Anthropogenic Pollution of Rivers in

Montezuma, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

Geerke Floor1,2, María Martínez1,2, Juan Segura2, Ronnie Quintero2, Martha
Bernard3, Richard Barone3

1. Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

2. OVSICORI, Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica
3. Organización Agua Pura Vida, Costa Rica

Introduction
Montezuma is a village on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica popular for international and
Costa Rican tourism. However, the rivers are visible polluted, since toilet and other
waste water are dumped into the river. Contamination of rivers by waste waters is a
problem for environmental and health reasons, but also affects the tourist industry.
Another problem in Montezuma Rivers is the illegal extraction of river water. These
problems do not only arise in Montezuma, but in much more beach towns in Costa Rica.
In this study, the chemistry of some of the rivers in and around Montezuma was studied
to evaluate the seriousness and extent of the river pollution.

Fieldwork and methods

The river water samples were collected on the 7th of April, 2006, in the middle of the
dry season. The samples were collected in clean light density polyethylene bottles
which were rinsed several times with the river water before filling. The temperature, pH
and electrical conductivity of the river waters were measured in-situ using a WTW
Multi 340i portable meter, which was calibrated for conductivity using a 0.01 mol/l
KCl-solution, and for pH measurements with buffer solutions of pH of 4.01 and 10.00.

Samples were taken in rivers, except for samples 4 and 9 which are respectively a
sample from the well of Pensión Jenny and a sample from the filtering system for waste
waters that is being used by Hotel Sano Banano to treat its waste waters before dumping
them into the Río Central. The locations of the different samples can be find in Table 1.

Sample Location Notes

Level before entering of waste water
1 Upper pool of Montezuma waterfall of Montezuma hotels
Close to the beach, stationary water
Río Central, close to restaurant Tico e Tico, beach side from (no flow)
2 bridge
3 Río Central, more upstream, 20 meter up from bridge.
Taken to see if this is river water,
4 Well of pension Jenny because using of that is illegal
5 Río Central more upstream (Rio Nilagro a lado del tongue) Seems clean water, there are fish
6 Río Luz de Mono, close to the bridge
7 Río Luz de Mono, close to the beach, near to the school.
8 Río Montezuma, close to the beach
9 Filtering system of El Sano Banano Restaurant
Table 1: Sample locations

The experiments were performed in the `Laboratorio de Geoquímica Volcánica` from

OVSICORI-UNA in Heredia, Costa Rica. Until measurements, the samples were stored
in a fridge. After a couple of months, the pH and the conductivity of the samples were
measured again, this time at room temperature (~ 25 °C). The samples were filtered
using a 0.45 μm non-pyrogenic filter. Afterwards the samples were measured using an
automated Suppressing Ion Chromatograph, namely a Dionex ICS-3000 microbore
system, with a micro electrical conductivity detector coupled to a Self-Regenerating
Suppressor type SRS ULTRA II, an IonPac AS9-HC Anion-Exchange Analytical
Column and an IonPAc AG9-H pre-column, using a mobile phase of 9 mM carbonate
solution and a flow rate of 0.250 ml/min.

Results
The field measurements (see Table 2) show that the rivers have a temperature between
25 and 30 °C. The rivers are alkaline with pHs between 7.5 and 8.6. The sample of the
filtering system of Sano Banano has a slightly higher temperature and a lower pH. The
conductivity is variable with values between 350 and 4250 μS/cm. After some months
the samples were measured again at lab conditions at a room temperature of ~ 25 ºC
(see Table 2). This reveals similar results, except for sample 2, which has a much higher
pH of around 10.

Field measurements Laboratory measurements (~25 ºC)

Sample
T (ºC) pH Conductivity (μS/cm) pH Conductivity (μS/cm)
1 24.6 8.59 364 8.63 378
10.0
2 28.8 7.68 1260 9 1053
3 27.1 7.59 665 7.99 675
4 25.4 8.20 558 8.29 562
5 26.9 8.23 550 8.21 564
6 27.2 7.94 487 8.05 480
7 29.6 7.88 4230 7.94 4150
8 28.7 8.62 390 8.54 378
9 31.6 7.13 1038 7.60 990
Table 2: pH and conductivity measurements

The anion concentrations vary between different samples (see Table 3). Fluoride
concentrations vary slightly between 0.20 and 0.35 mg/L. Chloride concentrations vary
widely between 5 and 335 mg/L. Most samples doesn’t contain nitrite, but some have
some low levels of it (<0.1 mg/L). Also most river samples don’t contain bromide,
nitrate and phosphate, but the samples that contain them can have concentrations up to
respectively 4, 2.4 and 1.5 mg/L. The sample of the Sano Banano filtering system
contains much higher phosphate levels with a concentration of 12.3 mg/L. All samples
contain sulfate, with levels between 2 and 205 mg/L.
F- Cl- Br- NO3- NO2- PO43- SO42-
Sample
mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L
1 0.267 7.246 n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.028 1.906
331.51
2 0.202 3 0.621 n.a. n.a. n.a. 29.619
3 0.201 17.737 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1.49 17.562
4 0.185 8.402 n.a. 1.406 n.a. n.a. 9.041
5 0.209 9.685 n.a. 2.16 n.a. n.a. 8.612
6 0.335 10.099 n.a. 0.371 0.026 n.a. 6.322
105.58
7 0.352 9 3.862 2.443 n.a. 0.052 204.776
8 0.208 5.671 n.a. n.a. 0.018 n.a. 2.521
173.49
9 0.24 4 0.021 n.a. 0.079 12.246 6.543
Table 3: anions measurements

Discussion

All the used guidelines are for drinking water and advised by the WHO (2006), if not
otherwise stated. No WHO guidelines for rivers exist.

pH
The in-situ pHs of the rivers change between 7.5 and 8.7. The pH measured in the lab
varies a lot for sample 2 and slightly for the other samples. However, the in-situ data are
more reliable, because the chemistry can change during the storage. Visible changes
occurred in sample 2, which had a lot of algaes after storing. The WHO does not
propose a health-based guideline value for pH. However, it is one of the most important
operational water quality parameters. The optimum pH for drinking is in the range
between 6.5 and 9.5. The Montezuma river waters satisfy this drinking water guideline.
However, some other guidelines advise a pH range of 6.5-8.5 (e.g. Evangelou, 1998).
Sample 1 and 8 have a slightly higher pH compared to this guideline.

