US$ 320 million investment for Costa Rican water projects

Costa Rica has benefited from a financial package that includes a US$ 20 million grant from the Spanish government and a US$ 73 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help improve drinking water, sanitation and wastewater treatment services.

The IDB loan and the grant from the IDB- and Spanish government-managed Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean complement an existing US$ 150 million loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while Costa Rica's government is providing an additional US$ 77 million to create a total investment of US$ 320 million.

More than 160 km of sewer pipes will be laid in the San Jose metropolitan area, while a treatment plant transmission tunnel and connections between homes and city networks are also planned.

And San Jose will also see the construction and rehabilitation of 73 km of drinking water networks, while rural northern areas of the country will benefit from new drinking water systems.