Research

Students will quantify the holistic benefits of wastewater treatment and resource recovery in Monteverde, Costa Rica. While the community relies upon ecotourism, the abundance of tourists and the lack of sustainable wastewater infrastructure have caused increased contamination of the environment in which the community relies upon to make a living. This research will illuminate wastewater management strategies which the community can pursue to protect the environment and their livelihoods. 

First, students will engage with stakeholders to determine relevant multi-criteria sustainability metrics for wastewater treatment and resource recovery systems at centralized, decentralized, and semi-centralized scales of implementation. 

Second, students will collect and analyze data regarding the social, environmental, and economic sustainability of wastewater treatment and resource recovery systems utilizing social science methods, life cycle assessment, and life cycle cost analysis

Third, students will utilize a multi-criteria sustainability tool incorporating social, environmental, and economic sustainability to assess centralized, decentralized, and semi-centralized systems and facilitate communication with stakeholders

Activities in the first year investigated decentralized systems, which included onsite wastewater treatment systems at households or other individual buildings. 

      

Decentralized technologies in the Monteverde region include composting toilets (left) and modified septic tanks and leach fields (right)

Activities in the second year will focus on semi-centralized systems serving farms, hotels, or clusters of households. 

One type of semi-centralized technology is a biojardinera, or biogarden

Activities in the third year will focus on a centralized system, which includes a sewer collection system and a wastewater treatment plant.

    

This wastewater treatment facility in San Jose is called "Los Tajos"