Fluoride
The most important sources of fluoride are natural. The guideline value of the WHO is
1.5 mg/L. Concentrations above this value form an increasing risk of dental fluorosis,
and eventually skeletal fluorosis. All river samples have much lower concentrations of
fluoride than the WHO guideline for drinking water. The recommended maximum
value for Costa Rica is 1.0 mg/L, but all the rivers have lower concentrations compared
to this value too.

Chloride
Two of the rivers close to the beach, samples 2 and 7, have high chloride
concentrations. This is probably due to saline intrusion from the sea. Sample 8 was
collected close to the beach, but doesn’t seem to have a lot of sea-influence. To check if
the samples indeed have saline intrusion, sodium concentrations should be measured
too, since chloride and sodium are the most important species in sea water. Also the
sample from the filtering system of Sano Banano contains a lot of chloride, probably
originating in sewage.

Chloride can originate from natural sources like saline intrusion, and antropogenic
courses like sewage and industry. The main source of human exposure to chloride is the
addition of salt to food, and the intake from this source is usually greatly in excess of
that from drinking-water. Excessive chloride concentrations increase rates of corrosion
of metals, depending on the alkalinity of the water which can increase concentrations of
metals in the supply. No health-based guideline value is proposed for chloride in
drinking-water. However, chloride concentrations in excess of about 250 mg/liter can
give a detectable taste in water. Except for the samples with the likely saline intrusion
and the sample from the filtering system of Sano Bano the samples have concentrations
below this level.

Nitrate and nitrite

Nitrate and nitrite are naturally occurring ions that are part of the nitrogen cycle.
The nitrate concentration in groundwater and surface water is normally low but can
reach high levels as a result of leaching or runoff from agricultural land or
contamination from human or animal wastes as a consequence of the oxidation of
ammonia and similar sources. Anaerobic conditions may result in the formation and
persistence of nitrite. Infants up to 3 months age are the most susceptible (Schelton,
1989). A guideline for short-time exposure nitrate is 50 mg/L (WHO, 2006) and 10 for
longer-time exposures (Shelton, 1989), for nitrite it’s 3 mg/L for short-time exposure
and 0.2 mg/L for long-term exposure. All values in the Montezuma Rivers are below
these guidelines.

Sulfate
Sulfates occur naturally and in commercially used minerals. No health-based guideline
is proposed for sulfate. However, because of the gastrointestinal effects resulting from
ingestion of drinking-water containing high sulfate levels, the recommended maximal
value is 500 mg/L. The presence of sulfate in drinking-water may also cause noticeable
taste and may contribute to the corrosion of distribution systems. All the river samples
are below the recommended maximum value. Sample 7 has a higher concentration of
sulfate compared to the other samples. Sea water contains 2700 mg/L sulfate (Hem,
1992). However, if saline intrusion would be the explanation, it would be expected that
2 has a similar or higher sulfate concentration. This is not the case.

Bromide
No guidelines for bromide are given within the WHO report. Three samples contain
bromide: the two samples with likely saline intrusion and the sample of the filtering
system of Sano Banano. Indeed sea water contains 67 ppm bromide (Hem, 1992). The
source of bromide in the filtering system is unknown. However, a possible source is the
cleaning system itself, since bromine is used in non-drinking water disinfection.

Phosphate
Phosphate can have natural sources, but mainly enters waterways through manmade
sources. These include human sewage, agricultural run-off from crops, fertilizer
manufacturing and detergents. The addition of large quantities of phosphates to
waterways accelerates algae and plant growth in natural waters; enhancing
eutrophication and depleting the water body of oxygen. This can kill the ecosystem. No
WHO guidelines exist for phosphate in drinking waters. Some regional water authorities
state a maximum level of 5.0 mg/L. The filtering system of Sano Banano contains more
than twice as much as this guideline. The other samples are below this guideline.

Remarks
• The pHs are slightly high, but do not exceed the WHO recommendation for
drinking water pH.
• The anions measurements don’t show the pollution of the Montezuma Rivers.
The rivers have anion concentrations below the WHO guidelines for drinking
water.
• Other elements and the concentration of bacteria should be measured in future
work to see if these show chemical evidence for the observed contamination.

References
• Evangelou, V.P., 1998. Environmental Soil and Water Chemistry. Principles and Applications.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Hem, J.D., 1992. Study and interpretation of the chemical characteristics of natural water. U.S.
Geol. Surv. Waterr-Supply Pap. 2254.
• Shelton, 1989. Interpreting Drinking Water Quality Analysis. What Do the Numbers Mean?
Rutgers Cooperative Extension. New Brunswick, NJ.
 • WHO, 2006. Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. First addendum to third edition. Volume 1
Recommendations.

The Montezuma waterfall, location of sample 1. This waterfall is located before the
contamination of the Montezuma hotels.

Sampling at the Río Central, location of sample 2. Several hotels have dumped their
waste water in this river, resulting is dirty and smelly water.
Río Montezuma, close to the beach, location of sample 8.