Update of the microbiological criteria and standards to evaluate water in its different uses in Costa Rica 2024 (third version)

Abstract

The third update of the Criteria and Standards for Evaluating Water in its different uses in Costa Rica by 2024 is presented. The first version was published in 1996 [1] and the second in 1998 [2]. Then, after 26 years, this second update and third version is presented, where the third edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) “Drinking Water Quality Guidelines”, published in 2024, introduced the concept of “Microbiological risk Assessment”. in Waters for Human Consumption, using the indicator of Escherichia coli (E. coli) as a risk of transmission of water diseases, through a specific indicator of fecal contamination. On the other hand, precisely the undersigned, in my capacity as Director of the National Water Laboratory, proposed the evaluation of health risk in the waters of the beaches of Costa Rica. Later, the WHO published the Guidelines for the assessment of health risk in recreational waters, in 2021, using the bacterial group Enterococcus faecalis. In light of these chronological changes in this third version, the microbiological criteria and standards are updated to evaluate health quality in its different uses in Costa Rica until 2024.