouring was done with high precision alongside the use of wooden frames, with any changes in the base’s dimensions accounted for through modifications in the wall’s designs.
Fun Moments
While our team did complete some serious work, there were some pleasant moments that we cherish looking back. These memories include:
- Watching some breathtaking views of nature and wildlife, including Estela the friendly dog we named ourselves
- Celebrating the birthdays of both our Project Leads, Caden and Owen, with a spectacular cake made by the locals
- getting lost on a bus trip to our hotel and reversing down an off-road track with emergency bathroom breaks…
Final Results
After a week of hard work, the Project90 team celebrated the successful completion of this project. Alongside the completion of the 3 main tasks, our team also conducted site surveys on the viability of the greywater filtration system which will be continued on the the efforts of future DWC volunteer teams, as well as the completion of the roof for he sedimentation tank and some overall finishing touches, which were complete in June 2025 with no issues since.
As a full-circle moment, the team celebrated prior to their departure by taking showers using the same water system they worked so hard to improve.
